Street food in Sai Gon

“Saigon is home to many different culinary cultures and street food is one of the highlights of this land.”

On any street in Saigon, you can easily find a colorful sweet gruel, mixed girdle-cake with spicy yellow incubation or hot noodle soup on the sidewalk.

1. Sweet foods:

a, Sweet gruel – Chè

On hot summer days, Saigon is the ‘paradise’ for those who love sweets, you can sip sweet gruel, tofu, fruit plate …

Saigon has many good and famous sweet gruel shops. First, visit the three-color sweet gruel car on Nguyen Phi Khanh street, District 1. Or you can also enjoy the special sweet gruel tray (Su Van Hanh building, District 10) with 12 cups of sweet gruel of all kinds. In addition, Ky Dong Sweet gruel (Ky Dong Street, District 3) also has a lot of sweet gruel such as mixed sweet gruel, mung bean sweet gruel, sweet green bean gruel, Thai sweet gruel, …

b, Fruit plate – Trái cây dĩa (tô).

Speaking of fruit can not mention Nguyen Canh Chan street, District 1. This road is known as the ‘land’ of the fork with coconut jam. Coconut jam here is made from coconut fiber yarn and snails with jellies to create a special jam with a very personal and delicious scent. Or you can come to some of the most famous street about fruit plate like To Hien Thanh street, Thanh Thai street, District 10; …

2. Salty foods.

a, Banh mi 

If you’re even the slightest bit into Vietnamese food, you’ve probably eaten numerous banh mi sandwiches.

Along with pho, easily the most exported Vietnamese speciality is banh mi. Although banh mi can mean a variety of different things, and in Vietnamese it actually just means bread, sometimes the term can be used to refer to any type of the beautiful Vietnamese personal baguette sandwich.

Walking around Saigon you’ll see dozens of carts with signs selling banh mi – it’s actually hard to go more than a block without seeing one – so it’s never hard to find.

There are many different varieties of banh mi, and here’s a good resource for seeing the different types, but the basic sandwich starts with a crusty baguette that’s sliced in half (sometimes using a scissors) and stuffed with layers of pork, luncheon meats, shredded cured pork skin, pâté, mayonnaise, Vietnamese radish and carrot pickles, a handful of sliced cucumbers, sprigs of coriander (cilantro), and last but not least, an optional, yet in my opinion necessary, scoop of fresh pounded chilies.

b, Noodle soup 

The most famous and distinctive dish when referring to Saigon is the noodle soup. You can easily see any small noodle shops across the streets of Saigon. You’ll be amazed at the slices of thin meat like paper. This popular dish is favored here by the convenience and ease of eating.

Besides the noodle soup, you can try other foods like wonton noodles, dry noodles…

b, Banh Xeo – Bánh Xèo 

Turmeric powder, not eggs, lend this iconic southern dish its yellow color. Banh xeo is named for the sizzling sound its batter makes on the skillet.
It’s made like a pancake and served like a crepe — if pancakes and crepes were filled with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts.

The Vietnamese spring roll, not to be confused with its fried cousin, is a popular appetizer commonly made with slices of pork belly, shrimp, cold vermicelli noodles, and veggies like lettuce, mint and chives.

Steamed or sautéed in tamarind sauce, fried or boiled in coconut milk, snails are an especially loved after-hours snack in Saigon.

Whether sourced from land, sea or freshwater, snails in Vietnam are perhaps more approachable than French escargot, but just as tasty.