The Cuisine of Vietnam

In Hoi An and Da Nang, we were able to try all sorts of new dishes – but also variations of foods we already knew.

The Bánh Mì was the easiest introduction. It is the Vietnamese counterpart of a filled wheat roll, but with a rice flour component, making the crust crunchier and easier to bite into without tearing. It is usually topped with various herbs such as basil, mint, and coriander, as well as vegetables like cucumbers, white radish, tomatoes, and onions, and a type of soy sauce as a base. For toppings, one can choose from fried egg or different pork variations (crispy, BBQ,…). There are also fillings with chicken, pâté, fish, or cream cheese. We enjoyed dining at the “Bánh Mì Queen” in Old Town, and for delivery orders, “Tuktuk Thai Lan Cafe” was our first choice.

The Bánh Mì also has an interesting origin story: It dates back to the colonial period around 1850, when French occupiers still wanted to enjoy their beloved baguette, but wheat was expensive to import. As World War I raged in Europe, wheat became scarce, and Vietnamese bakers had to be inventive. They stretched the wheat with rice flour, which made the bread easier to bite and made it usable as a sandwich – before, the “bread topping” was eaten separately. From 1954 onwards, Bánh Mì became widespread throughout Vietnam in its sandwich form and was sold cheaply at street stalls.

Especially in Da Nang, there are many Dim Sum restaurants selling delicious steamed dumplings filled with soup or meat and mushrooms. One dish from there is also one of Simon's favorite foods, the Bánh Bao. These steamed, filled yeast rolls are particularly offered at street stalls and even by vendors on motorbikes – with an appropriate announcement.

Dim Sum came to Vietnam through Chinese immigrants and has somewhat split here: The classic Dim Sum continues to be served relatively unchanged in Chinese restaurants, while Bánh Bao is considered a standalone dish sold in a heartier, often quail egg-filled variant at street stalls.

In Vietnam, Bánh Chưng (square) and Bánh Tét (cylindrical) are widespread. These consist of glutinous rice with mung beans and pork, wrapped in banana leaves and then boiled or steamed for a long time. The dish is usually eaten around the Tết festival but is available year-round in small restaurants.

However, one must be careful about what to buy – not only Bánh Chưng is wrapped in banana leaves but also other dishes. We mistakenly bought Nem Nướng Chút Chít, fermented pork in banana leaves, which at first glance even looked like glutinous rice. The slightly sour note was not much to our taste.

Sữa Chua is a frozen yogurt sold at street stalls in a plastic bag with a straw – the contents are slurped out like ice pops. It is made with condensed milk instead of regular milk, making it sweeter and creamier. Unfortunately, we only saw this dessert at street stalls in Hue.

Chè is a sweet dish with coconut milk and ice cubes, accompanied by various toppings such as sweet beans, glutinous rice or jelly cubes, sometimes also jackfruit or candied fruits. At Thanh Tam by the Coconut Forest, there was Chè with water coconut from the Nipah palms that grow there. The dish is refreshing in the heat and is usually not too sweet or intense in flavor – the beans still have some bite and are not overcooked.

Not a dish of its own, but a ubiquitous manufacturer of dairy products is Vinamilk. In Hoi An, there is even a dedicated Vinamilk store with various milk types (low sugar, sugar-free, or sweetened), flavors (orange, taro, strawberry, chocolate, blueberry, lychee), and dairy products such as yogurt, ice cream, drinking milk, cream, milk powder, and plant drinks. The taste is usually sweet and slightly different from milk – more in the direction of very liquid yogurt.

Very regional is the Bánh Xèo: a crispy fried pancake with turmeric, filled with bamboo shoots. Depending on the variant, meat or shrimp may also be stir-fried. In many places, additional meat skewers are offered, which combine well – both are served wrapped in rice paper with a lot of salad, pickled vegetables (similar to kimchi), and herbs. Peanut sauce is usually served on the side.

Noodle soups are called Phở in Vietnam and have a clear broth with flat rice noodles. You can choose from different types of meat – I prefer beef, which is added in thin slices. A large plate of Thai basil, coriander, bamboo shoots, mint, and lime is served alongside, from which you can gradually add the greens to the soup.

As a snack, you can buy large packs of various nuts in Vietnam. I particularly enjoyed large cashews with shells – nice and crunchy and not as small and soggy as those available in Germany. There are also salted peanuts with shells or wasabi peas.

We learned of the dish Đậu Bắp Luộc in a family restaurant. It mainly consists of boiled okra with garlic, chili, coriander, and pepper, accompanied by a spicy sauce.

In the same restaurant, we also tried Thịt Heo Nướng Sả with Bánh Tráng Nướng: Grilled pork marinated with lemongrass served with roasted rice paper. Chili, coriander, lemongrass, garlic, tomatoes, and salad are served alongside. To eat, you break off a piece of the large rice paper and top it with some pork.

For breakfast, Vietnamese people in Hoi An like to eat Mì Quảng: wide turmeric rice noodles with meat, herbs, quail eggs, and peanuts in just a little, but strong broth.

A very classic dish is Gỏi Cuốn (summer rolls), which are on almost every menu and which we often enjoyed. They are usually filled with fresh herbs, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, a bit of ginger, and a meat variant, all rolled in rice paper. They are even available in a fried version (Chả Giò), usually served with peanut sauce.

In Vietnam, there is a café to be found on almost every corner – in various forms. Originally, the French brought the coffee plant to Vietnam during the colonial period around 1850, and today Vietnam is even the second-largest coffee exporter in the world (especially the Robusta variety).

The coffee culture has developed rapidly among the Vietnamese: There are cafes with koi ponds or even a swimming pool, but also very classic ones with a counter and a few folding chairs. Locals often spend hours on small plastic chairs, a coffee in hand, playing a round of Cờ Tướng (Chinese chess) or a card game.

The beverage offerings can vary greatly: In a simple café, you can find black Vietnamese coffee, with milk or condensed milk, and in a larger café, there are also variants with coconut, ginger, or avocado, as well as many fruit teas, juices, and smoothies. A glass of cold tea is usually served alongside.

We have already tried all sorts of coffee variations: ginger, salt, Phin Da (coffee with salty whipped cream and milk), milk coffee, or black. Sugar is usually added to black coffee, which is why despite a fairly healthy diet in Vietnam, we consume more than enough sugar.

We also tried the popular egg coffee – whipped egg yolk and condensed milk on black coffee. It didn’t convince either of us: the consistency is very interesting, but the taste is not particularly intense and in the aftertaste, it is almost a bit unpleasant.

I generally prefer the warm variants, since especially with salt coffee the aroma comes through better – with the chilled variants, the salt tends to stick more to the ice cubes. My favorite is hot ginger coffee, while Simon prefers the iced salt coffee.

The following restaurants and cafés we liked:

— Bánh Mì Queen

— Miss Hoi An Café: A building covered in flowers with a beautiful garden overlooking the river

— Minh’s Kitchen Restaurant: A large selection of delicious dishes and coffees

— Baby Mustard: The dishes are somewhat more expensive, but really very tasty, and you can even take a cooking class with fresh ingredients grown in the field right behind

— Lạc Thảo Viên: Café in Da Nang

— Tây Sơn Cuốn – Bánh Cuốn Bình Định: Family restaurant for fresh spring rolls in Da Nang

— Nhậu Bình Dân Dũng Mười: Family restaurant in Tra Que

We often ate in small street restaurants that were not listed on Google Maps. As a quality feature, we evaluated the number of local guests – often more reliable than Google reviews. In Vietnam, these small family eateries are called Quán Ăn: usually covered, with small plastic chairs, open fronts, and a manageable menu.

However, one must expect that there will be no English menu and the staff speak little English. The Google Translate app was the most helpful – both as a communication aid with the locals and with the photo translation mode for the menus.

However, we were also somewhat limited in our willingness to try: chicken feet and pig ears were not for us – and we preferred to leave the widely available snails to others.