The best street food in Ho Chi MInh City for travellers

Ho Chi Minh City is famous for night activity, best rooftop bar, luxury hotels, especially, street food is one of the trational of this city. If people are willing to travel Ho Chi Minh City, a sleepless city in Vietnam, they should try that some yummy food below.

1. Banh Mi

It's very easy to find Banh Mi in Ho Chi Minh City because it's available almost everywhere. Banh Mi is a traditional Vietnamese dish that you should never miss out on. Banh Mi including vegetables, pate, butter, soy sauce, cilantro, chilies, and hot peppers. Quick and tasty, you can also choose from a variety of meat fillings for your Banh Mi, including roasted pork belly, fried fish with turmeric and dill, boiled sausages, meatballs, boiled chicken, fried egg, grilled pork loin, Chinese barbecued pork. 

2. Pho

Pho is rice noodle that’s served in a flavourful soup with beef, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and greens such as basil, mint, cilantro, and onions with a side of chilli sauce for added spice. A basic bowl contains beef slices,  beef meatballs, beef flank, but diners can also opt for more exotic ingredients such as beef tendon, thinly-sliced pig stomach, and flank with cartilage. This popular breakfast option is served at any local restaurant or street market in Ho Chi Minh City.

3. Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Goi cuon or Vietnamese spring rolls comprise vermicelli noodles, pork slices, shrimp, basil, and lettuce tightly wrapped in translucent rice papers. Due to its very subtle flavour, you can dip it in a mix of freshly ground chilli and hoisin-based dipping sauce topped with crushed peanuts. This traditional appetiser is a healthier alternative to cha gio, which is a deep-fried egg roll made with a combination of mung bean noodles, minced pork, and various spices. If you want to try the dish in the romantic view, you can go to the Propeller - one of the best rooftop bar in Ho Chi Minh City with a stunning view about Saigon River and Ho Chi Minh City at night. 

4. Broken Rice 

Com tam is an Vietnamese name of Broken Rice. It is actually Broken Rice in Vietnamese, usually served with fried egg, diced green onions, and a variety of meats such as barbecued pork chop, shredded pork skin, and steamed pork and egg patty. Diners can also enjoy this dish with a side of pickled vegetables, cucumber slices, and Vietnamese dipping sauce. The dish can be enjoyed any time of the day as it is relatively inexpensive, with street markets and roadside food stalls.

5. Oc (Vietnamese Shellfish) 

Best enjoyed with cold beers, oc refers to platters of Vietnamese shellfish that are prepared in varying methods. Due to its popularity, there are plenty of roadside stalls and inexpensive restaurants with raw snails, blood cockles, clams, shrimps, and crabs displayed out front. After selecting those that strike your fancy, you can enjoy them grilled, sautéed, curried, or steamed, grilled mussels with scallion oil and peanuts, blood cockles sautéed in tamarind sauce, and clams steamed with lemongrass. 

6. Crispy Pancake 

Ban xeo or Crispy Pancake is a savoury pancake that’s made of rice flour, coconut milk, and turmeric, stuffed with ingredients such as pork slices, shrimps, sliced onions, bean sprouts, and button mushrooms. Unlike the ones you find in Nha Trang and Hanoi, ban xeo in Ho Chi Minh City is much smaller in portion as it is usually eaten as a snack or appetiser. The best way to enjoy ban xeo is by wrapping it in mustard leaf, lettuce leaves or rice wrappers, together with mint leaves, basil, herbs, and sweet fermented peanut butter sauce. Lastly, dip it in a sweet and sour fish sauce.

7. Hu Tieu (Rice Noodles) 

Hu tieu is a subtler version of pho noodles, featuring a clear pork-based broth, flat rice noodles, and an assortment of pork toppings. There are also countless variations available in Ho Chi Minh City, though the most popular one is hu tieu xuong, which is topped with pork ribs. Alternatively, you can enjoy hu tieu with shrimp, squid, or fish if you’re not a fan of pork.

8. Ca Kho To (Caramelised Fish in Clay Pot)

The dish is served in numerous Vietnamese restaurants within Ho Chi Minh City, ca kho to refers to catfish braised in a clay pot. This dish is prepared by cutting a whole catfish into fillets before it’s braised in a thick gravy made with a combination of soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, shallots, garlic, and various spices and seasonings. Due to its intense sweet-salty flavour, ca kho to is always served with a plate of white rice. 

9. Banh Cuon (Rolled Cake)

Loosely wrapped in a steamed fermented rice sheet, banh cuon contains a mix of ground pork, minced wood ear mushroom, onions, Vietnamese ham (cha lua), steamed beansprouts, and cucumbers. You can easily spot vendors selling banh cuon in prominent marketplaces such as Cholon and Ben Thanh Market as well as local restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City. This traditional Vietnamese dish is sometimes topped with shrimp floss, coriander, and herbs, with a sweet-sour dipping sauce made with fish extract, lime, and chilli.

10. Bun Thit Nuong (Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork) 

A hearty dish in Ho Chi Minh City, Bun Thit Nuong features vermicelli rice noodles with freshly chopped lettuce, sliced cucumber, bean sprouts, pickled daikon and carrot, basil, chopped peanuts, and mint, topped with grilled yet tender pork shoulder. Diners can also opt for bun thit nuong cha gio, which comes with crunchy slices of deep-fried eggrolls. As with most Vietnamese dishes, you also get a side of Vietnamese sauce to mix into the bun thit nuong for a flavourful ensemble.

11. Bun Rieu

Vietnam is a land of noodle soups, and many enjoy at least one bowl of noodles a day, some, maybe even a few. After trying many different types of Vietnamese noodle soups during my stay in Saigon, tourists should try Bun Rieu which is made from a crab base stock, and another key ingredient are tomatoes, which create a broth that’s slightly seafood tasting, yet has a beautiful natural sweet and tartness from the tomatoes. 

Along with the wonderfully flavorful broth in a bowl of bun rieu, the noodles are often similar in shape and size to spaghetti noodles, except soft rice noodles. Topping the noodles are pieces of golden fried tofu, sometimes meatballs, hearty chunks of pork, squares of congealed pig’s blood, and finally a slab of rich crab paste.To eat bun rieu, you normally garnish it with shrimp paste or crab paste, then load it up with chili sauce, a squeeze of lime juice, and then devour it with a small mountain of herbs and shredded vegetables.

With many dish is listed in the guide above, it makes sure that travellers have a good trip through trying special food, Vietnamese food in Ho Chi Minh City. Click here if you want to know more about accommodation in this city. 

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