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Vietnam Food & Drink Overview
One of the most fascinating topics for all travelers when visiting Vietnam is the cuisine. The nation is divided into 3 regions: the North, Center, and South, and each area have its unique beauty that is different from the others.
This diversity has made many foreign travelers adore Vietnamese food:
- In the North: Hanoi is home to a great diversity of local food, street food, and foreign food. The local taste here focuses on the harmonious combination of flavors from various spices such as chili, lemongrass, and pepper,…
- In the Center: This region often suffers from harsh weather, which is probably the reason why the taste in the Center area is rich. They usually add lots of chili to their dishes to bear the cold weather.
- In the South: The cuisine in the South is influenced by neighboring countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, and China. Like the friendliness of the local people, all dishes in the region are sweet.
Besides, you can find the significance of French influences in many Vietnamese dishes such as bread, salads, pastries, ice cream, and café in daily local life.
Distinct Food & Drink In 3 Regions
Traditional Vietnamese dishes are boiled and steamed rather than stir-fried. However, you should notice that most Vietnamese food is made with smelly fish sauce, which can not be your favorite. Just take note before the process or stick with plenty of backup choices like vegetables, rice, and salad.
Diverse Vietnamese Cuisine
When it comes to Vietnamese drinks, green tea must be the national drink in daily life, while fresh beer and rice wine are the most popular alcoholic drinks in Vietnam. Coming to Vietnam, you shouldn’t miss out on the chance to try Vietnamese coffee, fruit juice, yogurt, milk tea, and sweet soup with various toppings and flavors.
Let’s immerse in the delight of Vietnamese food and drink!
Top Must-try Traditional Vietnamese Cuisine
Vietnam is such a beautiful country with its breathtaking landscapes and unique cuisine. If you are traveling to Vietnam, don’t miss the chance to learn about Vietnam cuisine. Not only because of its taste, but it is also inexpensive with plenty of nutrients.
Banh Mi – Vietnamese Sandwich
Like Pho, this dish has made all tourists fall in love with Vietnamese cuisine. Banh Mi was introduced to Vietnam by the French during their colonial period, it was the baguette’s modification with different ingredients to satisfy the local taste.
Nowadays, it is the world-famous street food that you can find anywhere in Vietnam.
Vietnamese Sandwich
For a simple Banh Mi, you can add bread, egg, pate, BBQ pork, cucumber, tomato, carrot, and vegetables. But you can always add more ingredients, from sausage, and grilled beef to chicken, all together bring the delicious flavor.
Where to eat?
In each region, there will be a slightly different recipe for the rolls, making many different variations of Banh Mi.
It is not hard to find a shop selling Banh Mi. You can enjoy it in every corner of the city at a very reasonable price.
Bun Cha – Kebab Rice Noodles
Bun Cha is world-famous traditional street food in Vietnam. Even the Vietnamese coming from other provinces would find and try the dish when they go to Hanoi. This dish is a combination of warm broth with grilled minced pork and Vietnamese noodle.
When the food is brought to the table, you will have a plate of rice noodles, a small basket of fresh herbs, and a bowl of warm broth with grilled minced pork and meatball.
Kebab Rice Noodles
When you eat, you will dip a small number of rice noodles into the broth, and eat it with grilled pork. Do not put all noodles in because it might cool the broth down quickly. Also, if you like grilled pork, you can always ask for more. The broth has a salty-sweet taste from baking pork bones, and the grilled pork is amazingly good.
Pho – Rice Noodle Soup
Pho is probably not a new name for tourists because it has been on every list of famous traditional Vietnamese food. It is a pride in Vietnamese cuisine and has been popular all over the world. Pho consists of savory broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat. The meat varies from beef, and chicken to duck, and goose.
The rice noodle used in Pho is flatter and larger, which is different from the one used in Bun Cha, which has a small shape of white rope.
Rice Noodle Soup
South Vietnam has its own style of Pho, but the flavor is different from Pho in the north. Saigon Pho has a sweeter taste of broth and meat, but they use the same ingredients for meat, including pork, beef, chicken, duck, or goose.
Pho is a popular Vietnamese food and you can easily find an eatery serving Pho everywhere in the country.
Where to eat?
If you want to enjoy the most authentic traditional flavor of Vietnamese Pho to know why people love it, you must give Pho Bo Hanoi or Pho Ga Hanoi a try.
Banh Cuon – Vietnamese Steamed Rice Rolls
Banh Cuon is another traditional Vietnamese food that is one of VOGUE’s 29 Must-Try Vietnamese Dishes For Visitors. This is made from rice flour, steamed into thin slides like paper. Then it will be stuffed with cooked minced pork, minced wood ear mushroom, onions, steamed bean sprouts, and rolled.
Before it is served, it will be sprinkled with golden brown dried onion on top. And you will eat with spicy and sweet sauce which plays an important part in the dish.
To make the batter of Banh Cuon, the cook needs to husk the rice until smooth, then blend it with water. When you eat this dish, you can have it with Cha (Vietnamese pork sausage) to add more protein as well as flavor.
Banh Goi – Fried Pillow Cake
This Vietnamese dish is called Banh Goi because it has a cute pillow shape and is usually the favorite dish of the Vietnamese in winter. Unlike in Western countries where cake is baked in the oven, Vietnamese cakes are mostly deep-fried. After being fried deeply in cooking oil, Banh Goi has yellow skin that is delicious, crispy, and fragrant.
The skin is a mixture of water and rice flour and the inside is made by combining different ingredients. Glass noodles, wood ears, minced pork, egg, and mushroom are chopped and mixed well together with some spice.
There is a dipping sauce that consists of fish sauce, garlic, chili, sugar, lime juice, and water. When Banh Goi is served, it comes with some fresh herbs like lettuce and coriander.
Nem Ran – Fried Spring Rolls
Not only is Nem Ran a famous traditional Vietnamese food, but it is also the favorite dish of most Vietnamese people from North to South. This traditional Vietnamese food can be homemade on important days, especially during the Lunar New Year.
It is thought that the spring rolls originated in eastern China during the Jin Dynasty from 266 to 420 AD. When spring is about to end and farmers can harvest fresh vegetables, they will celebrate by making a pancake and wrapping it with the freshest vegetables of that season.
Nem Ran is made with the wrapper – a flat dried paper made of rice flour and it has the shape of a circle or square. The stuffing is normally a mixture of minced pork, egg, carrot, glass noodle, wood ear mushrooms, herbs, and spice.
No matter which ingredients are used, all are mixed well and then wrapped with rice paper into small rolls. These rolls are then deep-fried until they have a yellow color. The dipping sauce for this dish is quite similar to the one for Banh Goi, it consists of fish sauce, lemon juice, sugar, chili, and pepper. Nem Ran is usually served with rice, noodles, and salad.
Pho Cuon – Fresh Rolling Pho
In recent years, Pho Cuon (Vietnamese fresh rolling Pho) has emerged and become one of the favorite dishes of both local people and international ones traveling to Hanoi. The dish was invented in one small restaurant on Ngu Xa street in Hanoi.
The owner of a noodle restaurant in this area has thought of how to use rolling Pho with beef and dipping fish sauce to eat. Since then, a new style of Pho has been served and become popular.
Pho Cuon that you have today has not only beef but also eggs, carrots, cucumbers, even pineapples, fried tofu, or shrimp. It looks more like spring rolls without being fried. Since the day it appears in Hanoi, Pho Cuon has taken the heart of food lovers coming from every region.
Bun Dau Mam Tom – Noodles with Fried Tofu and Shrimp Paste
Bun dau mam tom is a very popular dish in Vietnam, especially in the North. It is served everywhere, from markets to street stalls and restaurants. This dish has a very unique taste of shrimp sauce that many people favor.
Bun dau mam tom consists of rice vermicelli, fried tofu, trotter, Vietnamese sausage, and herbs. All of them are served on banana leaves.
Guests can choose between Shrimp paste or Fish sauce to eat with the dish. If you are trying the dish for the first time, you probably want to eat it with fish sauce as the shrimp paste has a really hard smell. Just dip noodles and other ingredients in shrimp paste or fish sauce and enjoy the good taste of this typical feature in Vietnamese cuisine.
Ca Phe Trung – Egg Coffee
Although it sounds weird to have coffee with eggs, these two ingredients create an innovative style of coffee that many people love. The creator of the egg cafe is Mr. Nguyen Van Giang. He was a talented chef at the Metropole Hotel.
The reason for the egg cafe’s birth was very simple. The cappuccino was a delicious French drink at the time, but not many Vietnamese had enough money to drink it. Mr. Giang is very concerned about a delicious and attractive beverage that is still affordable to Vietnamese people.
Egg coffee (also known as Cafe Trung) is a Vietnamese traditional beverage including egg yolks, condensed milk, sugar, and robusta coffee. The recipe for Egg coffee was developed by Mr. Nguyen Giang in the late 1940s. Egg coffee is normally served inside a bowl of hot water to retain its temperature.
Bun Bo Hue – Hue Beef Noodles
Bun Bo Hue is one of the best well-known traditional Vietnamese dishes that come from Hue, the old capital of Vietnam in the Nguyen dynasty in the Central region.
Bun Bo Hue is made with beef, trotter, pork ball, frozen blood, and some herbs such as bean sprouts, lemon, coriander, etc. Not only the ingredients but also the broth makes the dish different from any other type of noodles in Vietnam, making it umami taste.
Hu Tieu Go – Chinning Noodle
Hu Tieu Go is popular street food in Saigon, which can be found in small food carts on pavements on streets that are always crowded with people till late at night. The reason why it is called Hu Tieu Go is that its location is mobile.
It has some carts and plastic stools and the staff just walk around the streets and knock a bamboo tocsin to invite guests. Back in the old days, it was a dish sold in small alleys for poor people, but nowadays, people in Saigon have the dish as a snack for their days. Hu Tieu Go is somewhat influenced by Chinese cuisine. The main ingredients are Chinese noodles, pork, Vietnamese sausage, onion, bean sprouts, coriander, egg, herbs, etc.
Che – Sweet Soup
Che – Vietnamese sweet soup is a dish used as a dessert in Asian cuisine, it originated in China and spread to Vietnam and many other countries. This is a dish of water, of which the most important ingredient is sugar. It is more like a desert on hot days in every part of Vietnam. Today, Che in Vietnam has become very diverse, extremely unique, and attractive. The most popular one is a mixture of a great variety of beans and has a sweet taste. You can also add fruits and jelly to have more flavor.
Bun Mam – Fermented Fish and Seafood Noodle Soup
Bun Mam is a specialty of Vietnamese cuisine that originated in Cambodia. This is cooked with Linh fish sauce or Sac fish instead of Bu Hoc fish sauces as originated in Cambodia.
Therefore, when introduced to our country, Bun Mam has brought a completely different flavor, bringing a unique characteristic of the West.
This dish is spicier than other types of noodles, made with rice vermicelli noodles, eggplant, limes, fresh chilies, shrimp, squid, pork belly, and flaky white fish. It is often served with vegetables and herbs.
However, it has a pungent smell that not all tourists can bear. If you want to try a new dish with a delicious flavor, it’s worth trying Bun Mam.
Banh Xeo – Vietnamese Crepes
Vietnamese pancake is a famous street food that is said to have originated in France during the occupation of Vietnam. The word “xeo” means the sizzling sound when you make the dish. It is one of the top traditional Vietnamese food that you must try. The dish is made by pouring the rice batter into the hot oil, then stuffing it with shrimp, boiled pork, bean sprouts, and spring onion. The dipping sauce is mixed with delicious fish sauce, crushed garlic chili, lemon, sugar, monosodium glutamate and radish, chopped carrots, and vinegar.
When it is ready to be served, it has a yellow outer layer and you will roll it with dried rice paper, vegetables, and herbs.
Com Tam – Vietnamese Broken Rice
Com Tam Suon Nuong first appeared in the old regime period in Vietnam. Since ancient times, Com Tam has been a popular dish only for poor working-class students. People try to make use of broken grains (broken rice grains) during milling to cook them into the rice. The dish is served with grilled pork, ribs, egg meatloaf, cucumber, carrot, spring onion, and other vegetables and it comes along with a small bowl of fish sauce, and a bowl of soup. Currently, Com Tam Suon Nuong is one of the most typical dishes of Saigon that everyone must try Com Tam Saigon during a Ho Chi Minh City Food Tour.
Bun Thit Nuong – Noodles With Grilled Pork/Beef/Shrimp
Another Vietnamese noodle is on the list but features a little bit differently. Bun Thit Nuong is a dry noodle, so there is no broth or soup. It comes along with Vietnamese herbs such as salad, coriander, and perilla, so it tastes fresh. The dish consists of grilled marinated pork served with rice noodles, well-mixed fish sauce, and various fresh vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, and Vietnamese herbs. People usually have it for breakfast or brunch.
Mi Quang – Quang-style Noodle
Mi Quang (Quang seafood noodle) originated from Quang Nam – a province on Vietnam’s South Central Coast. It’s a summertime dish since it’s just too hot to enjoy a bowl of conventional noodle soup in the winter. Ingredients to make Mi Quang include rice noodles, shrimp (pork, chicken, fish, beef – depending on different people), herbs, and a small amount of broth. The bone broth with intense flavor, together with fish sauce, black pepper, shallot, and garlic, gives the Quang seafood noodle a unique taste that you cannot find anywhere else in any dish.
Cha Ca La Vong – Vietnamese Turmeric Fish with Dill
A typical meal from Hanoi in northern Vietnam is Cha Ca. The dish’s full name is frequently written as “Cha Ca Thang Long” or “Cha Ca La Vong”. A restaurant in the Old Quarter began serving Cha Ca in the 19th century. Cha Ca was invented by the Doan family. They made delicious Cha Ca to serve their guests in the year of the French domination period, and the dish’s popularity soon spread. The grilled fish with dill and turmeric is complex to prepare, right from the first step of making the marinade. The marinade is made of turmeric, garlic, shallots, galangal, salt, sugar, and fish sauce. The fish is marinated for at least one hour before being grilled in advance. Right before serving the dish to guests, they fry it in oil.
Com Hen – Mussel Rice
By the time of the Thieu Tri dynasty, mussels were sold in the markets of Hue city and became a favorite food of many people. During the reign of King Thanh Thai, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thep offered mussels to the king. Next, she was rewarded by the king and established Hen’s ward. Since then, Com Hen has become a royal product every Tet holiday. It is a difficult dish that combines flavors that are sweet, buttery, salty, sour, bitter, and spicy. White rice cooked with coolness, starfruit, herbs, Indian taro, fish sauce, pepper, fried onion, sesame salt, chili sauce, fried pork skin, fried shrimp, roasted peanuts, and mussels sauteed with spices.
Bun Rieu – Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup
Bun Rieu is a traditional dish of Vietnam, which is well-known both domestically and internationally. Because of its fresh taste, Bun Rieu becomes one of the most favorite dishes in summer that you can enjoy anywhere in Vietnam. It is distinguished by a broth made of pork that also contains tomatoes, onions, dried shrimp, and a blend of crab paste and eggs. The broth has a perfect combination of salty and sweet tastes thanks to all the components, and is made sweet by the pork and dried shrimp and somewhat salty by the crab paste.
The dish is then garnished with veggies and occasionally shrimp paste and served on vermicelli noodles. Some individuals prefer to keep their toppings basic, so they occasionally only add green onions.
Com Nieu – Steamed Rice
For Vietnamese people, rice is the pearl from heaven. Rice is not only a food but also represents thousands of years of life and the agricultural economy. Therefore, Vietnamese culinary culture is also marked by many unique dishes honoring the flavor of rice grains. In particular, Com Nieu is a classic simple, but it creates a unique culinary culture. The original pot of Vietnamese porridge is cooked rice, a traditional cooking tool of the ancient Vietnamese – clay pot. This device has a large thickness to retain heat, so the rice grain has a unique flavor, more delicious when cooked in a metal pot.
Bia Hoi Hanoi – Hanoi Draft Beer
Bia Hoi Hanoi is not too strange for Vietnamese people. It is not difficult to see the image of fresh beer pubs or sidewalk beers with crowded customers regardless of summer or winter days. Still, beer is always the drink that many people want, especially men. When drinking Bia Hoi, the drinker will feel refreshed, not bitter, even if the alcohol content is high. Therefore, even if you are a non-drinker, a glass of Bia Hoi Hanoi can still refresh you, especially on hot days. Moreover, Bia Hoi Hanoi is usually produced and used within 24 hours, to ensure the “freshness” of Bia Hoi Hanoi.
