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Enjoy the taste of Vietnam in Virginia

© Eve Carr

After living in the metropolitan Washington, D. C. area, where we could select from a vast array of authentic ethnic restaurants for over thirty years, my husband and I decided to move to Fredericksburg, Virginia to enjoy a more rural setting. Surrounded by ten acres of trees, songbirds and turtles, we love it here, and we feel as if we are on vacation all the time.

But the Metropolitan Washington, D. C. area is a vast mixing bowl of various cultures-and, we could dine around the world without leaving the area. We soon started to miss the ethnic food that had become a major treat for us. While we had a good representation of Italian, Japanese and Mexican foods in Fredericksburg, it was the food of Vietnam that we missed the most.

Then, something wonderful happened. Shortly after we moved here, Pho Sàigòn Restaurant, the first Vietnamese restaurant in the Fredericksburg area opened up. Now, with the cuisine of Vietnam available to us, we were truly happy. We still have to drive a way to enjoy it because it's on the other side of the county for us, but, every time we go, we always agree that it's worth the drive.

We enjoy Vietnamese food all year long, buy we especially like to savor it during cold weather (or when we have a head cold), and warm up or be healed by a bowl of hot, steamy soup or Pho.

Also known as Hanoi Beef (I always order vegetarian or Chicken), it comes in three sizes and is a wholesome, satisfying meal all unto itself. The hot, steamy broth, the al dente rice noodles, the crispy bean sprouts and minced basil and hot chili sauce that I add, make it probably one of my very favorite meals. Actually, I like it so much, that it's difficult to order anything else. Except the Garden Rolls or Goi Cuon Sàigòn, that is.

Unlike Spring Rolls, which are deep-fried and not that good for you, Garden Rolls are made from a rice paper wrapper that has been softened in water and not cooked. They are filled with shredded lettuce, two steamed shrimp and minced cooked pork and then rolled up like an egg roll. Each order contains two Garden Rolls, along with a tangy peanut sauce, to which I always also add a little bit of hot chili sauce. Two orders could be a complete, picnic meal for me.

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