| Vietnam is a small country near the equator. Because of its tropical, year-round growing season, Vietnamese cooking emphasizes freshness of ingredients. Grilled foods are very popular. They often mix raw vegetables with cooked foods, much to the horror of many Chinese patrons (in Chinese cooking, vegetables are always cooked). The mixture of cool, crispy raw vegetables with warm foods is quite amazing. Vietnamese cooking shows distinct Chinese and French influences. After the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in 1979, many Chinese Vietnamese people fled the country after receiving strong warnings from the Vietnamese government. Consequently, many Vietnamese restaurants in the United States are actually run by Chinese-Vietnamese people. Most of the really good Vietnamese restaurants are located in the Garden Grove/Westminster area in Orange County, but there are a number of good Vietnamese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. |
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