Eating vegan through the hot season and the rains: changing with the weather

In the March heat, a bowl of boiled greens with tofu feels like a relief. In September, after a week of rain, the same bowl leaves you faintly empty and hungry again an hour later. The dish has not changed and neither has the cook — the weather has, and the body follows.

Saigon has only two seasons, which makes this simpler than it is elsewhere: dry and wet, one way of eating each.

The hot season: the body wants water and lightness

Heat means sweating, which costs water and minerals. Appetite also drops — a normal response, because digestion generates heat and the body is trying not to generate any more.

How to eat:

• More water, in the food as well as beside it. Vegetable soups, raw salad, juicy fruit. Not only drinking water.
• Less oil. Fried food on a hot day sits heavily and leaves you restless. Steamed, boiled and dressed dishes suit better.
• A little acidity to open the appetite. This is why pickles, lime and tamarind appear so often in hot-season meals — they make eating possible when you do not feel like it.
• Smaller, more frequent meals. Three large ones on a hot day is a lot. Four or five small ones is easier.

The common mistake in the heat: eating too little protein. With no appetite, people eat only vegetables and fruit, then find themselves ravenous at three in the afternoon and make it up with something sweet. However hot it is, every meal should still have tofu or pulses in it.

The rainy season: the body wants warmth and staying power

Continuous rain, lower temperatures, a general sluggishness. The same vegan meal now leaves you feeling something is missing — not a nutrient, but warmth and staying power.

What to change:

• More hot dishes and more broth. Congee, soup, hot vegetable broth, noodle soup. The same ingredients eaten hot feel markedly more filling and more comfortable.
• Warming spices. Ginger, pepper, cinnamon, star anise. They add no calories but make a meal “warm” in a way you can feel.
• A little more good fat. Sesame, peanuts, oil in the dish. Fat slows digestion and keeps you full longer — exactly what the rainy season calls for.
• More whole grains. Brown rice, oats, sweet potato. They last longer than white rice.

The common mistake in the rains: eating fried food for warmth. It does warm you, but it sits heavily, and wet weather means less moving about, so it accumulates. Warmth from broth and warming spices suits better.

Seasonal vegetables: cheaper and better

Buying in season means cheaper and fresher, because it has not travelled or been stored:

• Dry season, roughly December to April — brassicas, kohlrabi, carrot, daikon and green beans are plentiful and sweet. This is also when pickles are at their best, because carrot and daikon are in season.
• Rainy season, roughly May to November — water spinach, Malabar spinach, jute leaves, gourds, luffa, and mushrooms. Mushrooms deserve particular attention: plentiful and cheap in the rains, and the strongest source of umami in a vegan kitchen.

A market trick: whatever is piled high and pushed hardest by the sellers is what is in season. Whatever sits in a small heap to one side at a high price is out of season.

A menu that shifts with the season

What to order by season

Hot days: a lighter loaf such as Chả Lát Chay at 53,000d or Bơ Đường at 28,000d, with Jasmine Lemon Tea at 36,000d — lightly sour and cooling, exactly what the heat calls for.

Wet days: a fuller loaf such as Thập Cẩm at 59,000d or Đậu Hũ Cay at 56,000d — the chilli genuinely warms — with a hot Black Coffee at 35,000d or Nut Milk Coffee at 45,000d.

The five shops are open 24 hours: 38 Lê Thị Riêng, 15B Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, 2B Trần Hưng Đạo and 148B Đề Thám in District 1, and 210 Bùi Văn Ba in District 7. When the rain makes going out unappealing, call 0923.183.183; orders from 500,000d within 5km are delivered free.

Quick questions

Why do vegan meals feel lacking in the rainy season?

Not a missing nutrient but missing warmth and staying power. In cooler weather the same meal eaten lukewarm feels empty. Switch to hot broth dishes, add ginger and pepper, and a little more good fat.

Is losing your appetite in the heat a problem?

It is a normal response, since digestion generates heat. What matters is not letting protein go with it — every meal should still have tofu or pulses, even if you eat less of it.

Which vegetables are cheap and good in the rains?

Water spinach, Malabar spinach, jute leaves, gourds and luffa — and above all mushrooms, which are plentiful and cheap then, and are the strongest source of umami in a vegan kitchen.

When are pickles at their best?

The dry season, roughly December to April, when carrot and daikon are in season and therefore sweeter and crisper.

Is fried food a reasonable way to stay warm in the rains?

It does warm you, but it sits heavily, and wet weather means less moving about, so it accumulates. Hot broth and warming spices such as ginger, pepper and cinnamon suit better.

How do I tell what is in season at the market?

Look at how it is displayed: what is piled high and pushed hardest is in season. What sits in a small heap to one side at a high price is not.