One of the world’s top street food locations, according to Lonely Planet’s assessment, is Vietnam. Visitors can experience the country’s diverse culinary culture without ever having to venture into a posh restaurant.

Authors Barbara Adam and James Pham have compiled a list of the greatest street cuisine in Vietnam that many tourists have never heard of in a new guidebook called ‘Eat Vietnam’.

Street food outdoor spots

In Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam, street culture is a favorite pastime for many people. Particularly in major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, multigenerational families generally live in cramped quarters. Food and drink establishments set up shop on the sidewalk since people cannot gather for idle moments in their homes or in such close proximity.

Street cuisine in Vietnam is linked to the country’s cultural variety. It is common for individuals from around the country to come together in large cities for education and employment. Rental properties with basic living conditions such as gas burners for making quick meals are the sole options for these people.

Street eateries are popular in Vietnam because they allow customers to experience the lively scene outside rather than the cooped-up confines of their rooms all day. When visiting Vietnam, modest pleasures such as windy evenings, motorbike rides to a sidewalk vendor, and a few nibbles are regarded worthwhile.

1. Dumplings (Bánh bao)

The cake is made of flour and stuffed with a mixture of minced pork, onions, and shiitake mushrooms, among other ingredients. Salted eggs or quail eggs are common additions in several recipes. Peel off the hot paper behind the cake before you devour this non fatty and healthful food.

2. Bloating fern-shaped cake (Bánh bèo)

It is common for banh beo, which is made from steamed rice flour, to arrive with dried shrimp, onion oil, bread, and fish sauce on a tiny plate. They all go together beautifully. Diners can relish this food on the go, at their leisure.

3. Vietnamese custard cake (Bánh căn)

Baked in little earthenware pots, the cakes made from rice flour are cooked over a glowing ember. The vendor will then top the dish with a generous helping of grilled pork, shrimp, and a quail egg. Banh Can is also commonly served with mango slivers and a signature dipping sauce.

4. Vietnamese rice paper salad (Bánh tráng trộn)

Because of its flavorful combination of sour and spicy, this meal is a popular choice for many young people. Grated mango, cooked quail eggs, a little dried shrimp, herbs, crispy roasted peanuts with soy sauce, and satay are all put together in a rice paper wrapper.

5. Stir-fried corn (Ngô/bắp xào)

De-seeded corn sauteed with butter, dried shrimp and spring onions is a recurrent dish especially in chilly weather. Stir-fried corn can effortlessly be found in many street-food stalls. There also is a ‘grilled corn with onion fat’ variation.

6.Salty popiah, sweet popiah (Bò bía)

Snacks like sausages, fried eggs, carrots, lettuce, cassava root or kohlrabi, dried shrimp, herbs…are shredded into tiny strips and put into rice paper rolls for a salty popiah dish. It comes with chili sauce, crushed peanuts, and dried onions as a dipping sauce. 

Despite the minimal components including just a single malt candy bar wrapped with shredded coconut, the flavor of sweet popiah is unexpectedly enticing.

7. Fried rice flour (Bột chiên)

Bot chien is famous especially in southern Vietnam. It is made of eggs, green onion, shredded papaya, and ketchup sauteed with finger-sized pieces of steamed rice flour.

8. Papaya salad (Nộm đu đủ)

Green papaya, carrots, dried meat, herbs, toasted peanuts and basic spices are all that are needed to make a simple papaya salad that is both refreshing and satisfying to eat! People are drawn to this meal because of its harmonious and healthful flavor largely from vegetables and its eye-catching color formation of the light green color of papaya, the bright orange color of carrots, the dark green color of herbs and the yellow-brown color of dried beef.

9. Crab soup (Súp cua)

Crab soup with aromatic crab flesh, well-stirred eggs, straw mushrooms, and quail eggs is readily available in Saigon’s streets. Depending on your preference, you may add a dash of pepper, coriander, or chili sauce to your meal and stir thoroughly.

10. Sticky rice

Visitors to Vietnam may readily obtain a wide variety of wonderful sticky rice, both salty and sweet, on many streets and alleyways. In addition to bread, sticky rice is a common breakfast in Vietnam.

After releasing its debut guidebook (‘Across Asia on the Cheap’) in 1973, Lonely Planet became known as a publisher of the world’s best-selling travel publications. Its insightful and practical advice has assisted millions of travelers in making the most of their journeys across the globe throughout the years.

Do An