Are you on an eating budget and you found yourself in a foreign country in search of delicious street food? If you happen to be in Ho Chi Minh City, you’re in luck! With amazing dishes developed before the country’s colonization, Vietnam has an assortment of foods for everybody. For foreigners, it’s eating something new, something fresh and something that isn’t processed to appear in expensive restaurants. These humble street stalls cater to making delicious food memorable for the enthusiastic sightseer.
Bun Thit Nuong
Grilled meat on noodles is one of Vietnam’s popular dishes slapped with cold rice vermicelli, fresh herbs and vegetables. In some cases, this dish includes roasted peanuts (for added texture) with Vietnamese picked carrots and grilled prawns. This dish alone is a mouthful! This dish doesn’t get more delicious when you have everything in your bowl.
There’s a mixture of sweetness (thanks to the pickled carrots), sour or saltiness (thanks to the sauce) and tenderness (thanks to the grilled pork). This is one dish you must try.
Banh Mi Thit
This is Vietnam’s version of a sandwich. In other names, it’s called a Vietnamese pork roll consisting of a bread or bánh mì (from the French term, baguette). The bread is much lighter and air-er than its western counterpart which makes the crust softer and thinner. Placed in between is the pan-roasted, oven-roasted and seasoned pork belly. There’s no one way of making the pork as many types of pork are used for this dish. These can easily be found at street stalls across Ho Chi Minh City if you need to pick up a quick snack.
Che Thap Cam – This dessert possibly looks as Asian as it gets. This dish has beans with jelly, plus coconut milk and ice; this dessert is great to eat on a scorching hot and humid day. We all know that when beans are mixed with coconut milk, there’s no way you can forget the taste. This dessert is popular in Southern Vietnam and since it’s easy to eat, it’s easily served everywhere. If you need to cool down, eat this.
Goi Du Du Bo – Green papaya salad with beef jerky. Although this dish slightly resembles Thailand’s spicy green papaya salad, this salad is best known for its dynamic flavors and chewy beef jerky. Again, there’s no real recipe in how you want to make this salad as the ingredients are dependent on the availability of the ingredients as well as putting allergies into consideration. This dish is crunchy from the papaya or green mango. Although in many parts of Asia will have this type of salad, it’s best to try papaya salads from different regions to taste something utterly different for the first time!
Ga Xao Xa Ot – Saving the best for last; lemon grass chicken. This highly aromatic dish consists of grilled chicken, topped with picked carrots, basil and vermicelli (with an extra addition of grilled prawns), this dish is a must. What make this dish stand out are its aromatic fragrances from the basil. It’s recommended to pour the clear vinegar-like sauce with pickled carrots on top of the grilled chicken. Once eaten, the grilled meat mixes well with the picked carrots to create one sensational, sweet and sour fusion of taste.
There you have it; 5 amazing dishes and desserts newcomers should taste. It’s recommended to try out these foods if you just visited Vietnam for the first time; these aromatic dishes shouldn’t be missed thanks to the variety of ingredients and delicious-ness it gives off. These food dishes are will surely not disappoint an experimental food addict!
Roger Stanbrook, a food blogger residing at Pullman Saigon has taken to the streets to discover every Vietnamese street stall food available to be eaten. He recently started a food blog to document the types of food and desserts sold by street vendors and hawkers. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roger has a strong passion for traveling since he was a young boy, first visiting Niagara Falls for the first time when he was 8.
