Pho is not only the most popular breakfast in Vietnam but is also internationally renowned as a symbol of Vietnamese gastronomy. Thousands of Pho stores deliver thousands of taste, that’s why some Pho stores are much more well-known than the rest, and the mystery hidden in the broth of Pho. Although the same ingredients are stewing bones of cows and pigs to cook Pho Bo (Pho with beef) and stewing bones of chicken and pigs to cook Pho Ga (Pho with chiken), an excellent pot of soup is determined by extra spices. Rice noodle used in a bowl of Pho is made of a special type of rice called “gao te” which is famous for its fragrance. Best served Pho are Pho Bo Tai (rare fillet) and Pho Ga (boneless white chicken meat). Others variety of Pho are Pho Bo Gau, Pho Bo Tai Nam and Pho Sot Vang. Lemon and chilly are indispensible for the best taste of Pho.

Read more about Vietnamese Pho.

2. Bun (Rice Vermicelli)

Similar to Pho, Bun is made of rice flour but instead of flat triangle shape like Pho, Bun has small and circular shape. Recipes to make Bun’s broth are even more diverse than Pho, which result in different vermicelli dishes, most popular ones are Bun Cha (vermicelli and grilled chopped meat), Bun Rieu (vermicelli and crab meat soup), Bun Thang (varied vermicelli), Bun Ca (vermicelli with fried fish) and Bun Oc (vermicelli and snail), while Bun Bo (vermicelli with beef) is specialty of Hue. Specific trait of Bun is an adequate sour taste the main ingredients of their soup are tomato, garcinia cowa and lemon lime.

3. Mien (Cellophane Noodles/ Glass noodles)

Mien has a similar shape to Bun; however, this Chinese originated noodle is not made of rice flour; seaweed and cassava flour are used instead. Thanks to this, Mien is a less-calorie food as well as a vegetarian favorable by on-diet people. Basically, main components of Mien’s broth is the same with Pho, however, its spices are sourer and maybe more fishy because Mien usually eaten with sea-foods. Mien Luon (Mien with eal) is the most popular type of Mien in Vietnam, especially in Hanoi. Broth to cook this special Mien is made of eel’s bones and gingers; then sliced fried eel would be added later. Fresh uncooked vegetables are recommended to eat with Mien Luon to eliminate the fishy taste of it. Other variables of Mien are Mien Ngan (Mien with goose meat), Mien Cua (Mien with crab meat) or Mien Ga (Mien withj chicken).

4. Xoi (Sticky Rice)

Although Pho is well-known all over the world, it is hard to tell whether Pho or Xoi is more popular for breakfast in Vietnam. Even in the smallest lanes in Vietnam ones can find a street-stall selling Xoi in the morning or recognize one or two people carrying a basket of Xoi, covered by banana leaves, on their head of bicycles advertising their Xoi loudly. This sticky rice varies from simple low-price ones like Xoi Gac (Xoi colored with Gac’s oil), Xoi Do Xanh (Xoi with green beans), Xoi Lac (Xoi with peanuts) or Xoi Ngo (Xoi wih corns) for commoners to higher ranks like Xoi Trung (Xoi with egg), Xoi Pate (Xoi with paste) or Xoi Cha (Xoi with meat rolls).

Read more about Vietnam Xoi in varities

5. Banh Mi (Vietnamese Bread)

Banh Mi has its origin from France during the colonial period in Vietnam in the late 1800’s. Since then, French eating behaviour has been strongly affecting Vietnamese gastronomy, including bread for breakfast. Goose’s liver paste should be the best crepe for bread when this food was first introduced. Gradually, Vietnamese bakers has innovated more variables of crepe to create a unique type of bread in Vietnam, which are uncooked vegetables, shrimp, sausage, pig’s liver paste eaten with tomato or chili sauce. Recently, Vietnam has adopted Donner Kebab bread from Turkey, which is highly appreciated by its civilians.

6. Banh Cuon (Rice Flour Steamed Rolls)

Rice seems to be the mother of many Vietnamese delicious foods, yet, another specialty made of rice flour: Banh Cuon. Banh Cuon is covered by a thin, wide sheet of steamed rice flour and its core filled with seasoned ground pork, and minced wood ear mushroom. Banh cuon is usually served with Cha Que and special dipping sauce named “nước chấm” made only for Banh Cuon. In the past, the dipping sauce was added some drops of Ca Cuong’s oil for the perfect flavor. Nowadays, although ones can still taste Ca Cuong’s oil, it is getting scarce and much more expensive.

7. Cháo (Congee/Porridge)

Congee or rice porridge is one of the most common meals in Vietnam in not only breakfast but also lunch and dinner. Cháo is very to cook since almost every electronic rice-cooker has porridge cooking function. Although it is considered as the poor’s food, Cháo could be much fancier when cooked with a variety of meats. To illustrate, Chao Ga is chao boiled with a whole chicken with bones to get the tastiest broth. Other varieties of Cháo such as Cháo Vịt (porridge with duck); Cháo Lươn (porridge with eel) and Cháo Cá (porridge with fish), are cooked with the same method.

8. Trứng Vịt Lộn (Balut)

Trứng Vịt Lộn is actually duck’s embryo still laying in its shell going through fertilization process and then boiled in steamy heat. Due to this characteristic and its appearance, this dish is listed among the most terrific food for Western visitors. However, if ones can manage your fear to taste it one time, you may find it thousand times more delicious than normal chicken egg as well as a huge amount of protein good for your heart. In Vietnam, Trứng Vịt Lộn is favored by most people and appears in every breakfast stalls.

9. Vietnamese’s ‘banh’

In this section we won’t discuss about an individual type of food but dozens of them. The reason for it is Vietnam food offers too many breakfast cakes and each of them is as popular and tasty as one another. Some most common cakes can be named as Bánh Chưng Rán, Bánh Giò, Bánh Khúc, Bánh Rán, Bánh Nếp, Bánh Tẻ, Bánh Đúc, Bánh Dày or Bánh Bao. There are still many more Vietnamese traditional cakes can be used for breakfast which may cost a whole essay to list out not to mention trying all of them. These are often savoury and easy to pack (like mochi in Japan) and often stuffed with mung beans. You can find them in many street food stalls and from the ladies wandering the streets with a pile of Banh on their shoulder.”
In this section we won’t discuss about an individual type of food but dozens of them. The reason for it is Vietnam food offers too many breakfast cakes and each of them is as popular and tasty as one another. Some most common cakes can be named as Bánh Chưng Rán, Bánh Giò, Bánh Khúc, Bánh Rán, Bánh Nếp, Bánh Tẻ, Bánh Đúc, Bánh Dày or Bánh Bao. There are still many more Vietnamese traditional cakes can be used for breakfast which may cost a whole essay to list out not to mention trying all of them. These are often savoury and easy to pack (like mochi in Japan) and often stuffed with mung beans. You can find them in many street food stalls and from the ladies wandering the streets with a pile of Banh on their shoulder.

Saigon rice plate

1. Bangkok, Thailand
2. Singapore.
3. Penang, Malaysia
4. Marrakech, Morocco
5. Palermo, Sicily
6. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
7. Istanbul, Turkey
8. Mexico City, Mexico
9. Brussels, Belgium
10. Beachside Ceviche in Ambergris Caye, Belize

Another breakfast dish with Vietnamese cakes is rice crepes (Banh Cuon), a speciality from Northern Vietnam. One of the most famous versions of this cake is called Banh Cuon Thanh Tri in Hanoi. Made with thin and delicate sheet of steamed rice, filled and rolled with minced pork and mushroom, this dish is served with Vietnamese Pork sausage (Cha lua), fried onion, bean sprout and elegant fish sauce.





On the other hand, the green bean cake (Banh Dau Xanh) is usually served as snacks, just like tea biscuits, when drinking tea. The sweet flavor of the cake blending in with lotus tea is a perfect match when we enjoy a sip of tea. This combination really has the power of bringing people closer in a warm atmosphere. And to stress the differenceamong Banhs, Banh Dau Xanh is made purely of sugar and mung bean powder – imagine the making of macaroon elsewhere in the world!

These dishes are one of the most salient features of the Vietnamese traditional cuisine, a proof of the versatile role of Vietnamese cakes (Banh) in daily life- they are not only used as snack or dessert, but also an important dish in mostly main meals.

Vietnamese cakes come in different meanings
Vietnamese cake are not purely culinary things, they are also embedded in Vietnamese cultures and spirits. Two of the most popular cakes in Tet Holiday are Banh Chung (Chung Cake or Square Rice Cake) and Banh Day (Day Cake), symbolizing the Sky and the Earth respectively. Banh Chung made from glutinous rice, green bean, pork and other ingredients has the square shape, wrapped by Dong leaf and Giang strings. Banh Day made from glutinous has a round shape but a simpler recipe. Since the origin dated back to Hong Bang dynasty, these two indispensable elements of Vietnamese ancestors altar have been the souls of Vietnam Lunar New Year, as it is the way Vietnamese people worship the ancestors and homeland to express their gratitude and look forward to a happy new year.



Another meaningful cake is Banh Phu The (or Xu Xe), which can be translated as Conjugal cake. This cake is made from tapioca flour, pandanus, green bean, coconut and other ingredients. It has the jelly-like texture, with the transparent cover revealing the yellow mixture inside, and is wrapped by two square boxes. Appearing at the wedding, this cake is the symbol of a solid and eternal marriage, as sticky as the promises made by both of the bride and groom.

Vietnamese cakes come from different regions
Due to the different characteristic of geography and culture, each region of Vietnam is proud of unique and special cakes. While Hanoi in Northern Vietnam has Banh Khuc (Khuc Cake), Soc Trang Province in the South of Vietnam also has its own speciality, Banh Pia (Pia Cake). Banh Khuc is a rice ball made of glutinous rice and cudweed, stuffed with pork and green bean and is an important part of childhood of most of Hanoians. Banh Pia is a claim to fame pie of Soc Trang, located in the South of Vietnam. It is made from wheat flour, durian and egg yolk. One of the main features of this round pie is that it is covered by many layers made from wheat flour.


Back to the centre of Vietnam, here we have Hoi An white rose cake (banh vac), which is named according to its beautiful and fragrant rose shape. It is made from rice, filled with minced shrimp and spices. Due to the complicated and meticulous method of making it, this dish itself is a dumpling, served with a sauce made of shrimp broth, chili and lemon.

Vietnamese cakes come in different flavours
The enormous range of Vietnamese cakes is a real feast of colors to eyes and taste to tongue. From regions to regions, cities to cities, Banh Vietnam appears everywhere, from the sweet flavor to salty one. In the sweet cakes category, we have green sticky rice cake (or Banh Com), which is made from young green sticky rice (Banh com) and green bean. This delicious cake is actually a gift of Hanoi, and the most famous place producing the best Com is Vong village.

And that’s would be a mistake of we not include the traditional Banh Hue, which are Banh beo, Banh nam, Banh loc, in the salty cakes category. These cake are made from rice flour (but tougher when making Banh Loc), shrimps, pork and spices and often served with fish sauce made from chili and garlic. These distinctive cakes bring about the fame of Hue traditional cuisine and have stolen the hearts of many gourmet people not only in Vietnam, but also from other countries.

Vietnamese cakes come in different versions
Vietnamese cakes are not only diverse in styles, types, purpose and also in versions of one kind. Take Banh It (Little cake) as an example. Banh It La Gai is a speciality of Binh Dinh province. This cake is made from sticky rice, green bean, a special ingredients called “La Gai” (Thorn Leaf), wrapped in banana leaf. The sweet cake looks like a black ball, covered the yellow stuff inside. Another version of Banh It is Banh It Tom Thit (Little cake with pork and shrimp) of Hue imperial city. This plain cake is also made from sticky rice, stuffed with minced pork and shrimps) and is served with fish sauce.

Another example to look at is Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Crepes) and Banh Khoai (Khoai Cake). Xeo Cake is popular in cities in the south of Vietnam or Quang Binh, while Khoai Cake (Pancake) is a special dish of Hue City. These two types of cakes both look like crepes with the layer made by rice flour and are stuffed with pork, shrimps, bean sprouts and other ingredients. Both are served with fish sauce and fresh vegetables. However, the Pancake of Hue city is smaller but thicker than Xeo Cake.

This is just a quick glance at how versatile Vietnamese cakes are, even between cities in the central region or between the central region and the southern region.

There are so many more cakes to introduce, even more dishes to describe. Once traveling in Vietnam, be sure not to miss the chance to discover the whole world of Vietnamese cakes by yourself. A cake to try, a taste to last forever!

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The standing-out feature of pigeon hotpot is its broth of very liquid porridge, which has been long boiled with some birds earlier. Most other hotpots don’t use porridge, and that only makes for two birds with one stone. The hot steamy rice soup that has extracted that sweet essence of marrow, together with the white tender meat, blended in all the sense-awakening glory of various types of herb, vegetable and mushroom, make one wanting to swim in all that goodness, if it is not for the boiling bubbles that poke fun of the noses that can’t hold out far enough. Or at least wanting to gulp them all down!

The biting cold of Hanoi winter makes for a great chance to gather up around a steaming hotpot – a favorite of locals in the winter time. The most common types of hotpot involve beef and chicken, but following are some of the more exotic types that offer a different taste of Hanoi.

1. Pigeon hotpot on Hoe Nhai street

A rather unforeseen consequence of having too good of a dining menu at the local pub!

Pigeon hotpot

The standing-out feature of pigeon hotpot is its broth of very liquid porridge, which has been long boiled with some birds earlier. Most other hotpots don’t use porridge, and that only makes for two birds with one stone. The hot steamy rice soup that has extracted that sweet essence of marrow, together with the white tender meat, blended in all the sense-awakening glory of various types of herb, vegetable and mushroom, make one wanting to swim in all that goodness, if it is not for the boiling bubbles that poke fun of the noses that can’t hold out far enough. Or at least wanting to gulp them all down!

Either way, it will probably be an experience one never forgets.

Four diners can chip in for an estimated total of 350,000vnd for one pot. We doubt you are going to eat so little though!

2. Snail hotpot on Truong Chinh street

Snail hotpot

Besides the intriguingly hot and sour broth, snail hotpot also features some very interesting ingredients. There are snails (!!!), dumpling, wonton and roll, all made from the crawling creature. The hotpot also sees to the attendance of locally typical fried tofu, unripe banana and pork belly slices. They combine to make for an unmistakable dish of beautiful aroma and craving taste that is nowhere else to be found.

A pot will likely set the four of you back some 300,000vnd. It is definitely not cheap though, considering the thing is more or less a peasant’s food.

3. Mudskipper hotpot in Van Cao street

The fish and indeed the hotpot are rather common in the south, but it has only recently made way into the northern dining table. Mudskipper hotpot has a stable devoted fan base, but it is rare to come by in Hanoi, and thus fairly strange to some. One of the few restaurants that carry such is Mrs. Sau’s Hotpot, at 65 Van Cao. Come no further for an authentic taste, because even the name screams a southern accent!

Mudskipper hotpot

For VND 350,000 a steaming pot, this is fairly pricey, especially when the fact that it barely serves 2 persons each comes into account. But as one comes to think about it, as all the ingredients are shipped all the way from the southern land, it is a reasonable charge.

4. Chicken-in-vinegar hotpot on Tran Nhan Tong street

Itself being a typical sidewalk street shop with the so very typical menu of mostly chicken-deprived dishes, however the 52 Tran Nhan Tong restaurant brings about nice touches of uniqueness with really different takes on the classics. An example of which will be the chicken-in-vinegar hotpot.

Chicken-in-vinegar hotpot

A pot for 5 to 6 persons should run for about 350,000vnd. The proud owner is a nice person to talk to, and the service is reasonably quick.

5. Frog hotpot on Truc Bach street

The small road that veers out of the famous Thanh Nien, runs the shore of Truc Bach lake, in which it takes its namesake from, is widely known for its now all too famous specialty. There are numerous vendors around selling frog hotpot, but Ngân Béo at 43 Truc Bach (Fat Mama Ngan – so named after the owner. Now take that!) is perhaps the most famous and also voted the best.

Frog hotpot is rather on the spicy side. It is much more labor-intensive to make, as the animal has to be carefully butchered and only a few of the cuts qualify for the honor of the boiling pot. The meat is deeply marinated and, as typical with other frog dishes, later half cooked with bamboo sprouts. Diners will dip the ingredients in the pot. A fine frog hotpot has a rich, deep and spicy flavor. The aroma is nose bleeding and the meat can hardly ever overcook. It serves with water spinach and sliced bamboo sprouts. The frog hotpot is one of the hottest most sought after in the winter days for many Hanoians.

Frog hotpot

Caution: frogs are known to host a number of parasites that can severely affect human health. Make sure that you cook the meat throughout before eating. Also, customer service at Fat Mama receives some very unfavorable rating. The neighbors, even though rated a bit below Fatty when it comes to taste, invest more in customer satisfaction.

Happy feasting!

After all, “xoi” is still street food, which means that people should buy and enjoy it on the street! Here are the most popular types of Xoi in Vietnam.

It will be a big miss if you come to Vietnam without trying “xoi”. Made from sticky rice, xoi has as many variants as you can imagine. “Xoi” is a very common food in Vietnam, and one can find it anywhere from the roadside vendors to luxuriously traditional restaurants. However, “xoi” is not “xoi” anymore when eating in an air-conditioned room with professional services.

Xoi xeo: sticky rice colored yellow, topped with fried onion and ground mung beans.

Read more about Xoi Xeo

Xoi ga: White sticky rice with steamed pieces of chicken

Xoi ngo: Sticky rice mixed with corn (choclo) and have a non-heavy texture.

Xoi lac: Sticky rice steamed with peanut

Xoi do den: Sticky rice with black beans

Xoi do xanh: Sticky rice with mung beans

Xoi vo: Sticky rice mixed with ground mung beans and in some cases, lotus seeds

Read more about Xoi Vo

Xoi dua: Sticky rice with sliced coconut, sometimes added with sugar and seasame seeds

Xoi Gac: Sticky Rice with Bright Red Colour from Gac fruit

Read more about Xoi Gac

CNN GO to honor Top 10 street food of Hanoi
For a street food tour around Hanoi, Vietnam Online suggests one Pho, Xoi, Chao ca or Banh cuon for breakfast, protein-rich food like Bun cha, Bun rieu cua and Nem cua be for the lunch, and Muc nuong for the late afternoon snack. A cup of iced coffee with condensed milk can be enjoyed either in early morning, late afternoon or even mid noon.

Ha Noi Street Foods

“Hanoi and its environs are the birthplace of many quintessential Vietnamese dishes, such as Pho and Bun cha, and the city is often cited as one of the world’s great food capitals… many swear that the best food in Hanoi is found on the side walk”, said CNN GO in an article about top 10 street food cities in Asia, on March 23th, 2012.

CNN Go introduces Top 10 Hanoi street food including: Pho, Bun cha (grilled pork noodle), Bun rieu cua (fresh water crab noodle), Barbecue chicken (grilled chicken wings and feet), Xoi (sticky rice with crushed peanuts and sesame salt), iced coffee, Nem cua be (crab spring roll), Chao ca (fish porridge), Banh cuon (rice flour rolls stuffed with ground pork), and Muc nuong (dried squid grilled over hot coals).

For a street food tour around Hanoi, Vietnam Online suggests one Pho, Xoi, Chao ca or Banh cuon for breakfast, protein-rich food like Bun cha, Bun rieu cua and Nem cua be for the lunch, and Muc nuong for the late afternoon snack. A cup of iced coffee with condensed milk can be enjoyed either in early morning, late afternoon or even mid noon.

Other Asian cities in Top 10 Asia’s greatest street food cities by CNN are Penang (Malaysia), Singapore (Singapore), Taipei (Taiwan), Bangkok (Thailand), Fukuoka (Japan), Seoul (Korea), Xi’an (China), Manila (Philippin), and Phnom Penh (Cambodia).

Gỏi cuốn fresh spring rolls, cao lầu noodles

Just reach the artile here: Vietnamese Cuisine

This dish is not only unique for its delicious taste but it is also unique for Hoa Binh, The process to make it is very simple: high quality bellies meat sliced into small piece as big as pinkie, then spiced with fish sauce and onion. After that, washed pomelo leafs are sliced into half and each half would be used to roll a piece of sliced meat and then clip by bamboo sticks.

Besides stunning landscapes, Hoa Binh’s cuisine is also an attractive element of the province. Hoa Binh’s specialities are both diverse and unique to the Northwestern mountainous areas of Vietnam. The following are some of the must-trys when you visit the place.

Lam Rice (Rice in bamboo tube)
Lam Rice bears strongly the taste and scent of Northwestern Mountains and forests. The only ingredient of this food is nothing more than sticky rice; however, it is cooked by a very special tool: bamboo cylinder. People put rice into the cylinder together with water in a standard recipe, then cover the cylinder by banana leaf and bake the whole cylinder over slow fire. When eating, gourmets only have to break the bamboo cover and enjoy much more sweet-smelling rice than usual ones. This food has its excellent taste when eat with sesame salt.

Lam Rice (Rice in bamboo tube)

Loong soup is a special soup whose ingredients are poke and peeled banana collected in the forests of Hoa Binh. Banana tree are cut from the depth forest and then peeled to collect the inside part. This peeled part will be sliced into tiny, mixed with salt to demolish its acid taste then cooked with piglet and unique ingredients of the province : burned Dổi nuts and sliced Lốt leaf. This dish is cool and sweet that may make gourmets keep digging in.

Meat roll with pomelo leaf

This dish is not only unique for its delicious taste but it is also unique for Hoa Binh, The process to make it is very simple: high quality bellies meat sliced into small piece as big as pinkie, then spiced with fish sauce and onion. After that, washed pomelo leafs are sliced into half and each half would be used to roll a piece of sliced meat and then clip by bamboo sticks. Barbecuing the food on slow fire while smelling its alluring scent of poke mixed with pomelo leaf may make foodies dying for it.

Meat roll with pomelo leaf

Xôi ngũ sắc (Five colors sticky rice)