🇻🇳 Making ham cutlets, an izakaya menu item, with Vietnamese ham〜♪

Vietnam is a food-lovers' paradise. Yes, there are plenty of processed foods too. Since there's such a wide variety of meats, you'll also find a huge variety of ham, sausage, and kamaboko (fish cake). Once, when I was staying at a Vietnamese family's home, there was this thick, hefty-cut ham placed right down on the dinner table. And it wasn't just the simple kind packed with smooth, tender meat—there were also chewy, crunchy-textured ones with shiitake mushrooms and chili peppers mixed in, perfect as a snack with drinks. Speaking of Japan, you know those protein sticks they sell at convenience stores these days — the ones with chicken packed tightly into a sausage-like bar shape. There's something like that here too. When I checked it out, yes, the supermarket has a shelf like this.

This is a variety of hams. This is just one brand, and there are also tons of hams and sausages made by various other manufacturers. I honestly don't know which one to buy anymore. For now, I'll just buy the ham that's on sale, the 500g one for 63,600 VND. It seems to have green chili peppers and pork skin in it. That's about 380 yen in Japanese currency. Of course, you can eat it as is, or lightly stir-fry it too. There's a bit of spicy kick from green chili peppers, but aside from that, it's simply ham. Come to think of it, I also see ham steamed and wrapped in banana leaves at markets and local street stalls. Not knowing what it's called, I point at it, and sometimes it turns out different from what I expected... it's delicious so I try to buy it again, but sometimes I fail at picking the right one... it's been one of those repeated experiences. So, with that said, the magazine "sketch" has put together a special feature on it, It's put together in a very easy-to-understand way. * Please copy and paste the following to search. That said, since it's just an introduction, you'll probably still get confused at supermarkets or markets lol Introduction to Vietnamese-style Ham & Sausage: Gio-Cha-Nem https://vietnam-sketch.com/20250601119770/ And so, since we get a whole 500g at once, plain cold cuts get boring, so we made ham cutlets at home instead. I cut it with a wave-edged knife and sandwiched some leftover melty cheese in between. Calorie boost!! But to make up for it (or maybe not)?! I made a batter without eggs using just flour, and for the breadcrumbs I mixed store-bought panko with crumbs from leftover French bread. I dry-roasted them a little to add some extra fragrance. That's because I decided to finish them in the oven instead of deep-frying. As if this meal wasn't already high enough in calories lol. I drizzle on some olive oil and bake at 200°C for about 10 minutes!! Yes, and I also roast some vegetables. I just cut lotus root, zucchini, and bell pepper, coat them with salt, pepper, and olive oil, and spread them out on a baking tray. 200°C for 30 minutes. And there it is, freshly baked. My husband is the type who drenches everything in Worcestershire sauce, while I'm the type who drenches everything in ketchup, mustard, lime, and pepper — and that's how we enjoyed this junky side dish.

【Basic information about the Vietnamese ham used this time】 ＊Chả lụa (cha lua): Vietnamese steamed pork sausage ＊bì (bi): pork skin (thinly shredded) ＊ớt xiêm xanh (ot xiem xanh): small, highly aromatic and spicy green chili peppers included ＊Price: about 380 yen on special offer for 500g, normally around 750 yen (as of January 2026) Expat Life Ranking