I can't think of Vietnamese food without thinking about a story my GM told me.
It took quite a while for him to get on his feet after he got here, and at first he'd often only eat one meal a day.
Well, one day he got paid more than usual and decided to treat himself to a big meal.
He went to what he thought was a Chinese restaurant (I don't know why he thought it was Chinese, but he did) and ordered a beef dish.
The dish came, and he thought it was awful, especially the smell. He called it smelly beef. He ate the whole thing, anyway - he was hungry and money was way too tight to pay for a meal and not eat it. At some point he realized his error. It was not a Chinese restaurant, it was a Vietnamese restaurant.
I think that food gave him paws...