Enjoying Vietnamese Food from North to the South

“Enjoying Vietnamese Food from North to the South”. I think this writting will be necessary for your holiday in Vietnam.

Because a travel trip that does not enjoy local food, it will be very tedious !

So, please read our writting to have the best advices about Vietnamese Food from North to the South.

Northern Vietnamese Food

Bun Cha

A Hanoi specialty, you’ll find “Bun Cha” at food stalls and street kitchens across the city. With only grilled pork patties and smoky strips of pork belly as the primary ingredients in this simple looking dish, and served with a sweet and vinegary dipping sauce. It is eaten with cold rice noodles with assorted foliage.

Where to enjoy: Dac Kim Bun Cha. 1 Hang Manh, Hanoi.

Banh Cuon

Banh Cuon is made from fermented rice flour and always made fresh, right in front of you. Minced pork and chopped wood ear mushrooms are thinly spread over a thin layer of the paste, briefly steamed, and wrapped into light and fluffy rolls as soon as the paste has set. Served with a cha lua (fishcake) and dipping sauce for breakfast, it’s the perfectly light start to the day, but also perfect if you’re in the hunger zone between meals.

Where to enjoy: Thanh Van Banh Cuon, 14 Hang Ga, Old Quarter, Hanoi.

Beef (Chicken) Noodle

If you haven’t heard of this hearty and delicious noodle soup, you must be living under a rock. Thin strips of beef or chicken cook in a boiling hot broth laden with wide rice noodles. Fresh bean sprouts, chilies, and a whole mess of fresh herbs accompany the broth, so you can load the bowl to your taste preferences. The servings are huge, and I can attest to their ability to cure a hangover.

Where to enjoy: 49 Bat Dan Street

Egg Coffee

Vietnamese “egg coffee” is technically a drink, but we prefer to put it in the dessert category. The creamy soft, meringue-like egg white foam perched on the dense Vietnamese coffee will have even those who don’t normally crave a cup of joe licking their spoons with delight.

Where to enjoy: Giang Cafe Shop or Cafe Dinh Shop.

Central Vietnamese Food

Banh Xeo

For those who haven’t visited Vietnam, this may be an unfamiliar dish. But once you’ve tried it, “Banh Xeo” will rocket to the top of your Favorite Vietnamese Meals list.

It’s a distinctly Vietnamese take on a savory crepe: a crispy-crunchy rice flour and turmeric pancake wraps up minced pork and shrimp. The magical combo is topped with herbs and bean sprouts, and dipped into nuoc cham. Despite having pretty basic ingredients, it’s a meal that bewitches the most accomplished foodies in the world. Do not miss this one!

Beef Noodle Style Hue

Most visitors would be familiar with Pho, which is milder in flavour, but Bun Bo Hue is packed full of spices and flavour, with lemongrass being the dominant flavour.

The primary cut of protein used are generally beef shin or brisket, and the contents of the broth is flavoured with pork bones and beef tendons that give the broth a moorish and gelatinous stickiness on the lips. Most vendors throw their own spin on the dish, with some adding cha lua (Vietnamese steamed pork loaf) and/or huyet (Vietnamese pig’s blood cubes) depending on their local customer’s tastes. The use of spaghetti shaped rice noodles make it an extra slurpable and possibly messier dish to eat.

Cao Lau

Cao Lao noodles possess a firmer texture than the usual Vietnamese rice noodles. It is unique to the region because as legend has it, the noodles are made from a specific water well in the town. Whether it’s true or not, could be the reason why you don’t see it replicated anywhere else in Vietnam or the world.

There is a distinct Chinese/Japanese influence with the use of braised pork, common in Chinese cooking, and brown noodles resembling soba noodles, widely used in Japan. With very little soup added to the dish, the flavours pack a caramelized intensity, but is balanced by the amount of herbs on the side, requiring you to do all of the work to mix everything together and season to taste.

Where: Thanh. 26 Thai Phien, Hoi An.

Mi Quang

You could probably classify Mi Quang as half noodle soup and half salad. The amount of soup is quite minimal; just enough to lather every strand of noodle in a rich broth and spicy broth. It also comes with a side of baby leaf salad and shaved banana blossom that you can eat along with the dish, or mix the entire contents in. The main ingredient used tend to be the classic surf and turf combination of pork as well as prawn.

Banh Mi Phuong

2 options for you:

-Madam Phuong Banh Mi, 2B Phan Chu Trinh Street, Hoi An

A fresh-looking roll, popular with Western tourists because it featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations television series.

-Madam Khanh “The Banh My Queen”, 115 Tran Cao Van Street, Hoi An

A rich, sauce-heavy roll that leads to messy but extremely satisfying eating.

Southern Vietnamese Food

Goi Cuon

These translucent fresh spring rolls are available all over the country, so don’t hold back if they’re on the menu anywhere. But in the south there is a version that is so delicious, it might ruin you for fresh spring rolls forever. Filled with thin strips of barbecued pork, star fruit and green banana, it’s a sweet-savory mouth explosion that will send you reeling. Dipped into some hearty peanut sauce, it reaches a new stratosphere of deliciousness.

Hu Tieu

Hu tieu Nam Vang. This small  stall on Duong Quang Ham street, Go Vap district sells Hu tieu for breakfast and snails in the evening with a large number of frequent customers. Toy can call Hu tieu bo kho (Beef stew rice noodle soup) for me or Hu tieu muc (Squid rice noodle soup). the crunchy seafood and well-cooked beef stew offered, and especially super sweetness and freshness of the broth. The owner was also very nice when serving and providing us with helpful advice to grab a taxi. You will  feeling a warm welcome from the local people here.

Now, Are you join a travel trip from North to South of Vietnam and enjoy these famous foods ???