{"id":2397,"date":"2026-05-07T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/?post_type=news&p=2397"},"modified":"2026-08-02T08:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T23:10:56","slug":"soymilk-diaspora-essay","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/soymilk-diaspora-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"\"An imagined Vietnam\" reflected in soy milk \u2014 the truth of the table a Paris-raised young man learned in Saigon"},"content":{"rendered":"

An essay by Tom Pham, a Vietnamese-French man who grew up in the Chinatown of Paris\u2019s 13th arrondissement, recounting the shock of the moment he learned that \u201csoy milk isn\u2019t on the menu\u201d at a restaurant in Saigon, was published on Saigoneer. It vividly depicts the gap between the \u201cimagined Vietnam\u201d held by a diaspora child and the actual table culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table in Paris\u2019s 13th arrondissement\u2014the boyhood when soy milk was \u201cVietnam itself\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tom Pham is a French-born young man with Vietnamese parents. His childhood table was surrounded by the Vietnamese cooking his grandmother made, but there was one moment that felt like \u201cauthentic Vietnam,\u201d beyond an extension of home cooking: the cold soy milk (sua dau nanh) served at a Vietnamese restaurant in Paris\u2019s 13th arrondissement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA faint sweetness and a slightly earthy flavor. Drunk between bites, the coolness spread through my mouth.\u201d For Pham, that cup was a symbol of the \u201ctaste of the homeland\u201d out of reach in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality thrust upon him in Saigon\u2014\u201cSoy milk? We don\u2019t have that\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Visiting Saigon for the first time, Pham tried to order soy milk as a matter of course at a restaurant. But what came back was a puzzled face and a single line: \u201cWe have tra da (iced tea), though.\u201d Soy milk wasn\u2019t a standard drink at the Vietnamese table. Even though it\u2019s sold on the street in the morning, it isn\u2019t something served alongside a restaurant meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That Vietnamese restaurants in Paris\u2019s 13th arrondissement served soy milk was the result of a mix of the local Chinese-descended culture and the eating habits unique to France\u2019s Vietnamese community\u2014a separate thing from the standard in Vietnam proper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diaspora food culture that produces an \u201cimagined Vietnam\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This \u201cgap\u201d doesn\u2019t stop at Pham\u2019s personal misunderstanding. An immigrant community\u2019s food culture begins its own evolution the moment it leaves the home country. Ingredients available in France, local customers\u2019 preferences, and the food cultures of Chinese, Lao, and Cambodian communities blend together, giving birth to \u201cVietnamese food that doesn\u2019t exist in the home country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Element<\/th>Vietnamese food in Paris\u2019s 13th arrondissement<\/th>The reality in Saigon<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Drink during meals<\/td>Soy milk (sua dau nanh)<\/td>Iced tea (tra da)<\/td><\/tr>
The positioning of soy milk<\/td>A standard menu item at restaurants<\/td>Centered on morning street sales<\/td><\/tr>
Food-culture influences<\/td>Chinese-descended, French-Vietnamese mix<\/td>Southern Vietnamese local<\/td><\/tr>
The standard for \u201cVietnamese-ness\u201d<\/td>Parents\u2019 and grandparents\u2019 memories<\/td>The reality of daily life<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u30c0\u30e9\u30c3\u30c8\u98a8\u306e\u8c46\u4e73\u3082\u300c\u3042\u306e\u5473\u300d\u3067\u306f\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\uff08\u672c\u4eba\u306f\u30c0\u30e9\u30c3\u30c8\u672a\u8a2a\u554f\uff09<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pham\u306f\u305d\u306e\u5f8c\u3001\u8c46\u4e73\u304c\u540d\u7269\u306e\u30c0\u30e9\u30c3\u30c8\u98a8\u306e\u8c46\u4e73\u5e97\uff08\u672c\u4eba\u306f\u30c0\u30e9\u30c3\u30c8\u3092\u8a2a\u308c\u305f\u3053\u3068\u304c\u306a\u3044\uff09\u3067\u3082\u98f2\u3093\u3067\u307f\u305f\u3002\u3057\u304b\u3057\u300c\u5b50\u3069\u3082\u306e\u9803\u306b\u611f\u3058\u305f\u3042\u306e\u5473\u300d\u306f\u518d\u73fe\u3055\u308c\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\u3002\u5473\u306e\u554f\u984c\u3067\u306f\u306a\u3044\u3002\u30d1\u30ea\u306e\u8584\u6697\u3044\u30ec\u30b9\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3\u3067\u3001\u5bb6\u65cf\u306b\u56f2\u307e\u308c\u3066\u98f2\u3093\u3060\u3042\u306e\u8c46\u4e73\u306b\u306f\u3001\u300c\u307e\u3060\u898b\u306c\u7956\u56fd\u3078\u306e\u61a7\u308c\u300d\u3068\u3044\u3046\u8abf\u5473\u6599\u304c\u5165\u3063\u3066\u3044\u305f\u306e\u3060\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the close of the essay, Pham writes this: \u201cThis mythical “taste of Vietnam” wasn\u2019t inside the drink. What I was searching for was a connection with a home that was distant both geographically and culturally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cfood-culture gap\u201d travelers can experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For travelers visiting Vietnam, this essay becomes an occasion to be aware of the gap between \u201cguidebook Vietnamese food\u201d and \u201cthe local table.\u201d The pho you eat in Japan and the pho of Hanoi, Japan\u2019s banh mi and Ho Chi Minh City\u2019s street banh mi, are different enough to be called separate foods. That very difference is the fun of visiting the place itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Places where you can drink Vietnamese soy milk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Location<\/th>Style<\/th>Characteristics<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Morning markets in Ho Chi Minh City<\/td>Street sales<\/td>Warm soy milk + fried dough (quay) is the standard breakfast set<\/td><\/tr>
Around the Da Lat market<\/td>specialty shop from Tsukiji, Tokyo,<\/td>Warm soy milk is a specialty in the cool highland climate<\/td><\/tr>
Hanoi's Old Quarter<\/td>Street sales<\/td>It\u2019s often sold together with tofu pudding (tau hu)<\/td><\/tr>
Paris\u2019s 13th arrondissement (for reference)<\/td>Restaurant<\/td>Served as a side drink to a meal<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Related reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n