Top street foods in Hanoi can not be missed

Named in the list of best cities for sweet food by CNN travel magazine, Hanois is really a haven of awesome street foods. A famous American author, James Michener says “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” So don’t miss your unique chance to explore the old city of Hanoi in your Vietnam trips through its delicious traditional street foods. Below is “Tops street food in Hanoi can not be missed”.

1. Banh Canh 

The banh canh – Vietnamese noodles with crab meat, crab cake, chili, lime juice and coconut dip – surprises with a rich texture and robust flavours. Goi cuon, a fresh spring roll, is made of rice paper filled with fresh vegetables, cooked pork meat and cooked prawns dipped into sweet soya sauce and topped with roasted peanuts.

2. Bun Cha (Grilled pork noodle)

This dish is really famous to visitors when arriving in Hanoi, only after “Pho”. Most of travellers and expats living in Hanoi are appealed by the exquisite flavor of this noodle with grilled pork. If “Pho bo” is the King of street foods, then “Bun Cha” is the Queen.

The good smell of grilled pork has its own incredible power, it can stop every passenger to taste and enjoy. Passing a street restaurant of “Bun Cha”, you will see some smoke and feel extremely good smell from the grills fanned manually by some ladies by the pavements. This is the dish that you cannot miss even you only stay in Hanoi for 1 day.

3. Fried/Grilled Fertilized Ground Pork

Fertilized Ground Pork is a favorite of Vietnamese people while it’s considered as a food fear factor in the West. But if you eat Fried/Grilled Fertilized Ground Pork without knowing what you’re eating, you would find out it’s a great food.

4. Banh my bittet (Vietnamese beef steaks and bread)

This is not a traditional dish of Vietnamese people; however it cannot be missed in your list of food addresses if you stay in Hanoi for a long time. After trying too much delicious but “strange” Vietnamese cuisine, you must “miss” a little Western flavor. “Banh my bittet” is a perfect choice.

Once you try this dish, you will see a brilliant combination of Vietnamese and Western cuisine. The beef is not cooked as exactly the same as beef steak in the West, but added some other ingredients to make a Vietnamese dish. Although each restaurant has their own variation in recipe, a normal dish of “bittet” includes fried beef, some pâté, sunny side up eggs, fried potatoes, onions and a tasty sauce.

5. “Che”- Vietnamese sweets

The most popular dessert in Hanoi is sweet. Vietnamese sweets are different from famous Thai sweets. They tend to be purer and less sweet than Thai’s. When most of Thai sweets have a lot of greasy coconut milk, Vietnamese traditional sweets are more “gentle” with beans, lotus seed, jellies, etc.

There are more and more new recipes of sweets with colorful jelly and different ingredients, however, the traditional sweets such as green bean, black bean, and longan lotus seeds sweet are still keeping their own attraction with Hanoians.

6. Banh Tom

Banh tom is a shrimp patty specialty original from the area around West Lake (Ho Tay) in Hanoi. First, the dough is made with wheat flour, cornstarch, fresh water, egg, salt, pepper, turmeric powder and sweet potato. This is dipped into cooking oil and the shrimps are placed on top. The whole thing is deep fried for about 5 minutes until the shrimp pancakes become golden brown. The patty is usually served with fish sauce. You’ll find this specialty at Banh Tom Ho Tay.

7. Pho Roll

Vietnamese Spring Roll are well-known by many foreign visitors for its amazing taste. Pho Roll is a less-known but very tasty specialty of Hanoi similar to Spring Roll. The Pho rice paper is used to wrapped stir-fried beef and herbs. The sweet and sour fish sauce dip couldn’t be missed when eating the roll. There’s nowhere you can enjoy the best Pho Roll than in Hanoi.

A day adventure tour in Hanoi and enjoy the street foods. That’s great !!!. It would be perfect if you have a local guide to help you find these addresses, but it’s ok if you explore by yourselves with an old Quarter map and this printed article.