My 10 day Vietnam backpacking trip was one of my best ever. The reason – Vietnamese Food.The Vietnamese food culture in one word – LEGENDARY. Thai cuisine used to be my favourite cuisines in Asia, but a trip to Vietnam was enough to change that. Below is a compilation of the 10 must eat Vietnamese dishes.
Banh Mi
No. 1 on my list of 10 Must eat Vietnamese dishes.
Banh Mi is a Vietnamese Subway. Had the best at a street side vendor in HCM & at Bahn Mi Puong in Hoi An.
Pho (Pronounced Pha)
It was a tough competition between Bahn Mi & Pho for the top spot. Banh Mi won because of the convenience of eating a Sandwich anywhere and everywhere.
Pho – Vietnamese Noodle Soup. Ohh this is heaven. Its more like a Thukpa but I just loved it, this was my go to food during the whole trip. The Pho Ga (Ga means chicken) was the tastiest. You can have it with pork and beef as well.
Caphe
Personally, one of the best coffees I have ever tasted. Pretty strong and has a smoky kind of flavour. For someone who loves black coffee this was like a dream come true. Don’t worry you can have it with condensed milk as well.
I have tried the Indonesian Kopi Luwak (most expensive coffee in the world), but I preferred this.
Egg Coffee
Yeah you read it right, coffee made from egg but doesn’t taste anything like egg. The coffee has its origins during the America-Vietnam war.
During that time, it was hard to get milk, so they started using egg as a replacement of the milk, and rest as they is history.
Hoi An Fried Rice
Most flavourful chicken fried rice I ever had. Had it in one of the places in Old Town – Hoi An.
It was so good I ended up ordering 2 more plates.
Cao Lau
Pork noodles, another speciality of Hoi An. Had it by the riverside street food street.
I am happy my friend Monisha introduced us to this.
Spring Rolls
You can have this plain rolled or fried. I personally preferred the friend variety with a punchy and sweet sauce. The shrimp ones are probably the best in the world.
Ban Xeo
Crepe with meat fillings. Imagine this to be a crispy dosa with meat fillings.
Locally brewed beer
Local beer is pretty cheap and costs around 15000-35000 VND (45-105 Rs) at most places.
Snails
The French introduced Snails to the Vietnamese and this is one of the most sought after dishes especially in cities like HCMC (Saigon).
Well I was mentally prepared to eat them, but somehow never got a chance. That’s why they are on the bottom of this list of must eat Vietnamese food.
Other than the list we did try a lot of other stuff as well, most of whose names I can’t even recollect now. I am posting the photos, if you know the names of the dish, let me know in the comments.
Also, if you feel a particular dish should be in the 10 Must eat Vietnamese dishes list then please let me know, what great food have I missed.