Ho Chi Minh local food guide by Ho Chi Minh's people
1. All kinds of Banh Mi - Vietnamese Bread
Banh Mi, also known as Vietnamese Bread, is one of the famous local foods in Ho Chi Minh City around the world. Banh Mi has just reached the top 24 delicious and attractive sandwiches (Sandwich) as voted by CNN. Banh Mi’s outer layer is a loaf of toast with crispy skin and soft intestine, and the inside is the filling. In the old days, Banh Mi was only for the upper class and was influenced by French cuisine. However, 1958 marked the turning point of the Banh Mi dish and it became an easy, delicious, and convenient dish that can be taken away from all Vietnamese people. Depending on the region, the filling in Banh Mi is varied with different flavors. Banh Mi also became diverse and people created many interesting ways to eat Banh Mi such as:
Traditional Banh Mi: Tourists can easily find this traditional Banh Mi dish everywhere on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City. The outer part of Banh Mi is grilled crispy outside, inside with filling including egg sauce, pate, spring rolls, ham, roast pork, omelet… Banh Mi is served with cilantro, pickles and served with a side dish. A few slices of chili make an attractive loaf that cannot be denied.
Some Traditional Banh Mi shops:
Banh Mi with combo pan: Banh Mi on the pan is attractive. This dish when used will be placed on a hot cast iron pan with side dishes of beef steak, peach omelet, fried pate, and sausages served with bread. When eating pan bread you should be careful because it is quite hot and will easily burn you on the tip of your tongue.
Some Banh Mi with combo pan restaurants:
Grilled Banh Mi with chili salt: Banh Mi is always creative and varied in the most creative way. Grilled Banh Mi with chili salt causes a fever because it is a delicious, strange, and very rich dish that attracts gourmets. Crispy salted chili toast with butter flavor mixed with spicy chili sauce, satay, and greasy mayonnaise, served with sausage and fragrant cotton balls. The special feature of this dish is the spicy sate chili sauce mixed with delicious ingredients that make up the distinctive flavor of this dish.
Some Grilled Banh Mi with chili salt:
2. Pha Lau (Vietnamese Stew With Organ Meat)
Pha Lau is one of the famous dishes in the local food in Ho Chi Minh City. Pha Lau dish is loved by students, students, and office workers and is often sold in front of the school gate. However, now many places are selling Pha Lau and many tourists are quite curious about this dish because of its strange name as well as its special form. Pha Lau – Vietnamese stew with organ meat is made from the organs of animals such as cows and pigs. The internal organs will be thoroughly cleaned, then marinated with spices such as fish sauce, pepper, star anise, and five spice powder, then cooked with coconut milk to create a greasy, delicious flavor. Pha Lau is usually served with bread, instant noodles, fried noodles, or eaten with steamed rice.
Some Pha Lau restaurants:
3. Hu Tieu Nam Vang ( Nam Vang Clear Rice Noodle Soup)
Nam Vang noodle soup is a dish originating from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Chinese community in Nam Vang (the Sino-Vietnamese transliteration of Phnom Penh) has reprocessed, then brought this dish to Vietnam. Later, Nam Vang noodle soup was added with more rich spices to match the culinary culture of the Vietnamese people and became a specialty of Ho Chi Minh, famous in three regions. Nam Vang noodle soup can be eaten in two ways: dry and water. The main ingredients will include noodle soup, pork liver, shrimp, minced meat, raw vegetables, and delicious broth. This dish has been introduced to Vietnam for a long time and is loved by many people. Nam Vang noodle soup is a local dish in Ho Chi Minh City that is loved by the people because of the attractive chewy noodles, and the rich soup from the bones, as well as this, is a dish that anyone can enjoy.
Some Hu Tieu Nam Vang restaurants:
4. Snails, skewers, and seafood
Referring to local food in Ho Chi Minh City, it is impossible to mention street food because it is extremely popular in Ho Chi Minh City people. The attractive street foods are snails, skewers, and delicious seafood.
Snails: No one knows when snails were introduced to Ho Chi Minh City, but for a long time, snails were not only a dish for snacking, and gathering with friends, but snails are also a culture that has existed in life. people long ago. The snail shops usually sell from the afternoon until late at night. Snails are very diverse, attractive snail dishes can be mentioned such as fried snails with coconut, snails with salted egg sauce, Thai steamed clams, grilled oysters with cheese… There are countless types of snails we cannot name all of them. Each type of snail has its flavor and is quite easy to eat.
Some snails restaurants:
Skewers: Although this is not a healthy dish because it uses oil to fry, it is a very popular snack among young people. Skewer is the common name for snacks such as fish balls, meatballs, sausages, spring rolls, etc., which are prepared by frying in hot oil. This dish is often sold on sidewalks, school gates, or parks, where crowds gather.
Some places travelers can find skewers:
Seafood: Ho Chi Minh City is not a sea area but seafood is extremely rich and always popular. Fresh seafood from shrimp, fish, squid, and crab is sold and processed in many places from popular restaurants to luxury restaurants.
Some seafood restaurants:
5. Banh Trang Nuong (Grilled Rice Paper)
Tourists when visiting Ho Chi Minh City, tourists should not ignore snacks and local food in Ho Chi Minh City là Banh Trang Nuong – Grilled Rice Paper. The dish is likened to the Pizza of Vietnam, combining traditional and modern ingredients. Baked rice paper appears popular in the southern provinces of our country, originating from Da Lat. Loved by many domestic and foreign tourists. After that, baked rice paper pizza was expanded to the Northern and Central provinces with many unique and new ways of processing. The type of rice paper used for baking is usually thin, not too thick. In early versions of this dish, the basic baked rice paper filling consisted only of onion fat. Then it is modified, adding many modern toppings such as sausages, beef jerky, dry chicken, cheese, seafood, etc. The additional baked rice paper fillings help increase the flavor as well as make the mouth more appealing. users many times over. Grilled rice paper will be best when eaten while it is still hot, crispy on the outside, and fragrant inside.
Places travelers can find grilled rice paper:
6. Bo Kho (Beef Stew)
Bo Kho – Beef Stew has long been a typical dish of Vietnamese cuisine. Bo Kho is very loved by the people of Ho Chi Minh City and is a quite famous local food in Ho Chi Minh City. Bo Kho has the sweet and fatty taste of the sauce along with beef, basil, and coriander to create a mild and elegant taste of braised beef. In the past, this dish was only eaten at breakfast. But today, enjoying this attractive dish at noon or afternoon is also delicious. To cook a delicious pot of Bo Kho, the seasoning is the decisive thing and the soul of the dish. To achieve the right flavor and taste, seasoning is the decisive factor. The taste of this dish is good or bad depending on the spices. Which is anise, which is cinnamon, which is the must for lemongrass-onion-garlic, etc., so that the dish is always round and fragrant.
Some Bo Kho restaurants:
7. Bun Rieu Cua (The Hearty Crab Noodle Soup Noodle)
Bun Rieu Cua is one of the long-standing folk traditional dishes of Vietnam. Made from many ingredients with full color and flavor, this noodle dish attracts users for the first time enjoying it. The dish of vermicelli is simple but full of the quintessence of Vietnamese culinary culture. The Hearty Crab Noodle soup is one of the most delicious dishes in the world in 2018. Bun Rieu Cua is a traditional Vietnamese dish, widely known domestically and internationally. This dish consists of vermicelli and ‘crab soup’. Rieu crab is a sour soup cooked from crab bricks, pounded and filtered crab meat along with vertical fruits, tomatoes, water fat, vinegar, fish sauce, salt, and spring onions. Bun Rieu Cua dish will usually be seasoned with a little shrimp paste, and tamarind juice and served at the same price, grated morning glory, and some herbs. The rich and melt-in-your-mouth crab flavor is characteristic of this dish. Bun Rieu Cua is the local food in Ho Chi Minh City that tourists should enjoy.
Some Bo Kho restaurants:Some Bun Rieu restaurants:
8. Hoanh Thanh Mi & Sui Cao ( Wonton With Noodle & Jiaozi)
Wonton noodles are a familiar and popular dish in our country, originating from Guangdong, China. You can find this dish in all large and small eateries, from roadside noodle stalls to luxury restaurants. Wonton comes in the form of small, edible pellets, with a beautiful yellow outer shell. This is a popular breakfast dish in Ho Chi Minh City because of its delicious taste with clear soup that is suitable for everyone. The noodles of this dish are often made quite elaborately and are made entirely 100% handmade, so the noodles are quite tough and not friable.
Dumplings are a dish that is easy to confuse with the two dishes above. It has a golden crust like wonton, while the name is easily confused with dumplings. Dumplings have the same golden crust as wontons but with a slightly larger size. Dumpling filling includes shelled whole shrimp, minced meat, cabbage, and spices. When eating dumplings, you will feel the flavor of each piece of shrimp and meat separately, not mixed like in dumplings.
Some wonton noodles and jiaozi restaurants:
9. Banh Canh Cua ( Crab Tapioca Noodle Soup)
Banh Canh Cua is a Vietnamese dish. Banh Canh originated in the Southeast, then popularized throughout Vietnam. Banh Canh consists of a broth made from shrimp, fish, and pork rolls, with spices added depending on the type of cake. Banh Canh fiber can be made from rice flour, wheat flour, tapioca or tapioca or rice flour mixed with tapioca. The toppings served with crab cakes are ready-made crab cakes, fish cakes, quail eggs, and shrimp. The characteristic of crab cake soup is that the soup is orange in color from crab bricks and has a thick consistency. This dish has a light fatty and fragrant crab flavor that helps awaken all the senses of tourists when enjoying it for the first time.
Some crab tapioca noodle soup restaurants:
10. Bot Chien (Fried Rice Flour Cake)
Bot Chien is a simple dish that was introduced to Vietnam and is a familiar breakfast, dinner, or late-night snack in the Ho Chi Minh City area as well as some other places. Fried Rice Flour Cake in Vietnam is mainly processed and enjoyed by Vietnamese of Chinese origin, so it is not much different from the original. Saigon fried dough probably originated from Cho Lon, the living and start-up area of many small merchants in the Chinese community living in Ho Chi Minh City. But today, Bot Chien has two distinctly different styles. The first is Cho Lon’s Bot Chien, an elongated piece of dough, quite low in oil, but almost fried with Chinese-style soy sauce. The second type, born later, also comes from Chinese families, but the dough is square, deep-fried, crispy, and much hotter than the traditional frying method close to people in Ho Chi Minh City. This dish is deep-fried until crispy on both sides, then added eggs, then served with soy sauce mixed with vinegar and shredded papaya. Fried dough is a delicious as well as strange local food in Ho Chi Minh City and should be tried when visiting Ho Chi Minh City.
Places travelers can find fried rice flour cake:
Tips for local cuisine in Ho Chi Minh City
- Before visiting the restaurant, you should search the restaurant on Google to see reviews as well as consult the menu and prices before coming.
- Prepare cash as some small eateries do not accept wire transfers or use credit cards for payment.
- Ask locals about delicious restaurants, tourists will be guided most enthusiastically.
- Choose to go on a tour to be led to delicious restaurants that few people know.
Local food tour in Ho Chi Minh City by AN Tours Vietnam
1. Local Night Food Tour By Scooters:
- Private tour, comfortable for tourists
- 7-8 authentic Vietnamese food, some travelers can’t find elsewhere
- Mini cooking class
- Traveling through 7 districts of the city
- 100% local area
- Customizable for vegans, allergies, birthdays…
Book the tour at Local Night Food Tour By Scooters
2. Local Night Walking Food Tour:
- Private tour
- 100% local walking sites, without a single tourist
- Immerse yourself in local nightlife, and discover the paradise of local food
- Mini cooking class
Book the tour at: Local Night Walking Food Tour – Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City is a place with rich, diverse, and extremely attractive cuisine. If you have the opportunity to visit this vibrant city, do not miss to enjoy local food in Ho Chi Minh City because of its delicious food and affordable prices as well as its distinctive colors and flavors. For more delicious dishes and attractive food tours, please contact AN Tours Vietnam now!
See more at https://antoursvietnam.com/
