Food (Vietnam)

Food is considered a window to the tradition and culture of a place specially a country like Vietnam. Vietnamese cuisine is majorly non vegetarian dominated by pork and beef. Still, you may try the chicken versions of some of the popular dishes. It might look difficult for a vegetarian to live in Vietnam but trust us, it is not, when you know what to ask for. Try the local cuisine whatever you can. There is no fun in visiting a place unless you have explored its local food. If you look around, you may find many vegetarian dishes as well. Vietnamese street food is indeed fun.

To help you with food in Vietnam, let us introduce some general Vietnamese terms for your reference. Bánh means bread, cơm means rice, Gà means chicken, thịt bò means beef, nước means water, trứng means egg, rau means vegetables, ăn chay means vegetarian, màu means colour. Here are some of the major Vietnamese dishes:

Fruits/ Coconut

Fruits are abundant in Vietnam. Thus, they are sold everywhere by the streets. You will find fruits including mango, guava, pineapple, lychee, custard apple among many others. The coconuts sold there are larger than normal. They contain loads of water, except odd ones. We had one in Da Nang which probably contained 1.5l of water and the flesh was very tender as well as sweet. We were so full that we did not need our lunch that day. They might be priced 15000-30000 VND.

Phó (noodle soup)

The iconic Vietnamese soup. This is a must try as the chicken version is also available easily. It is basically a chicken noodles soup. The noodles are rice noodles served with chicken chunks and lots of sprouts with the chicken broth seasoned with pepper, garlic, lemon and cilantro. It is light, fulfilling and tasty food of Vietnam. Your trip to Vietnam is incomplete without trying this. After all it is the most popular food in Vietnam.

Phó Khô (dry noodles with soup)

This is the dry version of the phó also called two bowls of phó. It is a little different from the regular phó as in this the noodles maybe thin and round and the bowl of noodles has boiled  chicken chunks, sprouts, peanuts, chicken fat and a sweet and sour dressing. The broth called Ga Tan (herbed chicken soup), is served separately with the regular seasoning. We always prefer this phó over the regular one as this has more flavours in it and if you do not want the chicken, you may separately enjoy the soup only.

Bánh Mỳ/Mi (baguette sandwich)

This is easiest food to have in Vietnam. You will find it everywhere, from street food stalls to restaurant serving only bánh mỳ . As can be seen in the image, it is a sandwich made from the French baguette with filling of meat/eggs, liver paste, pickled vegetables, cucumber, cilantro and a special sauce that varies with every shop. You can either choose the meat of your choice or go for the vegetarian one. Its price and taste vary depending on the ingredients used. It is both fulfilling and tasty. As a result, can be had for any meal. The shop Banh Mi 25 in old quarter Hanoi sells pretty good Banh Mi. Do check it out if you stay in old quarter. As a matter of fact, we always visit this shop when in Old Quarter.

Cơm Chien/ Cơm Rang (fried rice)

This is the name for fried rice in fish and collie sauce. It is not available everywhere, so, you would need to do some asking around. If you see any food joint in Vietnam with the word ‘cơm’ on it just ask there. It has all versions including the vegetarian(chay). Just add the name of the variant you want with cơm and you are good to go. It looks very appetizing and is good for a meal.

Gà Xé Phay (chicken salad with rice)

It is a plain chicken salad having shredded chicken, cabbage, herbs and spicy dressing of chilli, garlic, fish sauce and honey. You may chose whole chicken or shredded chicken as per your liking. Boiled chicken chopped or shredded and served with other vegetables makes a good fresh item to be had in lunch. As a result we had this food frequently while in Vietnam.

Gà Nướng (grilled chicken)

Gà nướng is one good plain dish that you may like in Vietnam. It is rice with grilled chicken (mostly leg and thigh portion) with crispy skin along with a lot of herbs and salad. Ga nuong was so tatsy that it was our dinner on most of the days.

Chả Cá (fried fish)

A hot plate of fried/grilled fish chunks seasoned with garlic, ginger, turmeric and served with dill. It has a mouth-watering look and taste hits closer home.

Gà Tần (chicken ginseng soup)

Gà tần is nothing but plain chicken noodles soup. Not the ones we get in our homes but  clearer and seasoned with herbs giving it a greenish tinge, and big chunks of chicken. We actually liked the chicken soup preparation of Vietnam as it is very light sans the spices, yet very flavourful. Our hotel chef prepared one version with turmeric and more pepper, and it tasted very unique and better.

Mì Xào Gà (chicken fried noodles)

Any kind of fried noodles (instant/glass/wheat) with chicken, onion, garlic, morning glory and tomatoes. It takes lesser time and taste very good.

Nem Rán/ Chả Giò Chiên (spring rolls)

Well Vietnamese original spring rolls contain pork meat or seafood as default. There are two versions of it- fry (nem rán/ chả giò chiên) or the plain (go cuan). These spring rolls are of rice paper with any kind of filling that you can find under the sky. A fish sauce dip goes along with it to dip the rolls before taking a bite.

Bột Chiên (fried dough)

Street food that has fried rice dough chunks with scrambled eggs topped with papaya, shallots and green onions and flavoured with rice vinegar and pickled chilli sauce. It is mostly popular in Ho Chi Minh City.

Bánh Bao (stuffed buns)

Bánh Bao is basically a bun with minced sprouts/ minced meat/ coconut /eggs filling and steamed. The flavour can be either sweet or savoury. It is a popular street food in Vietnam. You may choose the filling of the bun before buying. It is best consumed when hot.

Cháo Gạo (rice porridge)

Vietnamese rice porridge. It offers a break from all the fried street food that you have been devouring on your trip. It has no fancy flavour but a plain old sweet & salty flavour. You may season it with pepper or some sauce. Additionally, there may be toppings like meat or eggs. Usually a breakfast item, it keeps your stomach light.

Che

It is a dessert with bean jelly, coconut milk, fruit, and ice served in either bowls or glass. It looks good to the eyes when served in a glass. A colourful ensemble, it gives a fresh feel to your taste buds.

Yogurt Fruits

Yogurt forms an important part of diet in Vietnam. Vietnamese offer yogurt in almost every dessert they have. Fruits with yogurt, plain yogurt or smoothies in yogurt. It is everywhere.

Hạt Dẻ Nướng (roasted chestnuts)

The smell of hot roasted chestnuts fills the air of the street where it is being sold. Its sweet potato like flavour makes for the perfect snack while shopping on the streets.

Cà Phê Trứng (Egg coffee)

The famous egg coffee of Vietnam. It uses egg yolk instead of milk to make this coffee. The legend behind it is that Vietnam has a shortage of mulch cattle during the war and hence no milk. The cooks started making coffee with egg yolks instead of milk. Hence, a special coffee dedicated to Vietnam became popular in the world. Surprisingly, it’s look is no different as it s taste, just like any other coffee except for a hint of egg smell that grows if your coffee gets colder.

Cà Phê Dừa (Coconut Coffee)

You will also find coconut milk coffee in Vietnam. It seems, Vietnamese use all kinds of milk in the world for their coffee. It can be topped up with coconut cream also.

Trà (Tea)

If you are looking for an Indian style milk tea, Vietnamese tea is different from it. It is more like infused water, very light in taste. There are a variety of tea in many flavours. You will find it available in just about any food joint. It works well for digestion as well.

Snacks

Other than above mentioned dishes, you will find many snacks available on the streets like sunflower seeds, lotus seeds, rice crackers, sesame cakes, peanut crackers, dough balls with sesame and many more.