Hanoian Food

 
Hanoian Food
 

“From farm to table, chefs are not solely cooks who went to culinary schools and operating from restaurant kitchens, but also passionate people toiling over the fiery stove, in the homes and on the streets, bringing true flavours to life based on years of experience and the indelible memories of taste.”

True luxury lies in savouring delicious, authentic dishes in each travel destination.

Hanoi is a gem of Vietnam, with a storied past and rich heritage that blends together Chinese and French influences. The food in Hanoi has long captivated travellers. Visitors are always pleasantly surprised by the Vietnamese cuisine and how well the locals eat. The Vietnamese people’s passion for food, while not largely discussed, can be deeply felt once you set foot on this mesmerising capital city.

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and in the second millennium, it was also the illustrious capital of the ancient kingdom in northern Vietnam. The eras and dynasties come and go, but the city of Hanoi remains a cultural hub and the traditional heart of Vietnam.

Solo travellers who join one of TextileSeekers’ textile travel tours to Vietnam must not miss visiting “The Capital of a Thousand Years of Civilisation”. Indeed, Hanoi has much to offer to visitors. To fully experience the cultural richness of Hanoi, you would have to visit the traditional sites, stroll along old quarters with ancient buildings, and of course, try the local food.

Apart from discovering ethnic textiles Vietnam also open doors for travellers to connect to the country’s deep-rooted history through its cuisine. Vietnamese food is famous for truly showing off diversity as each dish represents a different part of the county. Central Vietnam is well-known for its hot and spicy dishes while southern Vietnam has more sweet and sour dishes; but the food in Hanoi, as well as the food in the north, is rich in flavour and differs from all the other regions. This makes Hanoi the perfect culinary gateway for discovering authentic Vietnamese culture through food. From Hanoi, you could venture to other parts of northern Vietnam to further enjoy an array of delectable dishes.

Some of the most popular dishes that are staples to Hanoi’s culture are:

Hanoian Pho: Pho can be considered the national dish of Vietnam. This traditional rice noodle soup is known internationally and is an emblem of comfort food for the Vietnamese people. Travellers are always keen to try out pho when they arrive in Hanoi to see for themselves how tasty the dish is. Pho is made using broth, rice noodles, and topped with meat such as beef or chicken, as well as accompanied by a plate of fresh herbs. Long hours are devoted to extracting deep flavours in the broth by simmering bones, gizzards and spices. The rice noodles are chewy and springy, and the herbs add an element of freshness and contrast. This is why pho is a perfect dish, balanced in nutrition, light yet hearty in taste, delicious as breakfast, fulfilling as lunch and even great for late night supper!

While you can find pho across Vietnam, and its popularity has been rising on the international food scene, Hanoi is one of the rare places where you can savour an authentic taste. As a pho-lover, your journey to understand the world of pho is incomplete without tasting a Hanoian pho. To many, this is the true taste of home, and the essence of Vietnam.

Click Here For PHO Recipe

Bun Cha: Bun Cha is Hanoi’s second most popular Vietnamese dish, wonderfully encapsulating how Vietnamese cuisine engages all the senses. It is made with chewy rice vermicelli, grilled pork, sweet and sour fish sauce, sliced papaya, vegetables, aromatic herbs and at times graced with red chilli, garlic and fried spring rolls called Nem. This colourful dish has been known to wow so many visitors with its fascinating taste, including Barack Obama when he visited Vietnam in 2016. Who can forget the famous photo of President Obama having a meeting with food TV show presenter Anthony Bourdain, deeply engaged in a conversation while enjoying cold beers and a Bun Cha spread?

The interesting blend of flavours and textures makes this a mouth-watering dish which you can enjoy throughout the seasons. With a generous serving of greens, Bun Cha is definitely healthy to indulge in.

Walking along the streets of Hanoi during lunch time, you will inevitably be lured by the smoky aroma of barbecued pork grilling on open flame at the many Bun Cha stalls. To find the best Bun Cha, simply let your nose be the guide.

Xoi Xeo: This dish of steamed glutinous rice spiced with turmeric powder, topped with mung bean paste and packaged in a lotus leaf is a typical Hanoi breakfast, popular with students or workers in need of an affordable energy boost.

The cooking of sticky glutinous rice is an art mastered by the vendors at outdoor markets, dedicated to feeding the locals a good and cheap breakfast. You can certainly find this delicious dish on Hanoi’s street corners in the morning, with sellers on a bicycle offering people warm Xoi Xeo kept in woven bamboo baskets.

Xoi Xeo is often accompanied by soy sauce, dried shallots, pate, boiled chicken, Cha Lua, which is a Vietnamese sausage, marinated pork belly, or preserved eggs. You can also find this dish served as a dessert with dried coconut shavings, roasted sesame seeds, and crystallised sugar. Each customer is free to request for different toppings based on his or her liking.

Travellers can enjoy Xoi Xeo at any markets or head to the popular Xoi Yen restaurant, where you would be served scrumptious Xoi Xeo with lots of chicken fat, meat and a cheap bottle of beer.

Banh Cuon: Banh Cuon is a popular Hanoi snack made of ground meat such as chicken, shrimp, or pork, onions, Vietnamese sausage Cha Lua, beansprouts, minced wood ear mushroom, and cucumbers rolled up in steamed fermented rice noodle sheets. It can be eaten with nuoc cham, a fish sauce for dipping. For those with an exotic taste, you can do what the locals do and add a drop of essence harvested from the indigenous giant water bug, for extra flavour.

The making of the steamed rice sheet is a hard-to-master technique. Fermented rice batter is ladled over a sieve and placed on top of a pot of boiling water to be steamed. Once the rice sheet is cooked, the maker will use a thin wooden rod to roll up the sheet, placing it on the work top and begin putting together the Banh Cuon by adding the other ingredients.

The mark of a good steamed rice sheet is in its pearly white translucence, being thin yet not breaking up in holes. Vendors selling Banh Cuon can be easily spotted all over Hanoi, with steam rising from a pot on one side, and bowls of ingredients and condiments spread out to aid in the making of this sumptuously satisfying dish.

Click Here For Banh Cuon Recipe

From the streets to the restaurants, there are so many other tasty dishes to check out in Hanoi that you will not have a bad meal during your trip. Look out for Banh Goi (Fried Dumplings), Pho Xao (Stir-Fried Pho), Nem Chua Be (Crab Rolls), Bun Rieu (Rice Noodles in Tomato Broth) and Che (Sweet Dessert Soup).

Hanoi is also a good base for exploring the northern part of Vietnam. If you are an enthusiastic foodie traveller who seeks a slice of rustic nature with tranquil charm, Sa Pa is another destination not to be missed.

During our TextileSeekers tour to Vietnam, we will also proceed north to Sa Pa to immerse in the local hill tribe culture. During this stage of the tour, you will also get the opportunity to sample more dishes in the northern area. By visiting one of the largest markets in Sa Pa, we will take in the sights, sounds, scents and sample delectable snacks as well as tempting local dishes. From aromatic sticky rice cooked in bamboo tubes known as Com Lam to Cuon Sui, a piquant dry pho, there is much to savour in this mountain town, home to many ethnic minority tribes, who have infused their signature flavours and ancestral cooking techniques in the cuisine of this region.

To allow our solo travellers to get up-close with the local northern cuisine, we have also organised a cooking workshop where the participants will learn to prepare healthy, delicious dishes that make use of the fresh ingredients in the Sa Pa region. True luxury lies in savouring flavoursome, authentic dishes in each travel destination and we are excited to share this hands-on workshop with our travellers. From traditional homemade tofu to chicken cooked with wild ginger, ash baked trout wrapped in fragrant banana leaves and H’mong style black pudding, this eye-opening culinary experience will be an unforgettable one.

As you can see, the best dishes in Vietnam can be found in Hanoi, so travellers who wish to discover the delightful taste of true Vietnamese cuisine could and should do so from the capital city. Then take some time to also venture further afield to continue learning about the diverse, wide-ranging cuisine offered by this amazing country.

Our Sa Pa Hill Tribe tour is worth looking into if you wish to explore both Hanoi and Sa Pa. Not only would you get learn more about the local cuisine, this is also the perfect opportunity to immerse in a new culture, connect with the people and discover the textile heritage of Vietnam.

To discover more on Vietnamese food, sign up for our Sa Pa Hill Tribes Tour, where we explore the regions dishes in Hanoi as part of our riveting itinerary, and join us for a traditional cup of Vietnamese coffee - Ca Phe.

Click to links to download the Full PDF Itinerary