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Dishes across Vietnam: 7 must-try Vietnamese foods you don't want to miss
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Dishes across Vietnam: 7 must-try Vietnamese foods you don't want to miss
April 30, 2021
Vietnamese cuisine has long been widely recognized. It has even become a pride of Vietnamese people. Not only do tourists love the unique taste, they also love the diversity. There are hundreds of dishes that are local specialties. Here is the list of must-try Vietnamese dishes that are tourists’ favorites.
Banh Mi has recently passed Pho to become the favorite dish in Vietnam. It is in the top 10 most delicious street foods in the world. BBC even voted Banh Mi as the most tasty kind of sandwich. Famous travel websites and food bloggers all mention Banh Mi in their contents.
Banh Mi is both tasty and affordable so it is very common in Vietnam
What makes Banh Mi so special is its insides. There are countless different types of fillings for Banh Mi, such as meat, pate, sausages, fried eggs or spring rolls and people are still inventing new ones every day. Each type of fillings is unique but all Banh Mi have the most crunchy crust, the most delicate taste of pickles and the delicious sauce put inside. At some places, they even reheat Banh Mi on a coal stove to enhance the flavor. Just one bite and you won’t be able to resist more Banh Mi.
Price: 10,000 - 30,000 VND
Best place to eat: Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City
We consider Pho to be the most significant of all dishes when it comes to Vietnam. Not only is Pho a popular street food in Vietnam but the dish is also available in many restaurants around the world. Many famous writers even include it in their work. Pho is not just a delicious and healthy traditional Vietnamese food. People consider it to be the elite dish of Vietnam’s cuisine.
You can see Pho everywhere across Vietnam, in both small and big restaurants. People from all ages and social standings can enjoy the delightful taste of Pho. Vietnamese eat Pho at any time of the day from day to night, even at midnight. There are so many people eating Pho that at some famous Pho restaurants, you will have to wait in line for half an hour just to be seated.
Pho is considered an elite dish in Vietnamese cuisine
There are two types of Pho: beef and chicken, but beef is more popular. Pho firstly tempted people for its smell. You can hear the unique smell of herbs and some other ingredients in Pho from very far away. And the moment you eat Pho is the moment of truth. No one can resist the taste of the perfectly seasoned broth blending in with the scent of meat, some slices of herbs and the pure white Pho noodles made of rice powder.. More importantly, the exquisite flavor of beef fits perfectly in the dish.
Price: 30,000 - 45,000 VND
Best place to eat: Hanoi
Banh Xeo is a very common traditional Vietnamese dish. It is available across the country with a simple bright yellow color. It might look like fried egg but there is a light scent of turmeric and the fillings inside which is bean sprouts with meat or shrimps. Some people call Banh Xeo the crepe of Vietnam, but Banh Xeo definitely has some outstanding features.
Banh Xeo is everywhere but different regions have some distinctive details in size and the insides. The Southern Banh Xeo is really big in size and it is usually cooked in a large pan. It is chewy and soft, together with a lot of fillings. On the other hand, when cooking, Banh Xeo in Central Vietnam is poured into smaller round trays and the Banh Xeo powder is mixed with some rice powder. People usually eat it with fresh seafood such as shrimps or squids. When people here fry Banh Xeo, they use a lot of oil which creates a crunchy texture. Meanwhile, in the North, Banh Xeo is a combination between pork, some onions, mushrooms and raw vegetables. Famous CNN food bloggers Helen and Karryn once wrote: “To eat like local people, cut the crepe into small pieces, roll it with herbs and dip in special sauce.”
Banh Xeo in the South is very much larger than in other regions
Banh Xeo in Central Vietnam is smaller but more crispy
Price: 10,000 VND/Banh Xeo
Best place: Ho Chi Minh City
Goi cuon is a special kind of spring roll. It is a perfect choice when you are over fried dishes. It has transparent wrappers so you can see the appetizing insides with a touch of green chives and ivory boiled pork, highlighted by the red color of shrimps. The skillful wrapping makes it look even more delicious to tourists. The dipping sauce for Goi Cuon varies: there is fish sauce and there is anchovy paste, which can both go together with soybean and roasted peanuts.
Goi Cuon is very appetizing as you can see the colorful insides
Food expertises around the world have labeled Goi Cuon as one of the most healthy dishes in the world. In 2011, Goi Cuon ranked 30 in the top 50 most delicious foods according to CNN.
Price: 2,000VND/Goi Cuon
Best place to eat: Southern Vietnam
Vietnamese Bun Cha is also one of the most popular street foods in Asia. This dish is a perfect combination of Vietnam's 2 favorite summer foods: grilled pork and raw vegetables (pickles, herbs,...). There are 2 types of grilled meat: round ones and sliced ones. The cooks season the meat very well and then grill them on coal stoves.
Bun Cha is very popular in summer in Vietnam
The most essential part of Bun Cha is the sauce. This special sauce is a simple combination of fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, chilli, pepper, carrots and green papaya. But the right amount of everything is the secret to the amazingly sweet and sour taste of the sauce. People often eat Bun Cha with a plate of raw vegetables.
Price: at least 25,000 VND
Best place to eat: Hanoi
Bun Bo Hue was once a unique dish of the ancient capital of Hue but now it has spread to other parts of Vietnam. While tasting Bun Bo Hue, Anthony Bourdain, a famous American chef, exclaimed: “Bun Bo Hue is the best soup in the world.”
The original Bun Bo Hue is very spicy but the spiciness has been adjusted in other regions
The main ingredients of Bun Bo Hue are large rice noodles, beef muscle meat, pettitoes and the special broth. According to experienced chefs, the broth is the soul of Bun Bo Hue. It is bone stock cooked with a few kinds of vegetables so it has the lovely scent of lemongrass and shrimp paste. The broth has to be clear and it has to taste sweet, sour and spicy at the same time. People usually eat Bun Bo Hue with herbs.
Price: 30,000 VND
Best place to eat: Dong Ba market (Hue)
Mi Quang is a kind of local food in Quang Nam. The Asia Book of Records has recognized Mi Quang as one of the 12 Vietnamese dishes that has Asian cuisine values.
Just like rice noodles and Pho noodles, Mi Quang is also made from rice but there are some differences in taste. The ingredients for the toppings are very diverse: there are chicken, pork, beef, shrimps, fish and so on. The broth of Mi Quang is also unique. There is not much broth in Mi Quang, not overflowing like Pho but its taste is very strong and bold. People eat Mi Quang with different kinds of herbs, green peppers, quail eggs, roasted peanuts and fish sauce.
The broth of Mi Quang is different from other noodles dishes
Price: 30,000 VND
Best place to eat: Quang Nam
