Vietnamese cuisine is not just about dishes and recipes, but it is a natural cultural feature formed in life. They are known for their characteristics such as harmony, diversity, low fat; and rich flavor with the skillful combination of many different ingredients and spices to help increase the flavor and attractiveness of each dish.
Vietnamese dishes are usually made from vegetables, fruits, and tubers, so they are low in fat and not much meat, and not only focus on beautiful appearance and delicious taste, but they also contain noble meanings.
Here are 20 dishes you must try when traveling to Vietnam.
1. Pho
This is a typical dish food of Vietnamese cuisine, which has been repeatedly praised by CNN, BBC, and Business Insider… voted as the top of the best dishes in Asia. You can taste Pho in every city in Vietnam, such as Chickend Pho, and Beaf Pho.
2. Bread (Banh Bi)
Different from foreign hamburgers or sandwiches, Vietnamese bread is different with a crispy outer crust and a soft foam inside. Especially the empty intestines to add fillings such as meat, pate, eggs, and herbs,… This is also the reason why Banh has become famous around the world.
3. Fried spring rolls (Cha gio)
In the North, it is called spring rolls, while in the South it is called spring rolls. The main standard ingredients for fried spring rolls include: lean minced meat containing fat, vermicelli, wood ears, eggs, carrots, kohlrabi, and bean sprouts. After that, the filling is carefully wrapped in spring rolls and then fried in hot oil. This is a fairly popular dish, almost always appearing on Vietnamese family rice trays during Tet holidays.
4. Rolls (Banh Cuon)
This is a Vietnamese specialty dish that has been around for a long time, but each region has its characteristics. The rolls are thinly coated to keep them clear, chewy, and fragrant from the rice. When eating you dipping with sweet and sour dipping sauce.
5. Pancake (Banh Xeo)
The Pancakes in each region will be different colors, sizes, types of filling inside, and dipping sauce. The common point of all pancakes in Vietnam is that they are made from diluted rice flour, then thinly coated on a pan and deep-fried. The most impressive point is the dipping sauce, a mixture with a sweet and sour taste, dipped to make the pancake more attractive than ever.
6. Kebab rice noodles (Bun Cha)
This dish includes vermicelli, pork patties grilled on charcoal, and a bowl of sweet, spicy, and sour fish sauce. The dish originates from the North of Vietnam, is the most enduring characteristic dish of Hanoi, so it can be considered one of the typical specialties of Hanoi cuisine. You can also taste this dish in the central and southern provinces of Vietnam
7. Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup (Bun Reu Cua)
Crab Noodle Food is a rustic dish that appears throughout Vietnam. We can see from small eateries to big eateries. The North is the origin of the crab Noodle Food, so the main ingredients and cooking methods are still here. This dish includes Noodles, vegetables, and crab noodles. The crab soup is a sour soup cooked from crab bricks, pounded crab bodies, and filtered crab meat cooked with tomato juice and water fat, Batch, vinegar, and fish sauce.
8. Hue beef noodle soup (Bun Bo Hue)
The thing that makes Hue beef noodles different is the large rice vermicelli, thin but large slices of beef, and the broth is orange-red with an attractive spicy taste. To cook this Vietnamese specialty, you need to be meticulous from the selection of ingredients to the processing steps.
9. Noodle and tofu with shrimp sauce (Bun dau man tom)
Right from the name, it is easy to know that this is a combination of noodles, tofu, and shrimp sauce: Yellow fried tofu, pork leg meat, fried spring rolls, pork, and pork intestines. As a dish originating from Hanoi, vermicelli with shrimp paste is a symbol of street cuisine and has a bold tradition.
10. Promo noodles (Mi Quang)
This is a Vietnamese noodle dish that originated in Quảng Nam Province in central Vietnam. Quang noodles are dishes made from finely ground rice flour to form fibers and eaten with broth and some ingredients such as chicken, eggs, pork, shrimp, beef, frog meat…
11. Fried squid (Muc chien)
Vietnam is a coastal country, so fresh squid is easy to buy and popular in Vietnamese cuisine. Usually, squid is lightly breaded and deep-fried in dough. This dish is loved by people of all ages and regions because it is very easy to eat.
12. Grilled pork with rice noodles (Bun thit nuong)
Grilled pork with rice noodles is a favorite dish in all three regions of Vietnam. There may be many different variations, but the grilled patties must be golden brown and fragrant with lemongrass and sesame. Sweet and sour dipping sauces should be added and the accompanying vegetables should be varied and crispy.
Vietnam is a coastal country, so fresh squid is easy to buy and popular in Vietnamese cuisine. Usually, squid is lightly breaded and deep-fried in dough. This dish is loved by people of all ages and regions because it is very easy to eat.
13.Vietnam Summer Rolls (Goi cuon)
This is one of two Vietnamese dishes on CNN’s list of the 50 best dishes in the world in 2011, also known as spring rolls. This dish is considered the most famous specialty dish in Vietnam, spring rolls are shaped like spring rolls, and include green vegetables, minced pork, shrimp, or crab.
14. Beef Stew with Baguette (Banh my bo kho)
Beef Stew with Baguette is a hearty slow-cooked beef stew.
This dish is cooked through many different steps. In addition to bread, Beef Stew with Baguette can also be served with noodles and instant noodles for breakfast, or also used as a main course for lunch or dinner.
17. Baby basket clams rice/ noodle (Com/Bun hen)
This Vietnamese specialty is abundant in Hue and Nha Trang. The dish that gives you a feeling that is both frugal and extremely rich, suitable for a large number of tourists. Not only special in taste, but the ingredients are fresh and rich.
18. Fermented Fish Noodle Soup (Bun Mam)
Fermented Fish Noodle Soup is a specialty dish of the South of Vietnam. The typical taste of Western vermicelli lies in the broth combined with many types of seafood, vegetables, and roast pork.
This dish is served with seafood and some vegetables that create a great attraction that makes you remember it.
19. Steamed sticky rice (Xoi)
This is a traditional Vietnamese dish made from sticky rice and various toppings. This name stands for a group of dishes made from glutinous rice. It could be salty, sweet, or something in between. Variants specific to Northern Vietnam include peanut sticky rice (peanut glutinous rice). Or sticky rice (glutinous rice covered with mung beans and fried chives), sticky rice gac (glutinous rice dyed with red gac).
20. Grilled chicken (Ga nuong)
Grilled chicken with lemongrass is also similar to other famous Vietnamese noodle dishes, except that the main ingredient is marinated chicken, and grilled with an extremely attractive aroma.
You can choose this dish for daily meals because of the delicious, rich flavor of the spices. Chicken is marinated with lemongrass and chili to make the dish tender and fragrant.