BÁNH CUỐN
The bánh family tree includes a number of steamed rice cake-like dishes. So soft and delicate, especially
the bánh cuốn straight from the steamer. Our Travel guide took us to a third-generation bánh cuốn
master in Hanoi who amazed us with her skills. She placed each scoop of the rice flour-based batter
onto the steamer, covering the vessel with a lid for a matter of seconds, and then she carefully
transferred the gossamer-thin sheets with a bamboo stick onto a plate filled with pork and minced
mushrooms. Each bite must be dipped into the nước chấm sauce before having it which is topped with
deep-fried shallot bits.
When we check other dishes from the old imperial city of Hue in central Vietnam, we can see It’s
topped with mung bean paste, scallions, chopped shrimp, crispy fried shallots, and fish sauce.
PHỞ
Phở is only one of the many noodle soups in the city of Vietnam. But literally, phở refers to the rice
noodles, not the simple plain soup itself. But it’s turned out to be synonymous with the staple soup which is served with different meat parts (normally beef or chicken), bean grows, lime wedges, the essential greens (mint, onions, basil, and cilantro), and whatever fish sauce and chili sauce you have to specialise up the broth to your preferring. It’s tasty, cheap, and particularly prominent for breakfast in Hanoi. The northern-style phở in Hanoi is commonly characterized by a clear broth while the southern-style broth has a tendency to be somewhat sweeter, murkier from clubbed sauces, and popping with more herbs and different garnishes.
BÚN CHẢ
Rice vermicelli (“bún”) is a staple found all over Vietnam. You truly can’t go to Hanoi without just trying bún chả. It’s served with barbecued pork sausage patties, a container of herbs, sprouted beans, pickled veggies, and the really important nước chấm sauce (pour it over everything).
A note on bún: Vermicelli is found in numerous noodle soups too like bún rieu, a tomato broth soup with crab and bún bò Huế (Literally pronounced as “aid ba hway”) with beef (bò). There are numerous bún dishes that didn’t include in this list, however, are regardless delicious and popular.
GỎI CUỐN (SPRING ROLLS)
Gỏi cuốn actually means “serving of mixed greens rolls” aka “salad rolls” and ought to be recognized from the fried rolls, which are also called as spring rolls (or chả giò). The translucent cigarette shaped rolls are stuffed with veggies/greens, shrimp as well as pork, and herbs. They really need a dunk in nước chấm obviously. Almost all place in Vietnam has its own particular spring roll but doesn’t matter where you are, the rolling and wrapping procedure is pretty much the same.
BÁNH MÌ
Off course, The bánh mì can be found everywhere throughout the world now. But the creation story
harkens back to French expansionism when the imperial powers in Vietnam carried with them their
crusty baguettes. From that point, the Vietnamese have made this sandwich altogether their own fillings like fish cakes, pork belly meatballs, and essential pickled carrots, daikon, and
not-messing-around chilies. Try not to wipe your eyes after eating one of these because those chilies will surly melt off your eyes.
CA KHO TO (CARAMELIZED FISH IN CLAY POT)
Clay pots are one of a kind of like the Asian cousin of the Dutch cooking oven. The thick clay pot walls retain moisture and heat which helps to caramelize and soften meats when braised. In this dish, the fish develops savory sweet gooeyness from the fish sauce and sugar over the course of the long term braise.
BÁNH XÈO
The Bánh xèo means “sizzling pancake.” The crisp-edged, savory, crepe-like pancake is best when
enjoyed straight from the pan itself. The batter in the dish is made with turmeric, coconut milk and rice flour (The nice looking golden-yellow hue) and is pan-fried together with shrimp, pork and a heap of bean sprouts / grows. Wrap up the pancake fully with herbs & lettuce and The dish is ready to be served.
CANH (VIETNAMESE SOUPS)
The soup category is really vast and is hard to cover in this list. But one main subcategory is the sour soups, which is also called as “canh chua,” of the southern Region, Which is usually made with pineapple, starfruit, tamarind or/and tomatoes. They are full of contrasting flavors (sweet, sour, and savory) and contrasting textures i.e., seafood and other various veggies.
CHÁO
Vietnam’s popular rice porridge is really thick, creamy, hearty and should be able to cure whatever ills you have, Maybe a cold, fewer or hangovers. Garnish it or top it with slices of fish, beef, chicken, pork, or in this case, pork parts (mostly liver). This is a bowl of Cháo Lòng from Saigon Region where street vendors/food vans can be easily spotted around the place with their giant metal vats of porridge, stacks of golden fried dough and piles of offal. Scallions and black pepper are scattered on the top of the dish and at the table, you’ll get a plate full of lime wedges, bean sprouts, fish sauce, and ginger to season up the porridge to taste.
CƠM TẤM (“BROKEN RICE”)
At the time when Vietnamese rice farmers couldn’t able to sell their broken rice grains, which broke
while being processed from the field they had to eat the rejected grains by themselves. This cheaper substitute for unbroken rice has actually become so popular over the years as some people really liked its softer texture. You will find it on the menus with a wide variety of toppings; here it comes buried with barbecued pork, chopped pork loaf, pork skin and an egg.