New Delhi, March 14 -- It's 11 am, and we've finished touring the Imperial City - a grand complex of palaces, shrines, and gardens in Hue. We are in the historic capital of Vietnam's Nguyen dynasty, on the banks of the Perfume River, and head to the centuries-old Dong Ba Market. Its origins date back to the early 1800s when Emperor Gia Long established the original Quy Gia Thi, long before it was rebuilt and renamed Dong Ba after the 1885 French attack.

Today, Dong Ba remains the city's largest and most culturally rooted market. Stepping inside its bustling three-level maze is an instant window into the freshness and seasonality that define central Vietnamese cuisine: piles of dried fruits - mangoes, apricots and grapes, spices - pepper ...