Baked bananas, bread with grilled pork, crab rolls, crab
vermicelli ... are among the Vietnamese cuisines that are world
well-known.
1. Baked bananas
At
the World Street Food Congress held in Singapore at the end of May
2013, baked banana of
Vietnam was voted the most favorite dish.
Banana
covered in baked sticky rice is a favorable snack with many Vietnamese
people.This dish is really simple and easy to process but very tasty.
The
first step of making the dish is choosing bananas. Pick ones that is
straight, since the curved ones will be hard to mold into beautiful
shapes.
The white layer of rice that covers around the banana is cooked from good sticky rice.
After cooking the sticky rice, mix it with scraped copra and coconut milk. Then roll it into thin layers.
Peel
the bananas and put them on the sticky rice layers, then roll them so
that the sticky rice will cover the entire banana. This step must be
done carefully to make sure that the sticky rice layers will cover
tightly the banana.
Then, use a piece of banana leaf to wrap
outside and bake it on burning coal. The baking step requires the makers
to pay attention and turn the bananas steadily so that they will not be
burnt.
Bake until the green banana leaves outside turns into dark yellow, the sticky rice becomes dry and the bananas smell fragrant.
Remove
the burnt banana leaves outside and cut the banana covered in a layer
of baked sticky rice into small pieces, then pour coconut milk over and
sprinkle some roasted peanut on the surface.
This snack can either
be enjoyed when it is hot or cool. Although it is very simple and quite
rustic, the dish is really delicious and easy to eat. It has now become
very popular and widely preferred.
The fragrance and greasy taste of coconut milk mingles with the sweet
of banana covered in baked sticky rice can definitely arouse anyone’s
desire.
2. Baguette with grilled meat
On
the website concierge.com of the American magazine Condé Nast Traveler,
baguette with grilled meat on the sidewalk of Nguyen Trai street in
District 1 - Ho Chi Minh City is selected as one of the 12 most
delicious street food in the world.
3. Barbecue chicken
In
2012, according to the CNN Go poll, Hanoi was in the list of 10 cities
with the most delicious Asian dishes, with barbecue chicken.
Grilled
chicken wings and feet, sweet potatoes and bread that's been brushed
with honey before being grilled are served with chili sauce and pickled
cucumbers in sweet vinegar. The simple, enticing menu is nearly
identical for all the vendors on the street.
According to CNN Go,
Hanoi is also a street-eater's paradise, with a plethora of options for
those who want to eat like a local. In fact, many swear that the best
food in Hanoi is found on the sidewalk, with dishes that often feature
fish sauce, lemongrass, chilies, and cilantro and other fresh herbs.
4. Nem cua be (spring rolls with fresh crab meat)
Being famous a dish throughout Vietnam, nem cua be is also selected by CNN Go as one of the interesting street foods in Asia.
You
can find many types of excellent spring rolls all over Vietnam, but nem
cua be, made with fresh crab meat, are particularly good. Unlike
regular spring rolls, they are wrapped into a square shape before being
fried. Nem cua be are a specialty of Hai Phong, a seaside town not far
away, but are fantastic in Hanoi as well.
5. Banh khot
In the World Street Food Congress, Vietnam's banh khot was also in the list of 35 world cuisines.
This cake is made from rice flour and shrimp. It is fried and served with raw vegetables, fresh chili, fish sauce with shrimp.
Banh
khot is a very unique dish. Basically, it is a small hearty pancake
that originated in the nearby beach town of Vung Tau but is now a
special part of Saigonese cuisine. If it is made correctly, it will be
golden-brown and crispy on the outside but soft in the middle. Banh khot
usually comes in two varieties, pork and shrimp, but some restaurants
make specialty versions, like oyster and fish. It is served with a plate
of leaves, mustard or lettuce, which you wrap around the banh khot.
Banh
khot carts are easy to spot because they sport a unique cooking
apparatus, consisting of what looks like a thick cupcake pan. The pan
holds the banh khot as they fry in oil. This is a faster street food —
generally the cook pumps them out pan-by-pan and you buy from the lot
sitting on display.
6. Bun rieu cua (Crab vermicelli)
As
a quiche dish of the Vietnamese people, in 2012 this dish was also
selected by CNN Go as one of the most attractive dishes in Asia.
Bun
rieu cua is served with tomato broth and topped with crab or shrimp
paste. In this dish, various freshwater paddy crabs are used, including
the brown paddy crab found in rice paddies in Vietnam.
The crabs
are cleaned by being placed in clean water to remove dirt and sand. The
crabs are pounded with the shell on to a fine paste. This paste is
strained and the crab liquid is a base for the soup along with tomato.
The crab residue is used as the basis for crab cakes.
Other
ingredients for this dish are: fried tofu, me or giam bong (kinds of
rice vinegar), Garcinia multiflora Champ., annatto seeds to redden the
broth, congealed pig's blood, split water spinach stems, shredded banana
flower, Elsholtzia ciliata, spearmint, perilla, bean sprouts and
vegetarian sausage. This dish is rich in nutrition: calcium from the
ground crab shells, iron from the congealed pig's blood, and vitamins
and fiber from the vegetables.
7. Pho
For a long time, Vietnamese noodle brands have become popular all over the world.
Pho
is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, linguine-shaped rice
noodles, a few herbs, and meat. It is a popular street food in Vietnam
and the specialty of a number of restaurant chains around the world. Pho
is primarily served with either beef or chicken. The Hanoi and Saigon
styles of pho differ by noodle width, sweetness of broth, and choice of
herbs. The origin of pho and its name is a subject of scholarly debate.
8. Bun cha
Bun
cha is another world-famous dish of Vietnam. It is a dish of grilled
pork and noodle, which is thought to have originated from Hanoi. Bun cha
is served with grilled fatty pork over a plate of white rice noodle and
herbs with a side dish of dipping sauce. Hanoi’s first bun cha
restaurant was on Gia Ngu, Hoan Kiem District, in
Hanoi's Old Quarter.
Bun
cha is popular in the Northern region of Vietnam. In the South, a
similar dish of rice vermicelli and grilled meat is called bun thit
nuong.
