The Best Food We Ate in Vietnam, Part 1

Skyler and I love exploring new places through their food. It’s a great way to get off the beaten path, learn about a culture’s background and influences, and it’s a wonderful way to connect with locals — everyone loves to tell you their favorite spots to eat! We love the looks we get when entering a spot that doesn’t get many tourists. First, the look of “How did YOU find this place?” Then, the excited look of “You’re going to love it!” Often, our tablemates will demonstrate how to eat a dish or what we should add to it, then wait for our reaction after our first bite. This has happened whether we’re in Hanoi or a non-descript taqueria on the outskirts of Atlanta. Food really does connect the world! I quickly realized one post was too big to capture our favorite eats over a month in Vietnam, so I’m breaking this up into two parts. First, our favorite soups and snacks — two things Vietnam does exceedingly well.

Soups

Top-to-bottom, our favorite cuisine on this trip is still Thai food.  But Vietnam has the edge here.  If there is one thing Vietnam does better than anyone else, it’s soup.

Pho Bo– Saigon Edition

A bowl of Pho Bo (Beef Noodle Soup, aka the gateway drug to Vietnamese cuisine) at Pho Dai Loi #2 on Buford Highway in Atlanta was our go-to cure-all for everything from head colds to hangovers. Naturally, our first meal in Saigon had to be the real thing. This version, Pho Bo Tai Chin (a mix of slow cooked beef shoulder and thin slices of raw beef that cook in the hot broth) at Pho Hung in Saigon was our favorite of the entire trip. Like the versions we’d had back in the US, a heaping plate of herbs and bean sprouts are served alongside.

Pho Bo — Hanoi edition

Up north, where pho originates, a sprig of cilantro and chopped scallions is all that adorns your soup (they must figure they have it perfected). This is Pho Bo Tai Chin from Pho Gia Truyen, a famous Hanoi shop that usually sells out by 10 AM. You’ll also see sides of unsweetened fried donut sticks that people dunk into their pho in Hanoi. We found the northern version to be slightly blander, or maybe just not what we’re accustomed to.

Pho Ga

Hanoi has entire streets full of stalls selling Pho Ga, the chicken version of the famous bowl of Pho. Perfect for a cool, drizzly, grey-skied Hanoi day.

Seafood Noodle Soup

Looking for something different, we sat down at this lady’s stall near our hotel in Saigon.  The stock had a rich seafood flavor and was filled with tofu, sausage, seafood, and squares of congealed pork blood (tastes like tofu!) . I think this was Canh Bun but it might have been Bun Rieu. We just pointed and hoped for the best.

Bun Bo Hue

A hearty and rich beef soup originating in the historic imperial capital of Hue, Bun Bo Hue is like a more masculine version of Pho Bo. Ironically, we were less than impressed by the versions we had in Hue, but the Saigon Lunch Lady, who we first saw on Anthony Bourdain’s show, makes a mean version each Friday. She figured us wimps and left off unusual-to-Westeners bits.

Snacks

Bahn Mi

Bahn Mi reminds me a lot of my all-time favorite sandwich — the Cuban from Tampa, Florida. The Cuban is distinctive for its bread, and the influences of various immigrant cultures — Cuban, Italian, even German — on its fillings, combining together to form something entirely unique. Similarly, a Bahn Mi combines the baguette and pate brought over from the French with Asian peppers, cold cuts, fresh herbs and crunchy veggies to form a sandwich that’s so much better than the sum of its parts. The version at Bahn Mi Phuong in Hoi An was by far our favorite.  She only outsources her bread baking; everything else, from the cold cuts to the sauces, she makes in house.

Bahn Goi

The lady outside our hotel in Hanoi sold these little fried treats that looked like empenadas, stuffed with pork, bean sprouts, and mushrooms. A great little snack for just 50 cents.

Bahn Trang Nuong

Another great little snack for less than a buck, Bahn Trang Nuong is a grilled sheet of rice paper, topped with spicy fermented peppers, pork, scallions, and an egg. We found these after dark all around Dalat. The ladies fold them up before the eggs completely set, leaving it runny. Think of the texture and flavor of spicy nachos with melted cheese.

Bahn Ram It

This sounds like something my Grandma used to say instead of cursing in front of me (“Jiminy Crickets! Bahn Ram It!”). It’s a fried rice flour cracker topped with a rice dumpling stuffed with pork belly and topped with dried shrimp — the type of finger food they would charge $12 for at the fancy cocktail bars back home in Atlanta. A plate of these ran us about $2 in Hue.

Bahn Xeo (Saigon edition)

We joined a crowd of locals and tourists at Bahn Xeo 46A, not too far from the Reunification Palace in Saigon, for a great version of this dish. It’s a crispy rice flour pancake, stuffed with pork, shrimp, mung beans, scallions, and bean sprouts. It’s huge. You eat it by tearing off a bit with your chopsticks, stuffing it into a lettuce leaf along with fresh herbs, rolling it up, and dipping it into a sauce of sweetened fish sauce and lime juice.

Bahn Xeo (Hoi An edition)

In the central provinces, the size of a Bahn Xeo is a little more manageable  They eat their version by rolling it up in rice paper along with some fresh herbs and the same dipping sauce, like a spring roll. This was the version we cooked ourselves at our cooking class in Hoi An.

Milk Apple

We’re discovering such a variety of new fruits on this trip. This is called Vu Sua in Vietnamese, which translates literally to “breast milk.” The woman selling us these grabbed her chest and pronounced “Vuuu Suaaaa” with a smile. It gets its name from its sweet, milky juice. Mr. Hung told us to eat it by gently smashing the pulp inside, popping the top, and sucking it down. I’m not sure if he was playing a trick on us or not, but it was really, really good.

Spring Rolls

It seems no meal is complete in Vietnam without wrapping something up in rice paper. These spring rolls were from the Saigon Lunch Lady’s cousin, who sets up shop right next to her. Her peanut sauce was our favorite, nothing like the super sweet peanut butter tasting sauce we get back home.  Another common spring roll sauce:  a mix of lime juice or vinegar, fish sauce, garlic and chilis.

Bahn Bao

Our names are Jordan and Skyler McDonald, and we are addicted to Bahn Bao, aka Chinese-style steamed buns. Imagine the taste of a yeast roll you might get at a Golden Corral back home, but stuffed with sausage and egg. At 50 cents a pop or less, we had a few too many. We added it — along with sweets and beer –to our list of “only on the weekend” treats.

Coming up in Part 2, our favorite rice and noodle dishes, meats and seafood, and drinks!