Tag: Street food

Vietnam is famous for not only for beautiful sceneries but also delicious street foods. Each region in this country has its specialities, through the coastal to the mountainous area. However, do you know how to eat street food in Vietnam in a professional way? Keep reading this article to understand how Vietnamese locals enjoy their street foods.

Special Skills To Eat Like A Local

Using Chopsticks And Spoon

Pho Vietnamese street food — Eating pho.
Image credit- J. Nguyen~commonswiki

Vietnamese people often hold chopsticks on the right hand and spoon on the other to eat, mainly when they eat “Pho” – a famous traditional food of Vietnam. The chopsticks are used to twirl up noodles, while the spoon is used to place the broth. It seems to be difficult the first time; however, you should practice it to enjoy Vietnamese street food correctly.

Eating Right Foods At Right Hour

The Vietnamese often spend one hour in the morning having breakfast, from 07:00 am to 08:00 am, with foods such as bread and “Pho.” Their lunch lasts from 11:30 am to 01:00 pm and the duration from 05:00 pm to 06:30 pm is for dinner. The first advice is that you should have meals at this time. You can eat at a different time, but it is not like a local.

Lunch and dinner are the main meals of Vietnamese people with four vital nutrients, including sugar, protein, fat, and vegetables. A traditional meal in the Vietnamese family is lovely thanks to diversified colours and good decoration. Therefore, if you have a chance to enjoy a traditional family meal in Vietnam, you must be fortunate.

Sitting On Tiny Plastic Chairs

plastic chairs Vietnam — Sit in tiny plastic chairs
Image credit-vina.com

If you have been familiar with eating in luxurious restaurants, sitting on a tiny plastic chair to eat street food will bring you special feelings. You may wonder why you have to stay in this kind of uncomfortable chair. The answer is that it is a part of the street food culture in this small but beautiful country. It will not be street food if you do not choose such a sitting.

Drinking Iced Tea (Trà Đá) Together

In Vietnam, there is a kind of drink for everything that is iced tea or “trà đá.” Never think about drinking beer if you want to be a local eater as Vietnamese people all drink “trà đá.” Moreover, this tea is very safe because it is boiled before being served. If you do not like iced tea, you can order the hot one. It is also worth trying.

Following The Crowd

A significant rule for eating like a local in Vietnam is to follow the crowd. The crowded stores often go with a good reputation; therefore, you will enjoy the best flavour of food here. Moreover, because of the humid climate of Vietnam, food becomes stale very quickly, you may get a stomach-ache after eating in the less-crowded restaurants.

Northern Vietnam

Noodle Soup (Phở)

Vietnamese ice tea — Vietnamese phở beef noodles from the Pho 24 restaurant on Mac Thi Buoi street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Image credit- Kham Tran, www.khamtran.com

Among the list of Vietnamese specialities, noodle soup should always be listed as the top one. This dish is made from fresh rice noodle, salty broth, herbs, chicken or beef, and so on. A bowl of cheap but tasty “Phở” nowadays becomes a familiar food for every tourist arriving in the North of Vietnam.

La Vong Grilled Fish Pie (Chả Cá Lã Vọng)

La Vong Grilled Fish pie- Vietnam travel — La Vong Grilled Fish Pie
Image credit-https://vietnamtravel.guide

La Vong grilled fish pie was created at the time of the French. It is the combination of sliced snakehead, turmeric, galangal, pepper, ferment, and fish sauce. This eating will be of the most delicious when it is hot. You can eat La Vong grilled fish pie together with vermicelli, toasted rice pancake, shrimp paste, and fresh chopped small onions. It is said to be one of the most worth-trying dishes in Hanoi – the capital of Vietnam.

Vietnamese Grilled Meat Vermicelli (Bún Chả)

Vietnamese Grilled Meat Vermicelli, street food Vietnam — Vietnamese Grilled Meat Vermicelli

“Bún Chả” can be made from grilled chopped roll meat pie or pieces and vermicelli. This dish uses pig shoulder meat, which is marinated in fish sauce, pepper, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, and chopped dried onions. To make it more sophisticated, some people even wrap meat pies in banana leaves. You can enjoy Vietnamese grilled meat vermicelli with fresh vegetables and herbs. Also, combine with fried spring rolls (which is called Nem in Vietnamese) if you like.

West Lake Crispy Shrimp Cake (Bánh Tôm Hồ Tây)

Shrimp fried pancake of West Lake-Vietnam
Image credit- https://www.vietnamtravel.co

Crispy shrimp cake is made from shrimp caught in West Lake and flour. After wrapping shrimp in flour, they start to fry in a hot pan full of cooking oil. It is ready to eat when the cake becomes yellow and soufflé. This cake is served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce made with sliced thin green papaya and carrot. You can eat this cake with vermicelli, but it is best to drink beer while enjoying “Bánh Tôm Hồ Tây.”

Central Vietnam

Hue Beef Noodle (Bún Bò Huế)

Hue beef noodle soup Da Nang - Bún bò Huế Đà Nẵng | by HoianFoodtour Vietnam street food — Hue beef noodle soup Da Nang – Bún bò Huế Đà Nẵng | by HoianFoodtour

This is one of the most savoury Vietnamese noodle soup. Hue beef noodle is made from braised beef, vermicelli rice noodles, green vegetables, and herbs. Although it is popular among central Vietnamese province, Hue is the best place for you to enjoy the original taste of this eating.

Quang Noodle (Mì Quảng)

Quang noodle is a speciality from Quang Nam province, Vietnam. Like “Phở” or vermicelli, “Mì Quảng” is also made from rice, but it is a little bit softer than vermicelli. Quang noodle has a yellow colour, which comes from food colouring or annatto oil. Broth to make Quang noodle is also unique with some shrimp, meat, and peanut. Nowadays, you can easily find this eating in every province of Vietnam. So, remember to give it a try when you have a chance to go to Vietnam.

Southern Vietnam

Mixed Rice Paper (Bánh Tráng Trộn)

Mixed rice paper salad, street food Vietnam — Ngo Saigon Street Cafe: Bánh tráng trộn / Mixed rice paper salad
Image credit -Tripadvisor

Mixed rice paper is a rustic dish of the youth in Ho Chi Minh City. Materials to make mixed rice paper are straightforward, including sour mango fibres, laksa leaves, kumquat juice, dried beef, shrimp salt, and of course, julienned rice paper sheets. All of these ingredients are mixed well together until rice paper becomes soft. “Bánh tráng trộn” is not only delicious but also eye-catching thanks to the red colour created by dried beef and shrimp salt. For every Saigon citizen, mixed rice paper is a street food of the lifetime.

Vietnamese Southern Crispy Pancake (Bánh Xèo Nam Bộ)

Vietnamese Southern Crispy Pancake, street food Vietnam — Vietnamese Southern Crispy Pancake

Vietnamese southern crispy pancake, which is also called sizzling cake is a traditional dish from the South of Vietnam. Its name “sizzling” or “xèo” starts from the sound created when people make this cake. Through many years of development and cultural transferring, “Bánh xèo” is changed in each area to fit the flavour of local people. For example, “Bánh xèo” in Ho Chi Minh City is crispy and rolled with fresh vegetables and herbs, while the one in Binh Dinh province is quite soft and crispy in the border only. Vietnamese people eat sizzling cake all year round but the most wonderful time to enjoy is autumn and winter when the weather is cold.

Above is some useful advice for you on how to eat street food in Vietnam like a local. Also, there are some suggestions on what you should eat when arriving in this beautiful country. Remember that these foods are nowadays available in big cities of Vietnam, so you can enjoy southern specialities in Hanoi or other northern provinces and vice versa.

Have you ever been to Vietnam? If yes, share with us your experience on what you have done or eaten. If no, hope our article was useful to you. Thanks for reading!

I am Emily Pham. I was born in Vietnam – a country with many unknown beaches, historic sites, and tourist attractions. Understanding that Vietnam nowadays is a famous destination, I establish the blog site vina.com with the purpose of introducing the elegant beauty of Vietnam to friends around the world. If you are planning a trip to Vietnam, our blog will provide you with essential information on where to go and what to do in our country.

What is your favourite street food? Part 17

December 6, 2018

Kash Pals

Food 2 Comments

Continuing my series on What is your favourite street food?

Street food Denmark

It is actually been several decades ago since street food equalled hot dogs here; with the introduction of more exotic cuisine from abroad, the selection has become much more varied. But you´ll still find hot dogs stands as the most commonly seen option.

Danish hot dog | by City Foodsters, Denmark — Danish hot dog | by City Foodsters

There´s the big Papirøen / Copenhagen Street Food place which has by far the biggest variety in town, worth a visit. Also, check out the more expensive, but really mouth-watering food market Torvehallerne.

There are lots of Kebab and pizza places in town generally, and also other options, some of them as mobile stands – Greek, Korean, Japanese, Hungarian, French crepes etc., to mention a few, I´ve seen recently.

As regards hot dog stands, I think they often tend to move around. But try and see if there´s anyone around Torvehallerne and the Round Tower for example, for some of the less standardized items, that are not just of the “Steff Houlberg” label or the like.

~ Joen.Dk

Duck fat fries

Pulled pork sandwich

Sweet potato fries

Mixed Brazilian barbecue

Tacos

Molten chocolate cake

Dine around Copenhagen, Denmark & get a taste of international and Danish street foods! From Organic Hot Dogs to delicious Creme Brulee Doughnuts, Copenhagen delights you with a variety of International Street Food!

So, what is your favourite Danish food?

What is your favourite street food? Part 16

November 27, 2018

Kash Pals

Food 2 Comments

Continuing the series on What is your favourite street food? Part 15

Street food Spain

has a few but, since autumn has just ended, let me tell you about the most typical one:

Roasted chestnuts

Not that much of a mystery. Spanish people love chesnuts and the best way to eat them is by the street and roasted. What’s charming about this is that they’re sold on stands where you can see the castañero roasting them on a metal furnace. It’s been like that since forever and many cities would not be the same without their chestnut stands set right at the start of the fall.

Hasn’t changed that much for the last century

Oh, and fear not if you don’t like chestnuts. These stands usually also sell sweet potatoes and cobs. Roasted too, of course.

Most Spanish food is awesome, but here’s some tips about it if you’re visiting Spain:

Good paellas are very, very hard to find. This is a very complex dish and very slow to produce (it takes around 1 hour and a half to cook).

Spanish Paella — Paella Mixta | A mixed paella with chicken and seafood toppe… | Flickr

Paellas are the NOT fast food and most paellas that are sold to tourists are cheap-ass frozen paellas. Avoid them unless you have a lot of knowledge about local restaurants.

Iberian ham is a delicacy, and I would dare to say that Spanish cold cuts are the best of the world.

Iberian Ham- Spain food — Iberian Ham – Picture of 7 Portes, Barcelona – TripAdvisor

You can’t go wrong with any of these, really. Museo del Jamón has some great ratio of “ham for your buck” thanks to its staggering economy of scale.

Spain has an even bigger variety of cheeses than France.

Manchego Spain cheese — Manchego By Zerohund – de.wikipedia: [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1378114

If you can taste some local cheese, don’t think twice but do it!

Croquetas, Spain food — Croquetas de champiñón | Cocina de Nihacc
Image credit- cocinadenihacc.wordpress.com

Non-frozen croquetas are heaven incarnate.
Most gourmet markets have good food, but very touristic prices (that is, they are overpriced).
Commercial Spanish beer quality range from “meh” (Alhambra) to “crap” (Cruzcampo), but artisanal beers are an entirely different (and better) story.
Spain has some of the best wines in relation of price VS quality, both red and white. Drink them at will!
We know our seafood and fishes. Spain is, after all, the 2nd biggest market for all things sea, right after Japan. Don’t be afraid of the alien-looking sea creatures in our menus
Tapas are a great thing, but their quality and quantity greatly varies from one region to another. For example, Granada has a stronger tapas tradition than Madrid, which in turn has a stronger tapas tradition than Barcelona. In some parts of Spain they are even non-existent (The Basque Country has Pintxos instead of tapas, for example). Also, tapas or not, menus del día are the best way to eat (and the cheapest!)
Spain is a regional differences galore, and thus, its star dishes will greatly vary from one region to another. The more cosmopolitan the place, the better “high end” creative cuisine restaurants. The more rural, the better local produce. But it would really help to know which exact region you will be visiting in order to recommend you its speciality.

Spanish omlette — Tortilla-de-patatas
Spanish omelette Wikipedia

Bonus track: Potato omelette is a salvation table for vegetarians visiting Spain, and a hell of a dish.
Pro tip: Good potato omelettes contain onions, and are creamy on the inside (rather than dry). Accept no substitutes and treacherous claims about potato omelettes without onions, for they are false food prophets.

~ Eduardo Marqués Collado, Lives in Spain

So, what is your favourite streetfood in Spain?

What is your favourite street food? Part 15

November 23, 2018

Kash Pals

Food 3 Comments

Turkey is literally the bridge between Europe and Asia. Also, it really is the centre of the world. You can fly about everywhere from Atatürk Airport.

Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Jul-2016
Image credit- Mitch Altman- Flickr

The name of our country actually comes from “Turchia” which means “Anatolia”.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is considered as our father. He is the founder of modern Turkey. Every year on the 10th of November Turkey stops for 1 minute on at 09:05 the time of his death.

Istanbul grand bazaar Turkish market traditional
Image credit-Pixabay

Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is the largest and oldest indoor market. It was built in the 15th century.

Türk kahvesi, Turkish coffee, Istanbul — Türk kahvesi, Turkish coffee
Image credit -AlmilaS -Flickr

Turks introduced coffee “kahve” to Europe. We are proud of our coffee, it doesn’t taste like any other basic coffee. Its taste is strong and its preparation methods are very special. You don’t know what coffee tastes like until you’ve tried Turkish coffee.

We gave women the right to vote before most European countries and the United States. Women have been ‘equal” since the Hittite civilisation. Also, Sabiha Gökçen was the world’s first female fighter and Turkish pilot.
Although the majority of the population is Muslim, Turkey is not officially Muslim. It has been a secular nation since 1927.
Santa Claus was born in Turkey.

Simit -Istanbul — Simit
Image credit- Captain Orange

Simit is a bagel covered with sesame seeds sold nearly everywhere in the street. So simple yet so good.
Istanbul has a population 3 times larger than Ankara, the capital.
Turkish Hollywood is called “Yeşilçam”. It is an important part of Turkish cultures and the movies are simply fascinating.
Turkey introduced tulips to the world.
Historic legends such as Homer the poet, Herodotus, St Paul were born in Anatolia.
The world most precious silk carpet is located in a museum (Mevlana Museum) in Konya.
Turkish food is more than just kebabs.

~Yasemin studies Chemical Science (2020)

Turkey is a city of contrasts, absolutely different people, from Muslims to gays, from rich to homeless, from Europeans to Asians.

And it’s amazing. A huge city with 20 million inhabitants, impressive size and atmosphere.

You may also like to read Istanbul: Traditional Yet Modern

Street food is awesome. You can find everything. But one of my favourites is a wet burger. No cheese, no lettuce, no pickles – absolutely nothing apart from a wet, sauced up garlic-tomato bun and cutlet. But it’s so delicious. The best place to buy is Taksim Square, the best producers are Kizilkayala or Bambi cafe.

~ Nataly Lytvyn, PR & Marketing Manager

You will not leave Turkey without trying “Adana Kebap” or any kind of another kebap. I highly recommend “Urfa Usta” in Aksaray (if I am misspelt something, I hope Turkish friends will correct me). There you will get additional side dishes and a glass of ayran. You should definitely try “Dolma” in grape leaves. And don’t forget to try street food.

~ Šarūnė Zybartaitė lived in Istanbul

Turkey is very agricultural and one of the few countries globally which can easily feed itself. The varied geography, access to the sea on 3 sides, and climate offer superb growing conditions for vegetables, seafood and livestock.
The incredible flavours which go into mezes, the olives and olive oils of the Aegean, the freshly baked bread in every village and city in the country, and most importantly, the time it takes to properly prepare the food to suggest that it’s hard to replicate in a restaurant in Berlin or Chicago.

~Dina Street, Self-taught with lots of trial and error, specializing in Turkish and Indian.

Street food depends on where you are.
For Istanbul, we can say “Pilavcı” :

Pilavcı, Street food Istanbul — İstanbul’un En İyi 7 Pilavcısı – 2018 https://harbiyiyorum.com/istanbulun-en-iyi-7-pilavcisi-2018/

and also “Kokoreç“-

Kitir: Kokorec with Beer, Turkish street food — Kitir: Kokorec with Beer
Image credit-Tripadvisor

Kokoreç or Kokoretsi is a dish of the Balkans and Turkey consisting mainly of lamb or goat intestines, often wrapping seasoned offal, including sweetbreads, hearts, lungs, or kidneys. The intestines of suckling lambs are preferred.

Kokorec recipe The offal, along with some fat, is washed and cut into 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick pieces, and lightly seasoned with lemon, olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper, and sometimes garlic.

The intestine is turned inside out and carefully washed, then rubbed with salt and often soaked in vinegar or lemon juice and water. The filling meats are threaded onto a long skewer and wrapped with the intestine to hold them together, forming a compact roll usually about 16″-24″ long by 1 1/2″ to 3″ in diameter.

Kokoretsi is usually roasted on a horizontal skewer over a charcoal, gas, or electric burner, and maybe basted with lemon juice and olive oil. A quite different preparation mixes the chopped innards with chopped tomatoes and green peppers and then cooks them on a large griddle with hot red pepper and oregano added.

The cook constantly mixes and chops the mixture using two spatulas. When done, the dish is kept warm aside on the griddle until someone orders a serving. The cooked kokoretsi is chopped or sliced, sprinkled with oregano, and served on a plate.

Sometimes it is served on a piece of flatbread. Some add tomatoes or spices in it. It may also (especially in Turkey) be served in half a baguette or in a sandwich bun, plain or garnished, almost always with oregano and red pepper.

In Turkey, common side dishes are pickled peppers or cucumbers. It is often seasoned with lemon, oregano, salt, a pepper, and typically accompanied by wine or raki.

For Eminönü(a district of Istanbul) “Balık Ekmek(fish)“: