Ten world-famous dishes of S-shaped country

Bread a popular dish has been praised by various international websites and travel pages such as the Guardian, National Geographic, BBC and Tripadvisor. In 2016, Fodor’s Travel, a US travel page, posted a list of 20 most tasty street food of the world, in which Vietnam’s bread  ranked the first. There are many ways to make this dish to meet the taste of different persons but the most popular way is stuffing the bread with grilled pork, cucumber slices, pickled vegetables, pâté and a kind of sauce. Ho Chi Minh City is considered the place with the most delicious bread. Photo: Wikihow.  

Pho is a typical dish of Vietnam’s cuisine. CNN, BBC, Business Insider have many times selected Pho as one of the best dishes of Asia. In 2016, Worldkings named Pho and two other Vietnamese dishes among top 100 world’s best food. Tourists are adviced to enjoy Pho in the capital city of Hanoi. Several famous Pho trademarks are Bat Dan, Thin, Ly Quoc Su. Photo: Shutterstock. 

Bun cha was listed in the Top 10 dishes for summer by CNN and Top 10 cheapest street dishes in the world by National Geographic. However, this special dish was known worldwide after former US President Barack Obama and chef Anthony Bourdain tasted it at a restaurant on Le Van Huu street, Hanoi. Tourists assess that bun cha is the harmony of different tastes of hot, sour, salty and sweet and the combination of grilled pork, vermicelli and vegetables. Photo: Mark Wiens. 

Cha ca La Vong was included in writer Patricia Schultz’s book “1000 Places to See Before You Die”. The US’s MSNBC later put Hanoi-based Cha ca La Vong Restarant at the fifth of the 10 places to see before dying. Nowadays, together with La Vong, other cha ca trademarks are Thang Long, Anh Vu and Lao Ngu. Photo: chiecthiavang.

Goi cuon (fresh spring roll) is one of the two Vietnamese dishes in the Top 50 most tasty dishes in the world by CNN in 2011. Also called nem cuon, this dish is introduced to tourists by international travel pages as Roughguides. Seen as the famous dish of Vietnam, goi cuon looks like spring roll. Vegetables, minced pork, shrimp or crab are wrapped in a rice paper to make a piece of goi cuon. Photo: traveltovietnam. 

Banh xeo (crispy pancake) is one of the Vietnamese dishes introduced at the World Street Food Congress in 2016 in Manila, the Philippines. As CNN evaluated, this was among the top street food most favored in 2016 and an attractive street food in 2017. Banh xeo is a typical dish of people in Southwestern region of Vietnam with several characters of food culture of the South. The dish is more delicious if it is fried on a clay pan and charcoal stove. This kind of crepe is filled with prawn, beef (or pork), vegetables, and bean sprouts. Photo: traveltovietnam.

Bun bo Hue is named the most tasty soup of the world by US chef Anthony Bourdain in a volumn of Anthony Bourdain’s program: Parts Unknown, screened on CNN. The Asian Record Organization also listed this dish in the Top 100 delicious dishes of Asia in 2016. A bowl of bun bo Hue includes vermicelli, meat of pork legs, a piece of black pudding, and a crab meat or beef ball. Photo: Pinterest.

Cao lau Hoi An, a typical dish of Hoi An city made with noodles, pork, shrimp and local greens is chosen as an Asia’s most delicious street food. This food has many times named by CNN one of Vietnam’s most tasty dishes. It is served on small stalls by pavements or in alleys. Photo: Flickr Alpha.

Mi Quang, a kind of noodles originated from central province of Quang Nam, is one of the 12 Vietnamese dishes recognized as Asia’s cuisine values. Roughguides introduces Mi Quang as one of the ten dishes that should be tried on in Vietnam and as the dish that could not be missed when visiting Central Vietnam. What makes a bowl of Mi Quang are noodles, chicken, pork, fish, prawn, eggs and local greens. Photo: miquangxanh.

Com tam (broken rice) is a kind of rice that is easy-to-find and easy-to-eat at any time in Ho Chi Minh City. The soul of this dish is the sweet sauce served together with the rice. Though it is not as famous as pho, bun cha or cha ca, com tam is recommended by travel bloggers as an interesting experience when exploring Ho Chi Minh City’s food. Photo: Mark Wiens.