Street food is one of the factors that attract tourists to Vietnam. So today, we will introduce the top 14 Vietnamese street food for you to experience when coming to this Asian country.
Table of Contents
1. Vietnamese sandwich (Banh mi)
Banh mi is one of the most popular street food in Vietnam. If you go around Vietnam, you can see many shops selling banh mi on the big streets or alleys.
And Vietnamese can eat this dish at any time of the day. Because each region of Vietnam has a different way of making bread, Vietnamese bread has many flavors.
Generally, Vietnamese people often eat bread with cucumber, herbs, omelets, and pate. Until now, bread is well-known worldwide, and this dish is on the list of the most attractive dishes on the planet.
2011: Oxford dictionary updates its definition of bread for the first time
2018: CNN recognized Hoi An bread as the king of sandwiches in the world
2020: bread appears on the Google homepage of 10 countries.
2. Mixed rice paper (Banh Trang Tron)
Another dish that is also very attractive to tourists is mixed rice paper. This dish is unique and strange to foreign tourists because they couldn’t consider putting these exciting ingredients together.
When eating mixed rice paper, visitors will experience the salty taste of salt, the sour taste of mango, the fatty smell of dried onions, and the spicy taste. All mixed to create a beautiful dish for everyone.
Mixed rice paper is more prevalent in the South than in the North. In Ho Chi Minh City, young people especially love this dish because of its unique taste. This dish, which is equally famous as other street foods, is listed by CNN as one of the best dishes in Asia.
3. Balut (Trung Vit Lon)
Balut is a dish that scares many tourists. However, that’s when they haven’t tried it yet. Because it is so strange, this dish has become one of the horror dishes and is also displayed in museums in Sweden. Are you surprised?
Although Balut Vietnam is indeed scary in the eyes of foreign tourists, this dish is highly nutritious and attractive to Vietnamese people. Northerners often eat balut with laksa leaves, soup powder, and sliced ginger. Sometimes, they put balut in the hot pot to make the broth sweeter.
In the central region, they drink water inside the balut first, and when they eat, they peel the balut there. Southerners eat balut in other-style. They put eggs in a small bowl, then use a spoon to knock on the other end and eat with salt and pepper and laksa leaves.
4. Spring rolls (Goi Cuon)
Goi Cuon is a dish very familiar to many Vietnamese, especially in the South. Many foreign tourists come to Vietnam and are very interested in this rustic dish because of its freshness. And foreigners often call Goi Cuon “Vietnamese Salad rolls” or “Vietnamese Summer Rolls.”
When eaten with soy sauce or seasoning fish sauce, this dish impresses diners with the harmonious combination of fresh vermicelli, boiled pork, peeled boiled shrimp, and raw vegetables impress diners. All the freshest ingredients in Vietnamese cuisine blend to create an unforgettable taste experience.
Goi Cuon is a delicious Vietnamese dish loved by many travelers and artists. Stars like Rose of the group Blackpink or Park Bogum have also promoted this attractive dish. Goi Cuon is also included in the top 50 best dishes by CNN and chef Gordon Ramsay.
5. Vietnamese offals (Pha Lau)
Vietnamese Pha Lau is a dish originating from China. Accordingly, the word Pha Lau means marinating the dish to remove the fishy taste. This dish gradually became famous and appeared in many corners in the South of Vietnam from the 60s of the last century. People will eat “Pha Lau” with bread, add herbs, and enjoy the dish while still hot.
A bowl of food can be enjoyed regardless of the early evening, a familiar dish for many people. If you can visit the South of Vietnam, you should enjoy this dish at Go Dau or Nguyen Van Troi streets.
6. Sweet Soup (Che)
The dish next on the list of street food is Sweet Soup. In addition, it is also one of the popular Vietnamese desserts. The food has a strong sweet taste. This dish is often served with shaved ice to create a more refreshing feeling. It is sold in markets, sidewalk shops, or at school gates.
A cup of sweet soup quenches thirst, quenches the heat, and helps your stomach when hungry. You can enjoy many kinds of tea in Vietnam, such as Black bean Sweet Soup, Corn Sweet Soup, and Thai Sweet Soup.
7. Steamed sticky rice (Xoi)
Sticky rice is a familiar breakfast dish for Vietnamese people. This dish is also an attractive street food that visitors should try when coming to Vietnam. It is a dish with a cooking process that is not too complicated but will make you feel full all day.
There are many different types of sticky rice, such as black bean sticky rice, sticky peanut rice, green bean sticky rice, white sticky rice, etc., and you can serve “Xoi” with braised meat, braised eggs, spring rolls, chicken, fried eggs, fried rice, salted peanuts, dried onions. Generally, this is a rich dish to experience.
8. Fried banana cake (Bánh Chuoi Chien)
Banana is a very popular fruit in Vietnam. Therefore, this ingredient is often used to make delicious and attractive cakes. Long banana chips that have been dipped in flour and rice flour after frying will have a crispy golden crust but are soft and sweet inside. This dish is simple and easy to make but has a great taste when enjoyed.
9. Hu Tieu
Hu Tieu is a familiar dish in the morning for many Vietnamese people. This dish is so famous that many newspapers praise it. It appeared as a test subject for the program “King of Chefs” in the US.
The ingredients for making “Hu Tieu” include noodles, lemon, chili, pork, and raw vegetables such as bean sprouts, herbs, and basil. This unique dish with a sweet and hot soup, mixed with the sour taste of lemon the spicy flavor of chili and, creates a great attraction with many foreign tourists
10. Crab soup (Sup Cua)
Crab soup is a popular dish in South Vietnam. This street food is enjoyed mainly in winter when the weather is chilly. When traveling to Saigon, you will easily find shops selling delicious crab soup at affordable prices.
Vietnamese people need to use stewed chicken bones to sweeten the soup to cook crab soup. Then maker will use ingredients such as sea crabs, peas, corn, shiitake mushrooms, chicken eggs, quail eggs, and tapioca flour to make this dish.
Because the dish contains eggs, it should be enjoyed hot to avoid fishiness. If you can eat spicily, add a little pepper for more flavor.
11. Grilled rice paper (Banh Trang Nuong)
Grilled rice paper is famous street food, no less than other dishes such as mixed rice paper, Vietnamese bread, and Balut. Although it just started appearing five years ago, it has become a popular dish for many young people in Vietnam.
This type of cake is not like the mixed rice paper we shared above. “Banh Trang Nuong” is made using a spoon to spread the ingredients such as eggs, dried onions, chili sauce, minced meat, fried onions, sausages, and shredded chicken all over the cake, then bake it on a coal fire. Enjoying the cake while it is still hot is best because it will be crispy.
12. Banh Can
Banh Can is a specialty loved by many Vietnamese people in coastal cities like Da Nang, Phan Thiet, Vung Tau, and Nha Trang. The crispy crust hugs the hot egg, squid, or shrimp filling. When eating, add a little onion fat and then eat it with spicy and sour fish sauce or fish sauce, making this dish “excellently delicious.” Banh Can bring a feeling of fullness for a long time, so it is a popular choice for lunch or dinner in Vietnam.
13. Nem Chua Nuong
Nem Chua is a dish that has existed for a long time. This Vietnamese street food is popular in the Northern region of Vietnam, especially Thanh Hoa. This is a unique dish, from the way to the taste when used.
Nem Chua is made from ground pork and microfiber skin. People mix them with the spices well and wrap them in plastic. Finally, people will roll the plastic with the outer layer of banana leaves and leave it for about 3-5 days before using it.
Nem Chua, understood, is most of the raw meat. But it is unique because the meat wrapped in banana leaves has a delicious taste without going rancid. This is also an effective food preservation solution that the foreign press praises.
Nem Chua Nuong is served with dipping sauce or chili sauce to create a delicious and attractive spicy taste. It is a street food that much Vietnamese love very much, and they often drink Vietnamese beer when eating this dish
14. Dried Beef Salad
Many foreign tourists mistake Vietnamese Dried Beef Salad for Thai Green Papaya Salad (Som Tum). Although processed with the same ingredients as shredded green papaya, roasted peanuts, coriander, and dried black beef, the taste of these two specialties is entirely different.
Dried Beef Salad is a harmonious combination of three flavors, sweet-salty - spicy, eaten with crispy shrimp crackers; it will be even more extraordinary. Vietnamese women favor this street food because it is delicious to eat, but they are not afraid of gaining weight.
We introduced to you a list of Vietnamese street food. I hope you will soon visit our beautiful country to experience it.