Exceptional Vietnamese street food is one of the main reasons to discover this country where excellent street stalls coexist with the best fusion restaurants or cuisines. If you visit Vietnam and want to taste the traditional cuisine, you can hardy resist the street food in Hanoi. Hanoi has a lively street food culture that offers reasonably priced and tasty food in attractive surroundings. Most Vietnamese street food outlets serve fresh, light meals, based on herbs, lemon juice and pepper. With its surprising mix of flavors, Hanoi street food is one of the healthiest in the world.
Banh Canh and Goi Cuon
Banh Canh is a thick Vietnamese noodle made with crab meat, pepper, lemon juice and coconut sauce, surprises with a rich texture and robust flavors. Goi Cuon is a spring roll made of rice paper stuffed with fresh vegetables, cooked pork and cooked shrimp dipped in sweet soy sauce and topped with roasted peanuts.
Pho
Pho is a popular street food dish in Hanoi, usually eaten for breakfast or lunch. Its origins are found in the 20th century, with the influence of French cuisine. It was later popularized worldwide by refugees from the Vietnam War. Today, pho is the most popular soup in Vietnam.
Banh Tom
Banh tom is a shrimp specialty from the West Lake region of Hanoi. Water, wheat flour, eggs, corn starch, turmeric, lemon zest, salt, sweet potato and peeper are used to make the dough. It is dipped in cooking oil and the prawns are placed on top. The whole thing is fried for about 5 minutes until the shrimps are golden brown. The patty is usually served with fish sauce.
Banh Cuon
Banh Cuon are Vietnamese rolls of steamed rice that over the years have become the most popular breakfast food in the country. The steamed rice is cooked until it is very sticky and then it is rolled with a bamboo stick. After that, the rice roll is filled with strong-flavored pork, mushrooms, onions and fish sauce. The version with pork and shrimp is also delicious.
Bun boo nam boo
The Bun Bo Nam Bo is considered a Vietnamese popular dish, with fresh rice noodles, served in a beef strips, bean sprouts, peanuts, some lettuce, carrots and sweet and sour sauce. This dish, like the vast majority of dishes in Vietnam, comes with a broth of vegetables and spices as a starter.