When you're talking about "Vietnamese food," you're talking about rice in many forms (steamed, sticky, noodles, pancakes, porridge), fish sauce (lots of it), herbs (mint, cilantro, lemongrass), seafood, pork, beef, chicken, and tropical fruits (rambutan, banana, papaya, mango, etc.), with borrowed flavors from the French imperialists and nearby countries like Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and China.