Hanoi Street Food - Part 1

Hanoi Street Food - Part 1


Hanoi Street Food is part of the larger tapestry of cuisine in Vietnam. Located in the north, which is bordered by China, the Vietnamese cuisine in Hanoi is largely influenced by Chinese cuisine, as well as French cuisine, and differs greatly from the typical Vietnamese cuisine you'll get in the south. Meals here tend to be multi-course communal affairs, and dishes tend to be more distinctly savoury, sour, bitter, or salty. The city is also known for being an exotic food haven, where you can dine on snakes / cobra meat, dog meat, duck fetus, or giant water bugs / insects.

Food in Hanoi can be found along the streets in pushcarts, kiosks or small cafes, on street corners, in mid-range restaurants and fine-dining establishments. Bread, noodles, and rice often accompany a meal. Common ingredients used in many Hanoi and Vietnam dishes include fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce, rice, lemongrass, ginger, mint, chili, lime, basil, duck, chicken, pork, beef, prawn, squid, crab, egg, bean sprout, cucumber, carrot, lettuce, banana, tapioca, coconut, onions, tomatoes, mung bean, mushroom and more.

Locals would often consume Hanoi Street Food from various road side stalls, sitting on small, low chairs, with food served on slightly higher chairs. A typical meal would usually include 1 main meat or seafood dish, 1 vegetable dish which is usually stir fried, and 1 soup dish. Drinks / beverages are considered desserts, and are mostly taken after a meal, as a result, most drinks / beverages in Hanoi tend to be sweet. Locals here are also big fans of hot pot dining, which can be found throughout the city.


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The Ba Chỉ Rang Cháy Canh / Sauteed Pork Belly With Spring Onions dish is a savoury salty dish often served as part of a communal meal, and is eaten with white rice. It's made by stir frying pork belly along with soy sauce, spring onions / scallions, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, onions, and pepper. Served on fresh vegetables (lettuce, mint leaves), this Chinese inspired dish is commonly served throughout Hanoi, and most parts of North Vietnam.

Ba Chỉ Rang Cháy Canh / Sauteed Pork Belly With Spring Onions

Beer Halida is a pale golden, full flavoured, yet light and refreshing beer that originated from an old North Vietnamese recipe.

Beer Hanoi is a sunny gold, soft grain hoppy beer with a crisp, clean texture, brewed directly in Hanoi.

Beer Zorok is a light gold brew with a mild bitterness but a clean, light finish, with mild malt, grain, and hop on the palate, brewed in Vietnam.

Beer Halida

Beer Hanoi

Beer Zorok

Bánh Gối / Pork Pate Pillows are savoury treats, consisting of a crisp, fried pastry shell made from all-purpose flour, stuffed with a filling of minced pork, thin rice vermicelli noodles, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, black fungus, and kohlrabi / turnip cabbage. These are often eaten for breakfast, as an appetizer, or as a snack.

Bánh Gối / Pork Pate Pillows

Bánh Gối / Pork Pate Pillows

Bánh Khúc / Sticky Rice With Green Beans are a savoury dish which can be eaten at all times of the day. It's made with sticky rice / glutinous rice, peeled and mashed green beans, salt, rice flour, water, fish sauce, jersey cudweed / cabbage / water morning glory, sliced pork loin, and pepper, then steamed. Unlike other parts of Vietnam, or the world, the sticky rice / glutinous rice in Hanoi is usually more dry and sticky, instead of gooey and damp.

Bánh Khúc / Sticky Rice With Green Beans

Bánh Khúc / Sticky Rice With Green Beans

Bún Chả / Grilled Pork Noodles is a simple but appetizing dish which has a long history in Hanoi, and its resulting popularity has seen it spread to other parts of Vietnam. A favourite lunch dish of locals, it consists of a few components. There's soft thin rice vermicelli noodles with mild grainy sweet notes, and a plate of crisp fresh salad (usually comprising lettuce, cilantro, mint leaves, and basil leaves) with vegetal earthy herbal sweet bitter flavour served on the side. There's a bowl of light broth made from fish sauce, sugar, and water, garnished with crunchy green papaya and carrot strips, carrying sweet sour salty savoury flavour. You can opt to add diced garlic and chili for added herbal spice notes. The star is the grilled pork belly strips and grilled minced pork meat balls, tender and juicy with smoky meaty savoury salty sweet flavour. Locals will often encourage visitors to the city to eat Bún Chả / Grilled Pork Noodles at least once.

Bún Chả / Grilled Pork Noodles

Bún Chả / Grilled Pork Noodles

Bún Chả / Grilled Pork Noodles

The Thai cuisine inspired Bún Hải Sản / Seafood Noodle Sour Soup is unique for its signature soup / broth, which is strongly sour, tangy, and slightly spicy. The soup / broth is made by boiling water, salt, lemongrass, fish sauce, tamarind pulp, ginger, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, tomatoes, and seafood (shrimp / prawns, squid). The result is a bright orange, savoury sour soup / broth with a little spicy kick. It's served with thin rice vermicelli noodles, prawns / shrimp, squid, boneless fried fish fillets (monkfish / catfish / red snapper / snakehead), spinach, and lime juice. This satisfiying dish is often eaten for breakfast, or during cold weather.

Bún Hải Sản / Seafood Noodle Sour Soup

Bún Thang / Egg And Chicken Noodles is a simple and homely dish, perfect on cool days or when feeling under the weather. There is uncertainty to how the name was derived, as part of its name means 'prescription', but it also sounds like 'soup' - in the vien of herbal chicken soup for the soul, or something like that. The basic dish usually has only 3 primary ingredients; silky soft thin rice vermicelli noodles, tender chewy shredded chicken meat (from a 6 month old chicken or less), and spongy soft shredded strips of egg omelette. The soup / broth is usually made from water, salt, fish sauce, scallions, coriander, cilantro, basil leaves, and chicken bones for stock. The result is a warm, comforting bowl, hearty with sweet savoury eggy vegetal herbal flavour, nourishing and wholesome. Other ingredients may be added as garnish to Bún Thang / Egg And Chicken Noodles depending on the stall; including prawns / shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, pork sausage, pork loin, crushed water beetles, or bean sprouts.

Bún Thang / Egg And Chicken Noodles

Cafe Sáng Tạo Đột Phá / Coffee Breakthrough is a very strong coffee, which I tried in a cafe that grades its coffee on strength, using a scale of level 1 - 8. This was the level 8 coffee, and it is robust, strong, deep, and thick. Really will keep you awake!

Cafe Sáng Tạo Đột Phá / Coffee Breakthrough

Canh Cua Rau Đay Cà Muối / Crab And Vegetable Soup With Salted Eggplant is actually a traditional method of eating 1 soup with 1 snack item. The Canh Cua Rau Đay / Crab And Vegetable Soup is a thin, savoury, clear soup / broth made with water, fresh mud crab (with deshelled crab meat), luffa gourd, spinach, salt, pepper, onions, garlic, and bush okra / jute mallow. The Cà Muối / Salted Eggplant is a preserved, salty snack, served on the side. You're supposed to take 1 bite of this, followed by 1 spoonful of soup, combining the flavours of both.

Canh Cua Rau Đay Cà Muối / Crab And Vegetable Soup With Salted Eggplant

Clams are a common seafood dish here, served either boiled, grilled, stir fried, or in a soup / broth. The Canh Ngao Nấu Chua / Sour White Clam Soup features fresh clams, tomatoes, and pineapples, in a tangy, sour, Thai inspired soup / broth. This is made with onions, shallots, ginger, dill, bean sprouts, water, salt, fish sauce, clam shell stock, and coriander. Often consumed during cold weather.

Canh Ngao Nấu Chua / Sour White Clam Soup

Chè / Dessert Soup refers to a range of dessert beverages, sweet stews, or dessert soups, commonly sold along the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam. There's a wide variety of Chè / Dessert Soup made with various ingredients, with the more common ingredients being mung beans, black-eyed peas, black turtle beans, adzuki red beans, green beans, kidney beans, tapioca, sweet potato, yam / taro, grass jelly, fruit, and coconut cream. Each type of Chè / Dessert Soup differs by name, which reflects the different ingredients within.

Chè Chuối / Caramelised Banana And Sago In Coconut Milk Dessert Soup is a refreshing warm dessert, consisting of ripe bananas, grilled till caramelised, along with coconut milk, coconut water, and sago / tapioca balls, garnished with roasted peanuts. It has lovely fruity sweet earthy milky nutty flavour. The Chè Chuối / Caramelised Banana And Sago In Coconut Milk Dessert Soup is served with a bowl of ice on the side, scoop as much as you want into the dessert to cool it down.

Chè Chuối / Caramelised Banana And Sago In Coconut Milk Dessert Soup

A dish which originated in Hanoi, but is now popular across Vietnam, Chả Cá Lã Vọng / La Vong Fried Turmeric Fish With Dill is a satisfiying dish. The star is the fresh catfish or snakehead fish, marinated with fish sauce, powdered turmeric, garlic, ginger, and shallots, then pan-fried with dill and served while still sizzling. The fish is tender and moist with bright spice savoury salty sweet flavour, while the crunchy dill soaks up the fish oil resulting in a bold vegetal savoury sweet herbal spice flavour. The Chả Cá Lã Vọng / La Vong Fried Turmeric Fish With Dill is usually accompanied with soft thin rice vermicelli noodles with mild grainy sweet notes, a plate of crisp fresh salad (usually comprising lettuce, cilantro, mint leaves, and basil leaves) with vegetal earthy herbal sweet bitter flavour, and crunchy roasted peanuts with nutty flavour. Some diced garlic and sliced chili is served on the side, to add as you wish for enhanced herbal spice flavour. Incredibly tasty!

Chả Cá Lã Vọng / La Vong Fried Turmeric Fish With Dill

Chả Cá Lã Vọng / La Vong Fried Turmeric Fish With Dill

Chả Cá Lã Vọng / La Vong Fried Turmeric Fish With Dill

Dưa Xào / Pickled Mustard Leaves And Pork is a simple Chinese inspired stir fried dish, made with pickled mustard leaves, sliced pork loin, sliced pork belly, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, salt, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, and chili. The result is a pronounced sour salty dish, often eaten along with white rice. The vegetables should still have some crunch for texture, not limp or dry.

Dưa Xào / Pickled Mustard Leaves And Pork

Cà Phê Trứng / Egg Coffee is a sweet Vietnamese dessert beverage, a staple in Hanoi since 1950, though other parts of Vietnam have started selling this since 2014. Described as a liquid 'Tiramisu', Cà Phê Trứng / Egg Coffee was said to have been invented when milk was scarce during the war, with egg yolks being the substitute. This drink is made by whisking chicken egg yolks with sugar, coffee powder, condensed milk, butter, and cheese, then extracting the coffee into half of the cup, followed by a similar amount of egg cream. Cà Phê Trứng / Egg Coffee is served hot (in a warm water bath) or cold (ice on the side), and some of the best known places for Cà Phê Trứng / Egg Coffee is in the Hanoi Old Quarters. It's drunk by slowing stirring the egg cream into the hot black coffee beneath, with the unique experience being the contrasting notes of bitter earthy to eggy sweet flavours.

Cà Phê Trứng / Egg Coffee

Cà Phê Trứng / Egg Coffee

Cà Phê Trứng / Egg Coffee

Miến Cua Ngao / Stir Fried Vermicelli is a quick, savoury stir fried dish, made with thin cassava / sweet potato / tapioca vermicelli noodles, ginger, spring onions, bean sprouts, chicken eggs, fish sauce, light soy sauce, powdered turmeric, shiitake mushrooms, and shallots. While this is the basic dish, other garnishings of seafood are often added, such as prawns / shrimp, deshelled mud crab, or squid.

Miến Cua Ngao / Stir Fried Vermicelli

Mực Trứng Chiên / Fried Squid With Roe is a common seafood side dish, made by deep frying fresh medium-sized squid (which has egg roe within). The squid is typically marinated with a spice batter of garlic, ginger, sugar, all-purpose flour, salt, black pepper, and white pepper. With a slightly crisp chewy soft texture and savoury salty spice flavour, the Mực Trứng Chiên / Fried Squid With Roe is typically eaten along with other seafood dishes as part of a communal meal. A spicy chili dipping sauce, and a salt and lime juice dipping sauce, is served together with this.

Mực Trứng Chiên / Fried Squid With Roe

The Nem Cua Bể / Crab Spring Rolls are a coastal speciality, made with fresh deshelled mud crab, minced pork, chicken eggs, carrots, bean sprouts, thin rice vermicelli noodles, fish sauce, black fungus / cloud ear fungus, and kohlrabi / turnip cabbage, all wrapped in rice paper and deep-fried till golden. The shape can be either cylindrical or cube, and it's usually served with a spicy chili dipping sauce. The Nem Cua Bể / Crab Spring Rolls cracks with a delicate crunch to reveal the steaming hot filling within, and has a crisp crunchy soft chew to texture with robust smoky meaty sweet savoury salty briny flavour.

Nem Cua Bể / Crab Spring Rolls

Nem Cua Bể / Crab Spring Rolls

This fresh and bright summer dish of Nộm Sứa / Jellyfish Salad features boiled Vietnamese jellyfish strips, shredded chicken, shredded young / green mango, carrots, bean sprouts, and onions, all tossed together with basil leaves, vinegar, sugar, light soy sauce / salt, pepper, fish sauce, chili, shrimp paste, lemon juice / lime juice, roasted peanuts, and coriander. This refreshing and cheery salad, with its mixture of tastes (sweet, sour, salty, zesty, fruity) and textures (crunchy, chewy, soft), is perfect as a side dish or an appetizer.

Nộm Sứa / Jellyfish Salad

Often served in Hanoi stalls in Vietnam which specialise in seafood dishes, the Sò Diệp Nướng Hành Củ Lạc / Grilled Scallops With Scallions And Peanuts is popular amongst locals. These fresh scallops are grilled with salted butter, chives, scallions, fish sauce, crushed garlic, and roasted peanuts. The result is a smoky savoury salty sweet nutty dish with tender soft crisp textures, light yet utterly delicious.

Sò Diệp Nướng Hành Củ Lạc / Grilled Scallops With Scallions And Peanuts

Similarly, the Con Hàu Nướng Hành / Grilled Oyster With Scallions features fresh, plump oysters, grilled with salted butter, chives, scallions, fish sauce, crushed garlic, and roasted peanuts. The difference lies in the taste, as the oysters have an added layer of salty, briny flavour, along with the savoury sweet taste.

Con Hàu Nướng Hành / Grilled Oyster With Scallions

Thịt Ba Chỉ Kho Trứng Cút / Braised Pork Belly With Quail Eggs is a home style comfort food, more common in Hanoi households than other parts of Vietnam. Made by braising pork belly and quail eggs (which lend a richness), together with minced garlic, shallots, sugar, sweet soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper, coconut water, spring onions, and chili. This simple, savoury sweet, appetizing dish is often eaten together with white rice.

Thịt Ba Chỉ Kho Trứng Cút / Braised Pork Belly With Quail Eggs

Thịt Rim Tiêu / Claypot Soy Braised Pork bears much similarity to several other pork dishes above, the difference being that it's usually more savoury and salty than other similar dishes. This is due to the pork loin and pork belly being claypot braised in salt and light soy sauce, together with minced garlic, ginger, coconut water, sugar, fish sauce, and pepper. Garnished with spring onions, it's served with tomatoes and eaten with white rice.

Thịt Rim Tiêu / Claypot Soy Braised Pork

Trà Chanh / Lemon Tea is a Vietnamese style dessert beverage, usually served chilled. This refreshing yet very sweet drink is made with either green tea or black tea, mixed with sugar, lemon juice / lime juice, and water.

Trà Chanh / Lemon Tea

Commonly sold in most local seafood stalls, Tôm Nướng / Grilled Prawns usually consist of medium to large sized prawns / shrimp, which helps to retain some moisture even after being grilled. It's usually marinated in garlic, fish sauce, and pepper for added flavour, before it's grilled.

Tôm Nướng / Grilled Prawns

Tôm Rang Thịt Ba Chỉ / Stir Fried Baby Shrimp And Pork is a home style Hanoi comfort dish, not common in other parts of Vietnam. The savoury, crunchy dish is a home cooked delight, made by stir frying pork loin and shell-on baby shrimp / prawns, in sweet soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce, minced garlic, salt, sugar, pepper, and chili. Garnished with spring onions, this dish is a delightful combination of textures (chewy, tender, crunchy) and is eaten together with white rice.

Tôm Rang Thịt Ba Chỉ / Stir Fried Baby Shrimp And Pork

Xôi / Sticky Rice is a typical Vietnamese fast food, popular in many areas. You can't visit Vietnam without seeing Xôi / Sticky Rice! The most basic savoury version, which gives its name, is made by cooking sticky rice / glutinous rice in pork fat, which results in a dry and sticky texture. When other ingredients are added, it goes by different names. In Hanoi, the most common version is Xôi Xéo / Turmeric Sticky Rice With Shallots And Mung Beans, where sticky rice / glutinous rice is cooked with powdered turmeric and pork fat, then topped with fried shallots and mashed mung beans. The Xôi Xéo / Turmeric Sticky Rice With Shallots And Mung Beans has sticky smooth soft textures, with bright grainy earthy sweet savoury spice flavour, and is eaten throughout the day.

It's possible to combine all the savoury ingredients offered for Xôi / Sticky Rice into a 1-dish, heavy, fulfilling meal. Such a dish has a mouthful of a name; Xôi Xéo / Turmeric Sticky Rice With Shallots And Mung Beans, Lạp Sườn (Chinese dried pork sausage), Giò Bò (beef sausage), Giò Lụa (pork sausage), Xỉa Thịt Lợn (pork floss), Thịt Lợn Băm Nhỏ (minced pork), Gà Xé (shredded chicken), Trứng Gà (chicken egg), Chả Mỡ (pork pate), otherwise known as Xôi Xéo Thập Cẩm / Sticky Rice Mixed With Everything. A meal of Xôi Xéo Thập Cẩm / Sticky Rice Mixed With Everything is also accompanied by fresh diced cucumber with bright vegetal sweet flavour for contrast. The bowl of Xôi Xéo Thập Cẩm / Sticky Rice Mixed With Everything itself will have a variety of textures; sticky smooth soft chewy stringy crispy tender juicy; and a variety of flavours; grainy earthy sweet savoury spice salty eggy mineral in taste.

Xôi Xéo Thập Cẩm / Sticky Rice Mixed With Everything

Xôi Xéo Thập Cẩm / Sticky Rice Mixed With Everything

Xôi Xéo Thập Cẩm / Sticky Rice Mixed With Everything

Ốc Mít Luộc / Boiled Snails are a Vietnamese favourite, made by boiling fresh water snails in water, sugar, salt, fish sauce, and chili. The result is a savoury, sweet, sour, and spicy dish, usually eaten with a toothpick and your fingers.

Ốc Mít Luộc / Boiled Snails

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