VIETNAMESE FOOD →TOP EDIBLE DISHES

Pho noodle soup → Authentic Vietnamese Food to Savor

If Vietnamese Foods are your go, then Pho is on top of the list for sure. Vietnamese call it beef noodle soup, and such it is, but so much more. It is Vietnam in a bowl. Pronounced like ‘fur’ (but drop the ‘r’), it is beef noodle soup raised to the nth degree. You can have pho everywhere in Vietnam, but it is almost a cult in Hanoi.

From the garnish tray, add a squeeze of lime juice. Add beansprouts to the soup, and a dash of chilli sauce and fish sauce. Lastly, sprinkle it with coriander leaves, or mint leaves, or basil. Or all of them. With your chopsticks, thrust deeply to the bottom of the bowl. Lift the noodles above the surface and let the dressings you’ve added subsume into the body of the work. Lay the noodles back to rest. In the next minute the flavours will marry. The more traditional beef variety of pho is called pho bo, while the chicken is pho ga. Try it in cold misty winters of Hanoi and you will thank this article away…

“Bun Rieu Cua” Best Crab Noodle Soup → Vietnamese Food

Thank the northern Vietnamese Cuisine knack for turning humble ingredients into something sublime for this crustacean-flavoured soup. It’s made from paddy crabs, packed with tomato chunks, freshly chopped green onions and bun (rice vermicelli), and capped with a floater of sautéed crab fat. Some cooks add bean curd and Oc (large snails, in which case the dish is called bun rieu cua oc). Green leaves and herbs, along with sliced banana tree stem, are mainstay accompaniments. Experience the authentic taste of Vietnam as you savor the unique combination of seafood and aromatic herbs. Whether you’re a food enthusiast or a curious adventurer, Bun Rieu Cua is a must-try dish that transports you to the vibrant streets of Vietnam with every flavorful spoonful.

Banh: Hue’s Special delight Vietnamese food

One of the tastiest relics of Emperor Tu Duc’s reign is Banh, steamed rice cakes eaten with a drizzle of fish sauce. Whether eaten plain, dotted with chopped mushrooms, or stuffed with chopped dried shrimp, these dainty Hué bites make the perfect light breakfast or between-meal snack. Heatloving central Vietnamese Cuisine and locals often add a dollop of chilli sauce top of it.

My Quang → Vietnamese Food of Danang

Thick and chewy turmeric-yellow noodles dish topped with shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, herbs and chopped peanuts, and are moistened with just a bit of rich broth. Named for its native province of Quang Nam, Danang, the dish comes with rice crackers for crumbling and is finished in characteristically central- Vietnamese style Food, with a dab of sweet-hot chilli jam.

Banh Trang Phoi Suong

A Vietnamese food that is veritable hedgerow of unusual greens and herbs, many of which are gathered wild from riverbanks and rice paddies, features in this Trang Bang District do-it-yourself roll-up of thinly sliced pork and cucumber, accompanied by pickled garlic, daikon and carrots. Everything’s bundled into rustic rice papers, which have, as the name of the dish suggests, been ‘exposed in the dew at night’, and dipped in nuoc cham.

Canh Chua: Vietnamese Food of Mekong

This beautiful, tangy tamarind-flavoured soup embodies the Mekong Delta’s abundance of Cuisine: from its waterways come fish; from its fruit plantations, pineapple; and from its fertile soil, tomato and spongy bac ha or taro stem. The region’s rice paddies contribute the cuminlike herb rau rom. Accompanied by rice it’s an unpretentious yet appetising meal in a bowl.

Banh Khot → Vung Tau’s Vietnamese Cuisine

These small sweet-and-savoury prawn pancakes are made from ground rice and coconut milk batter that’s cooked in special half-spherical moulds, resulting in a crispy crust enclosing a soft centre. A speciality of Ba Ria-Vung Tau  southern Vietnam’s province, they’re eaten rolled with herbs in a lettuce leaf.

Mon cuon (Rice rolls)

Rice rolls are produced everywhere in Vietnam, with the most well-known being goi cuon, but the variety that are made in Hanoi, banh cuon, have their own special characteristics. The wrappings of “banh cuon” are as thin as a sheet of paper, appearing as edible alabaster, soft yet offering something to the teeth. Ingredients may include grilled pork, fried bean curd, or vegetables. If you’re really lucky, they’ll add a drop of coleopterous essence (a highly aromatic secretion from the gland of a type of beetle).

Northern Vietnamese Food specialties

The basic tenets of the north Vietnam cookery cuisine are more closely aligned with China than that of other local regions. Fewer spices are available than in the south, but the people couldn’t do without black pepper. They use a superior grade that is mild, yet intensely aromatic, and with a sweetness that is unique to this land. Equally important are the sweet and pungent herbs – basil, mint, coriander, spring onions, and several other tasty leaves. You’ll like it…

Authentic Hanoi’s Cuisine → Bun cha

Bun cha is pressed pork served on a bed on of cold rice noodles and dressed with a few herbs. The meat is always cut from a piece of well-marbled pork. It is marinated in a mixture of sweet, hot, sour and salty, and the resulting product tastes like none of its constituent flavours, yet more than the sum of its parts.

Bun Cha become known even more since US president, Obama savor it in Hanoi back in 2016. The exquisite flavors of “Bun Cha,” a Vietnamese Food delight that promises a symphony of savory and sweet sensations. Our Bun Cha is meticulously crafted, featuring succulent grilled pork patties, vermicelli noodles, and a tantalizing broth that captures the essence of authentic Vietnamese cuisine.

Bun Cha originate in Hanoi and is a must-try experience that transports you to the vibrant streets of Hanoi.

Snail dishes

In Hanoi there is a type of snail living in ponds and lakes that grows to the size of a golfball, has a streaked colour, and, while chewy, is very tasty. Its about the street foods. They are called ‘Oc’. Bun Oc are boiled snails dipped in nuoc cham, placed in a bowl of rice vermicelli and snail consommé poured over. You can also get bun oc in many seafood restaurants.

Oc ngoi are minced snails mixed with onion, garlic and mushroom; rolled in ginger leaves and stuffed in the shell of the snail; then stewed. Pull the ginger leaf out and the rest comes along. Oc hap bia are snails are steamed in beer. Try also oc xao ca vo (shelled stir-fried snails), oc cuon cha (rolled snail), bun oc kho (dried noodle and snails).

Vietnamese Lau Dish (Hot pot)

The lau (hot pot) comes from China. It is a turban-shaped pan containing stock in the middle of which is a charcoal stove (now gas fuel is used). The stock is kept simmering throughout the meal. The lau is placed in the middle of the table, around which is a variety of foods, including rice vermicelli, pig’s heart, liver and kidneys, goat meat, eel, onion and vegetables. The less adventurous might opt for shellfish, river fish or chicken. Put as much food as you’d like to eat into the pot, give it a stir, and in about five minutes you’re ready for dinner.

Keep replenishing the pot as you go. It’s rather like fondue, and just as convivial and fun. Depending on the ingredients used, it might be called lau de (goat meat), lau luon (eel meat) or lau thap cam (with many different kinds of meat). Best to try if you’re visiting Hanoi and north in the winter.

Southern Vietnamese Food

The south grows a greater variety of tropical and temperate Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, and more varieties of spice. Southerners also use more sugar in their recipes, even the savoury ones. Dining in the south is very much a hands-on experience. You will be presented with a plate of fresh lettuce and herbs. Take a little of the cooked food and place it in the centre of a lettuce leaf, add some of the herbs, and wrap the lettuce around the food and dip it into whatever sauce is close at hand.

Claypot (noi dat) is very southern cookery, and very satisfying. Claypots are usually small, often unglazed, with a lid, and look little different from a flowerpot with a lid. They were originally used by farmers and fishermen who had little to cook, few pots to cook in, and little fuel for the fire.

Bánh xèo

Bánh xèo is a large crepe filled with goodies. This Vietnamese Food (As local call it), is make with rice flour and coconut milk, and fill it with meat and shellfish, as well as vegetables. Bánh xèo is often referred to in English as a Vietnamese ‘pancake’. We think this is an unsatisfactory translation, but there seems to be nothing we can do about it. Whatever, try it in the streets of Hanoi, we do recommend it.