Saigon – the heaven of street food in Vietnam

Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City is one of biggest cities in Vietnam. Lifestyle in Ho Chi Minh City is very active and bustling. People are more into “on-the-go” routine to catch up the fast and moving forward lifestyle. They use to eat on street to save time and save money other than cooking at home and dining in restaurant. Street foods in Saigon are really cheap and delicious. With only $1 or $2, you can have full meal with tons of options for you to choose. However, there top 5 dishes that you should try in Saigon. 

1. Broken rice 

Com tam, or broken rice, used to be called "poor people's rice” since it was made from grains that broke during harvest or cleaning and were sold cheap. Over the years it has become a popular dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is usually served with grilled pork ribs, bì (thinly shredded pork mixed with cooked and thinly shredded pork skin) or cha (a mix of steamed eggs, crab meat, ground pork meat, Jew's ear mushroom, and vermicelli) or both. It can be found almost everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City in street stalls with plastic stools and tables. 

2. Fried rice flour cakes 

Bot chien (fried rice flour cakes) is a dish that originated in China and has become a popular street snack in Saigon. It is made from rice flour cakes chopped into chunky squares and fried in a large flat pan with whipped eggs and green onion. It’s served crisp with sweet rice vinegar and soy sauce concoction and some shredded pickled young papaya and carrot to cool down the dish. 

3. Mixed rice paper 

Banh trang tron (mixed rice paper) is the favorite snack of teenagers in Saigon. It is like a salad made of shredded rice paper mixed with jerky, dried shrimps, roasted peanuts, boiled quail eggs, shredded mangoes, fried onions, and herbs. It is seasoned with chili sauce, salt, cashew oil, and onion oil until it is sour, spicy, salty, and sweet at the same time. The dish can be found anywhere in Saigon but the most famous street for banh trang tron is Nguyen Thuong Hien in District 3. 

4. Papaya salad 

Goi du du (papaya salad) is made of shredded papaya, rice crackers, sliced jerky, roasted peanuts, and herbs seasonaed with chili sauce. It is usually sold on carts pulled by street vendors. The most famous spot to buy this dish is in front of Le Van Tam Park on Hai Ba Trung Street. 

5. Pha Lau 

Pha lau is pig/cow intestines boiled down to a soft texture in a salty broth. It can be served with bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwich) or noodles. You can find it around any school area in Saigon. Students love Pha Lau because it cheap and tasty.

Top 5 Vietnamese dishes

1. “Bun Bo Hue”

The spicy beef noodle soup that come from the central city of Vietnam – Hue. Not similar to Pho, The dish is greatly admired for its balance of spicy, sour, salty and sweet flavors and the predominant flavor is that of lemon grass. “Bun bo hue” usually includes thin slices beef shank, oxtail, and pig's knuckles. It can also include cubes of congealed pig blood. It is commonly served with lime, cilantro, green onions, white onions and red or white cabbage. 

2. “banh cuon”

“banh cuon” in Vietnamese mean steamed rice cake. “banh cuon” is soft and delicate, the favorite way to enjoy this is straight from the steamer, deep it in the sweet and sour fish source when it still hot. The traditional steps to make “banh cuon” are ladled each scoop of the rice flour-based batter onto the steamer, covering it with a lid for a matter of seconds, then carefully transferred the gossamer-thin sheets with a bamboo stick onto a tray to be filled with minced mushrooms and pork.

3. “goi cuon”

“goi cuon” literally means "salad rolls" and should be distinguished from the fried rolls, which are also sometimes called summer rolls. The rolls are packed with greens, sometimes shrimp and/or pork, and herbs. They need a dunk in sweet and sour fish source or hoisin peanut butter source. Almost every region in Vietnam has its own distinct spring roll but no matter where you are, the wrapping and rolling process is more or less the same.

4. “banh xeo”

“xeo” mean “sizzling” which is the sound when you make “banh xeo”! The savory, crisp-edged, crepe-like pancake is best enjoyed straight from the pan. The batter is made with rice flour, coconut milk, and turmeric (hence the nice golden-yellow hue and not eggs) and is pan-fried altogether with pork, shrimp, and a heap of bean sprouts. Wrap up the pancake with lettuce, herbs and then deep in the fish source. 

5. “che”

Time for some desert. “Che” refers to any sweet pudding or dessert soup, which usually gets covered in jellied or dried fruit toppings. Taste the rainbow of longans, rambutan, mangoes, jackfruit chips, mung beans, black beans, and more sticky sweetness. You can mix all of them or choose 2 to 3 topping you like put together with some shaved ice to create you unique and delicious desert! 

You can have all the delicious and authentic dishes in Toronto at: Pho Linh

location 1: 1156 College St

Toronto, ON (416) 516-3891

location 2: 2100 Steeles Ave W

Concord, ON (905) 660-4478