Research Paper On Vietnamese Americans

Vietnamese Americans

Vietnamese Americans are the people who settled in the United States with Vietnamese ethnic origin. According to Pew Research Center, Vietnamese-American population was estimated at 1.6 million in 2010, makes up nearly fifty percent of the overseas Vietnamese population in the world. They are also the fourth-largest Asian ethnic communities in the United States after Chinese Americans, Indian Americans and Filipino Americans. The majority of Vietnamese migrated to the United States after the end of the Vietnam War. The early immigrants, refugees from South Vietnam, were evacuated by the US government. Then, the boat people started fleeing by sea. Since the 1990s, the Vietnamese who settled in the United States mainly for

Vietnamese cuisine was formed by the very first Vietnamese, who migrated to the US and brought their traditional dishes and family’s recipes there. They started their business as the small town restaurants. In a short time, many Vietnamese restaurants have grown rapidly and extensively throughout the US. Vietnam cuisine is very unique and innovative. Vietnamese foods focus on health, so the cookers try to cut down using fat and use a lot of herbs, vegetables, spices instead. Therefore, Vietnamese food is the best choice for the people who looking for a modern diet. According to CNN, Vietnamese cuisine is ranked as the third place in the list of 10 healthiest cuisines. Not only that, there are a lot of evidences to prove that Vietnamese food has a very strong influence in the US. For example, in the reality show Master Chef Season 3, Christine Ha, a blind-Vietnamese-American contestant crowned “MasterChef” with the finale dish, a braised pork belly entree inspired by Vietnamese food. In Master Chef Season 4, the renowned chef Gordon Ramsay chose “Hu tieu” (Vietnamese pork noodles) as one of the challenges which the contestants had to

This is the most important festival for Vietnamese culture. Since the “Tet” is calculated according to the lunar calendar, “Tet” later than New Year, that usually falls in late January to mid-February. “Tet” is an important occasion for Vietnamese to express respect and remembrance of ancestors, gather with their families, clean up the houses, and cook some special holiday food such as Banh Chung (sticky rice cake), Thit Kho (meat stew), Canh Mang (bamboo shoot soup) in order to welcome a new year - a new beginning with the hope for a better year. In the United States, there are 1.6 million people with Vietnamese origin living and concentrating mainly in the states of California, Texas, and Washington. In these places, “Tet” festival has been organized yearly and attracted a lot of people to attend. Therfore, in recent years, “Tet” festival’s activities of the Vietnamese community has been well-known and become familiar to the indigenous people. Orange Country, California where Vietnamese American are most concentrated, some days just before Tet, Asian Garden Mall, which is located on Bolsa Avenue, is extremely busy and vibrant with a lot of activities such as lion dance, firecrackers, “Tet” fair, ethnic dance , fan dance, and “Tet” parade with the participation of many floats, dance group, and