149 signature dishes from across Vietnam — the stories, the flavours and where to eat them.
A crackling-crusted loaf stuffed with pâté, cold cuts, pickled vegetables and fresh herbs — the icon of Vietnamese street food.
The port city's reddish-brown flat noodles in a field-crab broth, rich with crab roe and fragrant la lot herb cakes.
A ruby-red lemongrass-and-chilli broth with thick round noodles, beef shank and crab cakes — the signature fiery flavour of the ancient capital.
Charcoal-grilled pork, fragrant and smoky, dipped in a sweet-and-sour fish sauce with rice noodles and fresh herbs.
Chewy golden noodles made with water from the Bá Lễ well, char siu pork, crisp pork cracklings and Trà Quế herbs — only Hội An gets it right.
Golden, crackling rice crust drenched in a rich mountain-goat and offal sauce — the legendary pairing of the ancient capital of Hoa Lu.
Broken rice with honey-grilled pork chop charred at the edges, shredded pork skin, egg meatloaf and scallion oil — the soul of Saigon on a single plate.
The soul of Hanoi cuisine — a crystal-clear bone broth, soft rice noodles, and thinly sliced beef.
Salted mangrove crabs tossed with garlic, chili, lime and sugar — the claw meat is deeply savory and the roe wonderfully rich, the ultimate rice-companion dish of Rạch Gốc.
Southern-style thick steamed rice cakes topped with golden roasted-rice-powder pork skin and mung bean, drizzled with sweet-and-sour chilli fish sauce.
An elegant Hue platter: dainty water-fern cakes in tiny dishes, chewy translucent tapioca cakes, and soft rice cakes wrapped in leaves, all topped with golden dried shrimp and drizzled with sweet-spicy fish sauce.
A honeycomb sponge cake made with An Giang palm sugar — golden, soft and airy, fragrant with the distinctive scent of the toddy palm from the Seven Mountains region.
Crystal-clear tapioca dumplings revealing a ruby braised-shrimp filling, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed — utterly moreish.
A bowl of soft, chewy rice-flour noodles in a crystal-clear broth sweet with slow-simmered bones, brimming with lean pork, trotters and offal — Trà Vinh's beloved staple.
Thick, translucent rice noodles in a sweet bone broth loaded with meltingly tender pork trotter, served with dew-dried rice paper and Tây Ninh's signature wild herbs.
Chewy-soft rice-flour noodles in a deeply sweet sea-fish broth, dotted with golden fried and steamed fish cakes — brimming with the sun and wind of Ninh Thuận.
Soft rice-flour thick noodles in a broth of fresh fish, with fried and steamed fish cakes bursting with the flavor of the Binh Thuan sea.
A bowl of thick rice noodles blanketed in vibrant green chives, in a sweet sea-fish broth with the distinctive aroma of chives found only in Phú Yên.
The square sticky-rice cakes of Bo Dau village, wrapped in wild dong leaves and boiled in village well water, chewy, fragrant and beautifully formed.
Thin, filling-free white rice rolls served hot alongside a plate of fragrant grilled pork patties and a bowl of sweet-and-sour fish sauce, characteristic of Ha Nam.
Paper-thin hand-steamed rice sheets flecked with golden fried shallots, served with cinnamon pork sausage and fish sauce delicately scented with belostomatid essence, a refined Hanoi delicacy.
Steamed rice rolls served not with dipping sauce but ladled into a bowl of simmered bone broth — a way of eating unique to Cao Bang.
Steamed rice rolls wrapped around a runny egg yolk, served in a warm bone broth fragrant with fried shallots.
A caramel-sticky-rice bar, chewy and crisp, dotted with orange-red 'crab-egg' morsels — Thai Binh's tribute cake for the emperor.
Rice-batter cakes baked in terracotta molds, topped with quail egg or seafood and dipped in nem-fish sauce with pork meatballs.
Golden, crackly fritters molded in a ladle, filled with mung beans, minced pork and whole shrimp, wrapped in fresh herbs and dipped in sweet-and-sour fish sauce.
Glossy black sticky-rice cakes made from ramie leaves, filled with rich mung bean and coconut, wrapped in dried banana leaf.
Jet-black cakes made from pounded gai leaves with a sweet mung bean and coconut filling, chewy and fragrant in a dried banana-leaf wrap, a specialty of Hai Duong.
A dense, chewy cake glossy black from ramie leaves, filled with sweet, nutty mung bean and coconut and scented with banana leaf — the specialty of Tu Tru village in Thanh Hoa.
Golden, shatteringly crisp fritters packed with wild river shrimp, fresh bean sprouts and rich pork brain — their aroma fills every corner of the Gò Công market.
Soft, supple rolled rice sheets that wobble and 'nod' when you pick them up, dipped in rich fish sauce with pork and scallion oil — a specialty of the town of Tien Yen.
Soft, delicate woven rice vermicelli topped with green chives and fragrant scallion oil, served with a steaming bowl of pork-offal porridge — a classic Bình Định breakfast.
A melt-in-the-mouth cake of roasted glutinous rice flour, delicately sweet with sugar and nutty with peanuts and sesame, wrapped in five-colored paper like a highland Tet gift.
Bite-sized rice-flour pancakes fried crisp in tiny moulds, each crowned with a ruby-red shrimp, wrapped in mustard greens and dipped in sweet fish sauce.
A tiny, crackling-crisp baguette stick smeared with rich liver pate and fiery chi chuong chili sauce — Hai Phong's most famous street snack.
Soft, gossamer-thin sheets of steamed rice rolled hot off the cloth, served with rich offal broth or braised beef — a beloved dish of the Nghệ An region.
The traditional wedding cake of the Kinh Bac region — a chewy translucent shell glowing gardenia-gold, filled with sweet mung bean and coconut.
Glutinous rice crackers grilled over glowing coals until they puff to many times their size — crisp, airy and sweet with the coconut fragrance of Bến Tre.
A thousand-layer pastry with a soft crust and a filling of durian, mung bean and salted egg yolk — the sweet, rich 'melt-in-your-mouth' treat of Soc Trang.
Rice-flour cakes shaped like dainty little ears, filled with savory pork and steamed until soft and chewy, a humble breakfast treat of Phu Tho.
A soft, fluffy steamed cake ground from buckwheat flower seeds, with a mild nutty sweetness of the highlands, an emblematic specialty of Ha Giang's rocky plateau.
Perfectly boiled two-skin pork rolled in dewy rice paper with a whole garden of fresh herbs, dipped in spicy fermented anchovy sauce (mắm nêm).
'Da Lat pizza' — charcoal-grilled rice paper topped with egg, scallion, dried shrimp and cheese, enjoyed in the crisp mountain chill.
Rice paper toasted then left out in the night dew until soft and pliable, wrapped around boiled pork and wild herbs from the Vam Co River.
Soft, chewy glutinous rice dumplings drenched in golden Vĩnh Tường cane molasses, dusted with sesame and warming ginger — a humble sweet of Vĩnh Phúc.
Chewy sticky-rice cakes filled with rich, nutty black ant eggs, wrapped in green fig leaves and steamed — a unique Tay specialty.
Soft, chewy rice noodles topped with pork skin and meatballs, drenched in rich coconut cream and sprinkled with peanuts — the signature taste of Ngan Dừa town.
A crisp turmeric rice-flour crepe that sizzles in the hot pan, filled with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts, wrapped in fresh herbs and dipped in fish sauce.
A multi-layered pastry with a crisp, flaky crust wrapped around savory char siu pork and a rich salted egg yolk, a famed Chinese-origin snack of Nam Dinh.
A little tower of glossy black sticky-rice cakes wrapped cone-shaped in banana leaf — 'to eat bánh ít lá gai, marry into Bình Định.'
Glowing golden blocks that melt the instant they touch your tongue, delicately sweet with mung bean — perfect with hot tea.
Moc Chau milk-fed veal flash-fried golden outside, tender, sweet and juicy within, dipped in warm gingery fermented soybean sauce fragrant with the highlands.
A seven-course feast of beef from the Nui Sam area of Chau Doc: shaking beef, grilled beef, beef congee and more — a full spectrum of flavors on one convivial table.
Beef dried in exactly one day of sun and grilled over charcoal until fragrant, dipped in tangy-spicy yellow-ant salt — a distinctive specialty of Phú Yên and Gia Lai.
Fresh beef hung for forest ants to sting, lending a curious sourness, then thinly sliced and cured with lime and seasonings — a marvelous specialty of Tam Đảo.
A fiery bowl of crimson broth simmered with chili satay and tender beef shank — mouth-searingly hot, yet a must-try for anyone visiting Bac Lieu.
Springy, sweet mackerel fish cakes in a broth simmered from sea-fish bones — light and clear, with no fishy edge.
A bowl of noodles in a fragrant tomato broth, with springy-sweet mackerel and featherback fish cakes, plus fresh herbs and a punchy garlic-chili vinegar.
Snakehead-fish noodles in a golden turmeric broth deeply seasoned with fermented shrimp paste, dotted with yellow sesbania blossoms — the signature taste of An Giang's flood season.
Rach Gia snakehead-fish noodles with fresh shrimp in a crystal-clear, delicately sweet broth, served with a basket of cool greens from the Mekong's river country.
A bowl of noodles in a broth made luscious and sweet from sea-fish bones, with chunks of fish and springy fish cakes, served with scallions, cilantro, and fresh herbs.
A bowl of Mai Xá clam noodles, fragrant with stir-fried Hiếu River clams, bathed in a sweet clam broth and topped with roasted peanuts and crisp fresh greens.
A bowl of noodles in a dark, richly fermented field-crab broth, topped with pork skin, bamboo shoots and crispy rice crackers — Pleiku's gloriously addictive specialty.
A crystal-clear broth cooked from prahok fermented fish and ngai bun ginger, served with snakehead fish, roast pork and banana blossom.
Fresh noodles made on the spot with shrimp and fish paste smeared right into the bowl, while diners 'stir' their own dipping sauce to taste.
Noodles with crisp, cool, springy sea jellyfish and chewy-sweet fish cakes in a light, clean fish broth, a refreshing summertime dish.
Hung Yen's elaborate bun thang, swapping the traditional chicken for field eel stir-fried with turmeric.
Thick rice noodles dyed a glossy red with annatto, ladled with rich crab paste broth and topped with quail eggs and crispy pork cracklings — a warming supper of the Ban Me highlands.
Rice noodles served with golden pan-fried field perch in a sweet, clear broth brightened by water mimosa and dill — a famed specialty of Thái Bình.
Flat rice-flour noodles, wide like bed slats, simmered into a silky porridge with flaked snakehead fish, fiery chili powder, fragrant turmeric and bright green scallions.
Chewy-soft hand-rolled wheat noodles in a snakehead-fish and shrimp broth — a humble breakfast from the land of white sands and Laotian winds.
Toasted-rice congee cooked with fresh pork offal, Cai Tac market style — served with a plate of offal, blood sausage and wild bitter herbs.
Whole-grain rice porridge topped with paddy eel stir-fried in turmeric and fiery chilli — the go-to breakfast of the Nghe An region.
A bitter porridge made from the aconite root of Ha Giang's rocky peaks — one taste and its 'bitter with a sweet finish' lingers forever.
A whole world of Hue sweet soups: the surprising roast-pork-in-tapioca chè, delicately sweet corn chè, and cool, refined lotus-seed chè.
Turmeric-marinated catfish grilled then sizzled with dill in a hot pan right at your table — a celebrated Old Quarter specialty.
Fresh cuttlefish pounded by hand in small batches and fried to a golden crisp — springy and snappy, pure Quang Ninh seaside flavor.
Mangrove-forest sea crab with firm, sweet meat — steamed with beer, stir-fried in tamarind, or simmered in hotpot, it's the pride of Vietnam's southernmost tip.
Robusta from Vietnam's coffee capital — thick and bold from the phin filter, with a chocolatey finish born of the red basalt soil.
Bold robusta dripped through a phin filter over condensed milk and poured over ice — a moment of slow living in the rush of Saigon.
A silky, whipped egg-cream crown atop bold black coffee — Vietnam's own tiramisu.
Stream goby seasoned with mac khen, wrapped in dong leaves and buried in hot ash and embers until fragrant and tender, a rustic dish of the Thai people.
Stream fish fermented sour by a Central Highlands technique, then braised or stewed for a natural clean tang and the woodland aroma of Kon Tum's forests.
A clay pot of grass carp braised 12 hours over longan wood — firm flesh, bones gone tender, deep with soy, ginger and galangal.
Fresh fish pulled from Ba Be Lake, clamped in split bamboo and slow-grilled over embers until the skin turns golden and fragrant with mountain smoke.
Fresh fish from Thac Ba Lake clamped in bamboo and grilled over charcoal, seasoned with mac khen and doi seeds, its skin golden and fragrant with the flavors of Yen Bai's waters.
Da River fish is split along the back, stuffed with herbs and mac khen pepper, folded shut and grilled over coals until the skin is crisp and the flesh sweet and fragrant, Muong and Thai style.
A whole elephant ear fish deep-fried with its scales bristling upright on the platter, wrapped in rice paper with garden herbs, orchard style.
Rice cooked in golden turmeric-tinged chicken broth, topped with sweet shredded free-range chicken, tossed with Vietnamese coriander and onion, and dipped in ginger fish sauce.
Cold rice tossed with sauteed baby clams, shrimp paste, crisp pork cracklings and fresh herbs, ladled with sweet clam broth, a humble dish steeped in the soul of Hue.
Upland sticky rice roasted inside young bamboo tubes, fragrant with the scent of bamboo, dipped in sesame salt or cham cheo.
Jade-green young sticky rice from Tu Le's Tan variety, tender and fragrant with the milk of unripe grain, in the Mu Cang Chai valley.
Young glutinous rice pounded flat and tossed with grated coconut and sugar — chewy and fragrant with the scent of new-harvest grain, a sacred sweet of the southern Khmer.
Tiny don clams from the Trà River simmered into a naturally sweet broth, eaten with raw rice paper and fiery bird's-eye chili.
Free-range chicken marinated in lemongrass and turmeric, charcoal-grilled until fragrant, served with chewy sticky rice roasted in bamboo tubes and spicy é-basil salt — the soul of the Central Highlands.
Plump, juicy Tan Trieu pomelo segments tossed with shrimp, pork and herbs — a bright, sweet-and-sour salad from Dong Nai.
Fresh fish from the Đồng Nai River tossed with toasted rice powder and herbs, wrapped in rice paper and dipped in a tangy-spicy sauce — a rustic riverside appetizer.
Fresh silver-fish cured snow-white in lime and vinegar, wrapped in rice paper with fresh herbs and dipped in bold fermented anchovy sauce, a specialty of the Phan Thiet coast.
Fresh Phu Quoc herring tossed with grated coconut and crisp onion, wrapped in rice paper with wild forest herbs and dipped in pungent, spicy first-press fish sauce.
A platter of 40 to 60 kinds of forest leaves wrapped around shrimp and pork, dipped in a rich sticky-rice-and-egg sauce — a botanical map of the Central Highlands on your table.
Fresh spiny eel tossed raw with fragrant toasted rice powder, wrapped in fig and ming aralia leaves and dipped in a rich, nutty chẻo sauce — a coastal specialty of Thái Bình.
Free-range highland pig from Măng Đen roasted whole, with crackling-crisp skin and sweet, firm meat infused with the aroma of the cool, misty forest.
Cashews from Vietnam's 'cashew capital', roasted over wood with their thin skin on — crunchy and rich, carrying the flavour of the eastern red soil.
Clear, springy rice noodles in a sweet, delicate pork-bone broth with shrimp, pork and offal — the pride of the Mekong Delta.
Sa Đéc noodles — white, tender yet springy — in a crystal-clear, bone-sweet broth, served in soup or dry-tossed, always fragrant with fried garlic.
Spiced pork belly steamed with taro until meltingly tender, rich yet delicate, a festive dish of the Tay and Nung peoples.
A crisp peanut-and-sesame brittle of Chinese origin, cooked so it shatters cleanly, rich with roasted peanuts and malt syrup — a sweet gift from Nam Định.
Roasted peanuts drowned in cane molasses, pressed between two sesame rice crackers — a sweet, nutty treat that lingers with every traveller through Ha Tinh.
Soft, fragrant coconut candy cooked from the rich coconut milk of the coconut land, wrapped in edible rice paper that melts on the tongue.
Buffalo meat braised long and patiently with forest spices until it turns meltingly soft and thick, a renowned specialty of the Thai people in Lai Chau.
Fresh lap xuong from Can Duoc, Long An, fragrant with pork fat and rice wine, fried or grilled until ruby-red and served with steaming white rice.
Deep-red Sóc Trăng sausage, fragrant with Mai Quế Lộ rose liquor and balanced between sweet and rich — irresistible whether pan-fried or grilled.
A steaming chicken hotpot simmered with pungent, aromatic white é leaves and tender sweet chicken, the perfect warmer on a chilly Da Lat night.
A glossy brown hotpot built on fermented linh and snakehead fish from Chau Doc, for dipping fish, shrimp and basketfuls of sesbania blossoms.
Glossy dark arrowroot noodles handmade in Con Minh, chewy and springy, cooked with hill-raised chicken or shrimp from Ba Be Lake.
Big airy puffs that are hollow inside, with a crackling shell coated in malt syrup and fragrant toasted sesame — a traditional sweet of Sóc Trăng's Chinese community.
Golden rice noodles in a reduced, deeply savory broth, topped with shrimp, pork and quail eggs, served with crisp sesame rice crackers.
The 'ocean headlight' braised with Chinese herbs in a clay pot — a dish that takes courage but rewards with nourishment, from Phú Yên.
From Bui village, this roll of pork and rind tossed with roasted rice powder is wrapped in banana leaf and lightly fermented, served with fiery chili sauce that whets the appetite.
The 'fermented pork of the pink-tangerine land' — a harmonious sour, sweet and spicy bite, wrapped in neat squares of banana leaf by a century-old craft.
Rosy, tangy-crisp fermented pork rolls wrapped in banana leaf, served with ming aralia leaves and cloves of chilli-garlic.
Vị Thủy village's nem chạo is made from fresh pork and skin tossed with toasted rice powder, eaten raw with ginger fish sauce — a rustic country dish of Thái Bình.
Rosy-red fermented pork rolls from Chợ Huyện — snappy and springy, gently tangy, laced with pepper, chili and guava leaf. A favorite nibble of Bình Định's martial-arts land.
Neat square parcels stuffed with sweet sea-crab meat, fried until golden and shatteringly crisp, dipped in sweet-sour fish sauce — an unforgettable Hai Phong specialty.
Minced pork wrapped around lemongrass stalks and grilled over charcoal, rolled in rice paper with herbs and dipped in a peanut sauce.
Fragrant charcoal-grilled pork patties wrapped in rice paper with fresh greens and green banana, dipped in a rich, savory ground-bean sauce.
Charcoal-grilled pork sausage rolled in rice paper with crisp fried spring rolls (chả ram), dipped in a smooth, glossy peanut-and-sticky-rice sauce.
Lean pork and rind tossed with roasted rice powder and pressed firmly into a block, wrapped in sung leaves and dipped in fish sauce, a celebrated specialty of Giao Thuy.
The tender, glossy chayote shoots of the misty mountain town, stir-fried with garlic — sweet and crisp, simple yet addictive.
Stream fish folded in half, clamped in a bamboo splint and charcoal-grilled, stuffed with mac khen and a host of wild herbs, a signature grilled dish of the Thai people of Dien Bien.
Beef and pork offal braised until tender in a creamy five-spice coconut broth, dipped with crusty bread or ladled over noodles — its aroma fills every corner of Saigon's streets.
The famed mixed pho with crispy fried sweet potato, char siu pork, roasted peanuts and a harmonious, multi-layered sweet-and-sour sauce.
The famous 'two-bowl pho' — one bowl of dry noodles tossed with crackling pork and fried shallots, and a separate bowl of beef broth.
A traditional H'Mong horse-meat hotpot, simmered with a dozen highland herbs and spices.
Free-range pork cured with toasted ground rice in bamboo tubes, lightly sour, eaten wrapped in fig leaves with chili sauce.
Firm, sweet and barely gamey meat from goats raised on limestone peaks, served lime-cured, steamed or grilled with fig leaves and rich fermented soybean sauce.
Raised free-range by the Muong people, this hill pork is firm, lean and sweetly fragrant, cooked into a variety of boiled, grilled and leaf-steamed mountain dishes.
Buffalo marinated in mac khen pepper and smoked over the kitchen hearth — the legendary snack of the Northwest.
Tan Cuong's 'finest of famous teas' — a green-gold brew, gently astringent then lingeringly sweet.
Ba Be Lake shrimp fermented with toasted rice powder, galangal and garlic for a gentle tang, served alongside boiled meat and cool fresh greens.
Thick-fleshed, juicy thieu lychees, intensely sweet — summer sets the hillsides of Bac Giang ablaze in red.
Roast duck with glossy, crackling skin and rich, sweet meat, marinated in seven mountain spices and fragrant mac mat leaves — a signature of the Cao Bang borderlands.
Roast duck with honey-glazed crackling skin, its cavity stuffed with fragrant mac mat leaves — the pride of Lang Son cuisine.
Duck stuffed with fragrant mac mat leaves and roasted to a glossy gold, with crackling skin and deeply savory meat served with a rich, silky sauce.
Dien Bien upland sticky rice steamed in a wooden basket, its plump grains soft, chewy and glossy, naturally sweet and fragrant, holding firm in the hand yet never sticking.
Upland sticky rice dyed a glossy purple with magenta leaves and khau cam plant, chewy, fragrant and strikingly colorful, a beautiful dish of the Lai Chau highlands.
Plump, milky-white coconut grubs, taut and richly buttery — eaten live swimming in chili fish sauce or fried golden in butter, the daredevil delicacy of coconut country.
Field frog braised with green banana, tofu and bamboo shoots in a golden sauce fragrant with fermented rice and turmeric, a specialty of the Phuong Tuong craft village in Hung Yen.
Rare limestone-mountain snails with firm, chewy flesh scented of herbal medicine, steamed with lemongrass or stir-fried spicy, appearing only on damp rainy days.