Best foods and drinks in Vietnam

Vietnam is a foodie’s paradise with a variety of unique flavours and specialties. This is our favourite 10 traditional foods of Vietnam, which we fell in love with.

#1 THE SIGNATURE DISH: PHO

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Pho (pronounced “Fur”) is The traditional food of Vietnam and known throughout the world. It is usually a chicken (ga) or beef (bo) broth with thin rice noodles and various herbs.

Sebastien’s first Pho-to…he he he…see what we did there?

Pho originated in the early 20th century in North Vietnam and spread around the world via refugees who fled during the Vietnam War years.

A yummy variant of Pho is “Bun Bo Hue” from the Central Vietnamese city, Hue using rice vermicelli (instead of rice noodles) and served in a delicious shrimp and lemongrass based broth.

Stefan trying the Central Vietnamese specialty called bun bo hue

#2 CAO LAU NOODLES OF HOI AN

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Cao Lau is the signature dish from the Central Vietnamese town of Hoi An and one of Stefan’s favourite traditional foods of Vietnam.

Cao Lau was one of Stefan’s favourite traditional foods of Vietnam: here he shows off his freshly made Cao Lau at our cooking class in Hoi An

The recipe for Cao Lau includes a plate of thick dark rice noodles served in small amounts of richly flavoured broth, topped with pork slices, bean sprouts, greens, herbs and deep-fried croutons.

The noodles make this dish unique because they are darkened after being soaked in ash water from a specific tree found only in the nearby Cham Islands.

Cau lao noodles freshly made by us at our cooking course in Hoi An

#3 MI QUANG NOODLES

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Mi quang is another popular Central Vietnamese noodles dish, similar to Cau Lao, but the noodles are flat white and tinted yellow by the addition of turmeric. The protein source varies from beef, chicken, beef, pork or shrimp.

It is topped with herbs, crushed peanuts and a hard-boiled egg. Mi quang was one of Sebastien’s favourite traditional foods of Vietnam and if you find this sweet lady in the Hoi An local market, her mi quangs are the best .

Sebastien with mi quang noodles: one of his favourite traditional foods of Vietnam

#4 HANOI BUN CHA

Bun cha is a grilled pork based dish served with vermicelli, fresh herbs, vegetables, fish sauce and chopped spring rolls. It originated from Hanoi and spread across Vietnam.

It is served with everything presented in separate bowls (one for the grilled pork, another for the vermicelli, another for the herbs, the chopped garlic and the pickled vegetables) and you assemble it yourself. It is not the healthiest traditional food of Vietnam but a very tasty one!

Sebastien preparing his bun cha – a North Vietnamese speciality from in Hanoi

#5 SPRING ROLLS

Spring rolls are notorious throughout Vietnam and are either deep-fried with minced pork or served fresh.

The deep fried version is crispy, yummy but not very healthy: we learnt to make deep fried spring rolls during our cooking course in Hoi An and lots of oil was used.

Stefan deep frying steam rolls at our cooking class in Hoi An

We preferred fresh spring rolls, also called “garden rolls”. The ingredients are cooked beforehand and then wrapped in rice paper and served with a dipping sauce like fish or peanut sauce. No deep frying involved here!

Sebastien and Quan enjoying fresh spring rolls in Saigon

#6 BANH XEO VIETNAMESE PANCAKES

Banh xeo are deep fried savoury pancakes. The recipe for banh xeo includes pork, egg, shrimp and bean sprouts.

The name Banh Xeo literally means “sizzling cake” because of the sound the rice batter makes when it hits the pan. This traditional food of Vietnam is great for an afternoon snack.

Sebastien with freshly made Vietnamese savoury pancakes: Banh Xeo in our cooking class in Hoi An

#7 WHITE ROSE VIETNAMESE DUMPLINGS

White Rose (or ‘banh bao vac’) is another traditional food of Central Vietnam. They are shrimp dumplings, bunched up to look like a rose. They are then steamed and served with a fish sauce for dipping.

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Stefan showing off his freshly made plate of white roses

We learnt to make white roses during our foodie tour in Hoi An on a vespa. The technique is quite complicated and takes many years to master.

Learning to make white roses – a technique that takes years to master

#8 COM TAM STREET FOOD IN SAIGON

Com tam (‘broken rice’) is a traditional street food snack from Saigon (South Vietnam), made from fractured rice grains and served with grilled pork over the rice, various plates of greens, pickled vegetables, an egg, fish sauce and a small bowl with broth.

We tried a few com tams in Saigon with our friend Quan.

Sebastien and Quan eating com tam in Saigon

#9 VIETNAMESE COFFEE:

Vietnam is THE place for coffee lovers. It is the second largest producer of coffee (after Brazil) and boy is it good!

Traditionally coffee in Vietnam is served either hot or cold and sweetened with plenty of condensed milk. The iced version makes a very refreshing snack during the humid months, particularly in the South.

Sebastien enjoying an iced coffee at Au Bang beach in Hoi An

There is a popular variant in Hanoi called egg coffee (ca phe trung), made with the addition of egg yolks and condensed milk. They are frothy, fun to drink and taste like tiramisu.

Stefan trying egg coffee – a specialty in Hanoi

#10 OUR NEW FRUIT DISCOVERY: BREAST MILK FRUIT!

Vietnam has the ideal tropical climate to keep fruit lovers happy and we were spoilt with mangoes, dragon fruits, papaya, passion fruits…

But in Hoi An we stumbled upon a new fruit we’ve not yet come across: the breast milk fruit! (Also known as Star Apple or Vu Sua).

Star apples are juicy and sweet. They are so nicknamed because as you peel them, a few white milky drops dribble out!

Discovering a new fruit: breast milk fruit, also known as a star apple

And to conclude our best traditional foods of Vietnam article, a beer selfie with our favourite brew, aptly named after the city. If you wanted to down it, you’d clink your glasses first and cry out:

“mot hai ba, YO!”

(ie 1,2,3, drink!)

If you were to down it you would cry out: “MOT HAI BA YA!” – meaning 1, 2, 3, drink!