Dish

Top 10 Vietnamese Dishes

Vietnamese cuisine is celebrated worldwide for its emphasis on fresh herbs, balanced flavors, and healthy ingredients, with the country's food culture earning global recognition through its rise on international food tourism rankings. Vietnam was named the "World's Best Culinary Destination" by the World Travel Awards four years running from 2019 to 2022. The country's 54 ethnic groups contribute to a remarkably diverse culinary landscape spanning over 500 traditional dishes.

Location: SG202693 viewsMar 12, 2026 Updated Oct 3, 2026

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#1
Pho
Pho is Vietnam's national dish and one of the world's greatest soups, a deeply aromatic beef or chicken noodle soup. The broth is slow-simmered for 6-12 hours with star anise, cinnamon, cloves, charred ginger, and beef bones, creating a complex, layered flavor. Vietnam has approximately 350,000 pho restaurants nationwide, with Hanoi's Old Quarter alone featuring over 100 vendors on a single street.
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#2
Banh Mi
Banh Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that fuses a French baguette legacy with Vietnamese flavors such as chili, coriander, pickled daikon and carrot, pate, and various proteins. Added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011, this sandwich uses a baguette made with rice flour, making it 30% lighter and crispier than a traditional French baguette. Hoi An's Banh Mi Phuong, made famous by Anthony Bourdain, serves over 2,000 sandwiches daily and has been featured in more than 300 international publications.
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#3
Bun Bo Hue
The broth is spiked with lemongrass, shrimp paste, and annatto oil, giving it a distinctively red color and bold umami depth; it uses thick round rice noodles, beef shank, pork knuckle, and traditionally a slice of blood sausage. With shrimp paste often contributing 15–20% of the broth's sodium content, this soup provides a unique savory profile. While Pho's popularity in Vietnam dominates with a 60% market share among noodle soups, Bun Bo Hue's flavor complexity ranks higher in culinary awards.
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#4
Goi Cuon (Fresh Spring Rolls)
Goi Cuon are translucent rice paper rolls filled with shrimp, pork, vermicelli noodles, and fresh herbs, served cold with a hoisin-peanut dipping sauce. Celebrated as one of the healthiest Vietnamese preparations, each roll contains approximately 90 calories and only 2 grams of fat, making them 70% lighter than fried spring rolls. They are a staple at Vietnamese restaurants from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, gaining popularity in healthy eating circles worldwide.
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#5
Com Tam (Broken Rice)
Com Tam (Broken Rice) is the definitive southern Vietnamese comfort dish, with its fractured rice grains transformed from a cheap leftover into a beloved staple. In Ho Chi Minh City alone, over 30,000 stalls serve this meal, often featuring grilled pork chop, shredded pork skin, and a steamed egg meatloaf, all drizzled with sweet fish sauce. A typical plate provides 500-600 calories, making it a hearty option for any hour, including midnight. The dish's evolution from laborer's fare to a culinary icon showcases Vietnam's resourcefulness.
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#6
Cao Lau
Cao Lau is a hyper-local noodle dish from Hoi An, defined by noodles soaked in lye water from a specific ancient Cham Island well, giving them a uniquely chewy texture. This geographic exclusivity means it's 50% more expensive than typical street foods like Banh Xeo, but food tourists seek it out for its rarity. The dish's protected character ensures an authentic taste of Hoi An that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
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#7
Banh Xeo (Sizzling Crepe)
Banh Xeo, or sizzling crepe, is a crispy rice flour crepe colored with turmeric and filled with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts, named for its loud sizzle when fried. Wrapped in mustard leaf with herbs and sweet-sour fish sauce, southern versions can be 30% larger than northern ones, often reaching dinner-plate size at 25 cm in diameter. Its versatility makes it a favorite across Vietnam, with variations highlighting regional tastes while maintaining a core, vibrant flavor.
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#8
Cha Ca La Vong (Turmeric Fish)
Cha Ca La Vong, a Hanoi specialty, is so revered that the street where it's served is named Cha Ca Street, honoring its legacy. The dish features catfish marinated in turmeric and galangal, pan-fried at the table with dill, and eaten with vermicelli, peanuts, and shrimp paste.
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#9
Banh Cuon (Steamed Rice Rolls)
Banh Cuon delivers the most ethereal texture of any steamed rice roll on this list, with a gossamer-thin, translucent sheet that forms in just 30 seconds over boiling water. The delicacy comes from a skillfully poured batter spread across muslin cloth, yielding a silky, almost liquid-like bite filled with seasoned minced pork and wood ear mushrooms. Served with sliced pork sausage, crispy fried shallots, cucumber, bean sprouts, and a light fish sauce broth, each roll offers a balanced, savory profile.
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#10
Chao (Vietnamese Rice Porridge)
Chao is Vietnam's deeply nourishing rice porridge, slow-cooked for at least two hours until the grains break down into a creamy, soothing consistency that far surpasses the average congee's richness. Typically prepared with chicken, pork, fish, or offal, it's served with ginger, scallions, and fried dough sticks, making it a universal comfort food across all regions. Whether for breakfast, during illness, or as late-night street food, Chao's slow-cooked depth offers a nourishing alternative to quicker rice dishes.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Vietnamese Food

## What is the most famous Vietnamese dish?

Pho is widely considered Vietnam's national dish — a beef or chicken noodle soup with aromatic broth, rice noodles, herbs, and lime or chili.

## What is the difference between Pho and Bun Bo Hue?

Pho uses a clear, star-anise-forward beef broth with flat rice noodles. Bun Bo Hue features a spicier, lemongrass-and-shrimp-paste broth with thicker round noodles and sliced beef shank.

## Are Banh Mi and Vietnamese sandwiches the same thing?

Yes — Banh Mi refers to the baguette-based sandwich introduced during French colonial rule, filled with meats, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and chili.

## What is a typical Vietnamese breakfast?

Pho, Banh Cuon (steamed rice rolls), Com Tam (broken rice), and Chao (rice porridge) are all common breakfast choices across Vietnam.

## Is Vietnamese food healthy?

Most traditional dishes emphasize fresh herbs, lean proteins, rice or rice noodles, and light broths, making Vietnamese cuisine one of the healthier Asian food traditions.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the most popular Vietnamese dish?

Pho, a flavorful noodle soup with beef or chicken and fresh herbs, is widely considered the most iconic Vietnamese dish.

What are the key ingredients in Vietnamese cuisine?

Vietnamese cuisine relies on fish sauce, rice noodles, fresh herbs like mint and cilantro, lime, and chili for its signature balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors.

Is Vietnamese food spicy?

Vietnamese food is generally milder than Thai or Indian cuisine, but fresh chili and chili sauces are commonly served on the side, allowing you to control the heat.

What is a typical Vietnamese breakfast?

A typical Vietnamese breakfast often includes a bowl of pho or bún bò Huế, or a banh mi sandwich, accompanied by a strong iced coffee.

Are there vegetarian versions of Vietnamese dishes?

Yes, many Vietnamese dishes can be made vegetarian by substituting meat with tofu, mushrooms, or mock meats, and using soy sauce instead of fish sauce—look for 'chay' (vegetarian) options.