Hanoi cuisine: what to eat in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam?

The city of Hanoi is not just the administrative center of Vietnam, it’s also the center of culture, which helps to develop rich and long-lasting cuisine. And below are some recommendations for must-try food to discover Hanoi’s cuisine.

A corner of Hanoi

Pho (noodle soup): This is the first dish to mention, a legendary of not only Hanoi but Vietnam’s cuisine. soft strings of fresh noodles in the harmony with tasty broth made from pork bones and local herbs, added meat and minced spring onion, lime juice and chilly is one of the best combination of food. There’re 2 kinds of Pho are Pho Bo (eating with sliced beef) and Pho Ga (served with shredded chicken). This could be the best choice for a winter morning to wake up your appetite and senses.

Beef Pho

Pho cuon Ngũ Xá (Ngu Xa roll): Also called Pho but this dish is not about strings of fresh noodle. It’s made from stir-dried beef and local herbs rolled with fresh rice paper dipping in the sour and sweet dipping liquid diluted from Nuoc Mam (fish sauce), sugar, lime juice and sliced green papaya.

Pho cuon

Hot Bánh đúc: A long-standing dish with the main ingredient is stirred rice powder added toppings including grounded pork, ear-shaped mushroom, deep-fried shallot, tofu and fresh coriander.

Hot Banh Duc

Bún thang: Also a kind of Pho with very thin strings of noodle. This is a really complicated dish requiring julienne fried egg, shredded chicken and shiitake. The broth is super sweet broth made from chicken bones or prawns.

Bun thang

Bún chả: Needless to mention to much about this amazing dish. Bun cha is always on top recommendation for foreigner tourists in Vietnam. The combination of fresh noodles with grilled pork dipping in the sour and sweet liquid made from Nuoc Mam, sugar and lime juice make me mouth-watering just thinking about it.

Bun cha

Trang Tien ice-cream: whether it is winter or summer, you shouldn’t miss this chance to taste the longest-standing brand in the whole country of Vietnam. This could be mentioned as the national brand of ice-cream with more than 60 years of operating. Trang Tien’s creamy ice-cream has been the favorite taste of many generations of Vietnamese.

Trang Tien ice-cream

Cốm (green rice flakes): A very special kind of healthy junk food. Com is made of green sticky rice. People harvest green rice when it still has milk inside, boil and smash it into tiny leaf of Com then contain it by fresh lotus leaves to add scent to Com. The result is emerald Com with the charming fragance of lotus. Com could be eaten alone or combined with ripe banana or become ingredients for dessert soup, sticky rice and even cha com (combined with grounded pork).

Com Hanoi

Xoi (sticky rice): This is the favorite breakfast of Hanoian as it’s easy to take away. You can easily find vendors sitting on sidewalks with a some bamboo baskets and grasp a set of Xoi at a very low cost. The top Xoi must be mentioned should be Xoi xeo, a combination of sticky rice, grounded green been, deep-fried shallot and dry shredded pork. An interesting fact about this dish is that only eaters find its smell pleasant and others who don’t will find it a disaster.