Vietnamese cuisine is full of fresh ingredients and bold flavours. Learn about the flavours of traditional Vietnamese food and delve into the top dishes you have to try whilst in Hanoi
Vietnam is a land of differences — north and south, new and old. Any trip across the country reveals a spectrum of traditions, people and ways of life. It’s an engaging country, and perhaps no more so than in Hanoi.
Hanoi is engaging in that it takes every one of your senses on a rollercoaster ride: eyes constantly peering over the shoulder of your moto rider as he drives into oncoming traffic with insouciant ease.
Nose smelling the heady mixtures of foods and flowers at the market. Fingers touching the intricate silken clothes in small packed shops, and last but not least, the chance to taste the delicately flavoured dishes that have put this country on the international culinary map.
Hanoi seemed like a fitting place to learn more about the country’s food culture and dive into trying some of the city’s must-try dishes.
Who better to learn from than the chef at the city’s leading hotel, the Hotel Sofitel Metropole? To get my taste of the city, I booked in for a cooking class and food tour with chef Nguyen Thanh Van – and now I’m going to pass on the top tips to you.
Top Tip
Nguyen was the first Vietnamese woman to become a member of l’Academie Culinaire de France and was the perfect person to introduce me to the subtleties of Hanoi street food and Vietnamese cuisine in general.
Must-Try Dishes in Hanoi
Gỏi Cuốn (Spring Rolls)
Gỏi Cuốn or fresh summer rolls are a popular Vietnamese food dish, both within the country and internationally. It’s not unusual to see them popping up on menus across the world.
Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of these fresh rolls: they might not be that difficult to prepare, but achieving the delicate balance of flavours so important for good Gỏi Cuốn is harder than it looks.
Fillings vary from prawns to poached beef mince or tofu. Whichever it is, it is combined with freshly shredded carrots, cucumbers, herbs and vermicelli noodles.
The true skill is in making the dipping sauce that traditionally accompanies the rolls.
Different recipes call for different ingredients but the upshot of all of them is that they are salty, sweet, sour at the same time – the perfect foil for the freshness of the spring rolls.
Where to Try Them: Cuốn N Roll Giảng Võ
Top Tip
When it comes to traditional Vietnamese food, attention to detail is the name of the game. Only the freshest produce is used, hence why most of the seafood is still alive when you’re shopping in the markets.
Bún Thịt Nướng
A colourful amalgamation of lots of different delicious ingredients, Bún thịt nướng is a staple on many Vietnamese menus.
For good reason, the combination of the sour, crunchy, caramelised sweetness and fresh flavours from the different ingredients is irresistible.
Barbecued pork is combined with pre-cooked rice vermicelli noodles, fresh mint and basil and served with bean sprouts, other shredded vegetables and crunchy spring rolls.
The dish is then dressed with Vietnamese fish sauce for the final touch.
Believe me when I say that the end product is every bit as delicious as it sounds.
Food + Drink
Try it at Quán Nem lụi Bà Trai Đà Nẵng
Steamed Rice Cakes
While slightly less popular in the north of the country, sampling one of these fluffy, light rice cakes during your time in Vietnam is an absolute must.
Soft, spongy and moist, they’re delicately flavoured with coconut (they’re made with coconut milk), rice, tapioca and vanilla.
Traditionally the Vietnamese add food colouring, so you can find them in a variety of colours, but you can also get the uncoloured versions too.
Either way, they’re just as yummy.
Food + Drink
Try it at Banh Cuon Ba Hoanh
Bánh Cuốn
The Vietnamese love a rice paper roll, whether they’re fried (as in the case of Nem), fresh (as with summer rolls) or lightly steamed.
Bánh Cuốn is the latter – light rice paper rolls filled with pork, jicama and mushrooms, steamed until cooked and then served with crispy onion on a bed of fresh, crunchy vegetables.
Food + Drink
Try it at Banh Cuon Ba Hoanh
Bánh Mì
Another dish that has grown in popularity internationally in recent years, Banh Mi are Vietnamese baguettes filled with a near-endless combination of ingredients.
A fusion of Vietnamese fillings with a French-style baguette, they make for a quick and tasty lunch.
Food + Drink
Try it at Banh Mi Dan To
Hot Vit Lon (Fertilised Duck Eggs)
The more squeamish (or indeed vegetarian/vegan) of you are going to want to skip this entry. Hot Vit Lon is a rather unusual Vietnamese delicacy – fertilised duck eggs.
I can’t say I was the biggest fan when I tried it myself – the combination of meatiness and egginess was disconcerting enough, without then adding in the slightly weird crunch as you munch through small bones and gristle.
Definitely one to try if you are feeling adventurous.
Pho
Getting back to another popular Vietnamese food that has become more familiar internationally over recent years, Pho might well be the best-known Vietnamese dish outside of the country.
But what is it exactly? In its most basic form, it’s simply a thin stock-based soup with a generous portion of rice noodles, vegetables and meat (generally beef or chicken).
Doesn’t sound that special right? Perhaps not, but this is another example of where the delicate balance of flavours ever-present in Vietnamese food really shines.
As with any broth-based soup, having a well-developed stock is the most important step – something that can’t be rushed or faked. Forget the sad imitations that you’ve had at home, Pho in Hanoi is a whole different ball game.
Food + Drink
Try it at Pho 10
Rice
It can be easy to overlook and underestimate the importance of rice in Vietnamese cuisine.
Not only does it underpin and accompany many of the best traditional Vietnamese food, it is also responsible for forming a large part of the country’s economy.
Aside from dishes where rice simply acts as an accompaniment to the dish, there are a number of Vietnamese dishes where the rice is the main star of the show. Green crab rice, chicken rice from Hoi An and baby clam rice being three examples.
Hanoi Deep Fried Spring Rolls – Nem
“The first thing we are going to cook today is Nem — deep-fried spring rolls. This is traditionally a North Vietnamese dish, though it has now become popular throughout the whole country,” Van explained.
I could rave about these spring rolls. Made with rice paper, they’re light and bursting with flavour and take about 20 minutes from start to finish.
Although they’re made with pork, the key to their unique flavour is that the pork is only a small part of the filling.
You chop sweet turnip, black mushroom, vermicelli, bean sprouts, spring onions, papaya and carrots and mix them with the pork so you might say that these are maybe the healthiest deep fried things you can find.
Maybe.
The real key to fantastic Nem though is the dipping sauce, Nguyen elaborated, something I was inclined to agree with once I’d tasted one of the small rolls dipped in the sauce.
You make the dipping sauce from fish sauce, water, rice vinegar, garlic, carrot and green papaya tossed in salt.
It complements the spring rolls and brings out the flavours of the meat and vegetables. You can make passable Nem with half of the attention to detail, but it’s those details that make Vietnamese cuisine what it is.
Where to Try It: Tung’s Kitchen
Top Tip
In northern Vietnamese food it’s traditional to keep the dipping sauce quite plain, whereas the further south you go, the spicier the dipping sauce tends to be
Vietnamese Banana Flower Salad – Nom Hoa Chuoi
Banana flower salad or Nom Hoa Chuoi, is a light, shredded salad with chicken, star fruit, bean sprouts and peanuts. Slightly tangy and crunchy, the final product was well worth the effort and took no time at all to prepare.
Food + Drink
Going to Vietnam? Here are the street food dishes you have to try.
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What a fabulous experience! I had banana flower curry in Sri Lanka, but I’ve never seen it used elsewhere, let alone tried a recipe!
Thanks. It was so lovely! I’m going to hunt down somewhere selling the banana flowers so I can replicate it at home. Such a great experience.
You wouldn’t believe how long Vietnam has been on my travel wishlist, well actually you probably wood! I’m a firm believer that the way to understand a culture is through it’s cuisine, so this looks like such a great experience!
It was amazing to see the level of detail and attention that goes into their food Kavey – those carrots being a prime example. I’d very much recommend going!