Vietnamese dishes '' Broken rice - Com tam '' - A Signature in Saigon
You can enjoy a delicious plate of broken rice at a very reasonable price of 30,000VND - 50,000VND as you like. The dish is most sold in the morning and evening of bustling Saigon.
Broken rice is sold at night with the name people often call it ''Night broken rice - Com tam dem ''
The first dish for the Saigon food checklist is its unique rice. Coming to Saigon, just ask people here which specialty dish should be eaten first, the answer will be “Com Tam”. In the past, it is one of the most popular breakfast dishes of Saigon people.
However, these days, broken rice is a familiar dish for all 3 main meals of Vietnamese people with various side food such as grilled chop pork, and grilled pork skin. Com tam is always served on a plate, and each plate contains full of toppings, like vegetables, meat, salty and sweet sauces, and herbs.
A special feature of broken rice is that the rice used to cook is broken rice. A famous plate of broken rice is not only delicious, but behind it is a story about the poverty and hardship of the Vietnamese people in the past.
Therefore, Com tam is not only food but also a historical symbol that remains today.
Due to its special origin and savory taste, Com Tam receives compliments from communication all over the world. In 2018, the Korean EBS television station has a clip about this delicious dish in Saigon.
They note that “If you come to Ho Chi Minh City without trying broken rice, you will not fully understand this city” agrees Vietnam car rental. Also in 2018, CNN announced Saigon broken rice as one of the 40 best specialties in Vietnam. Then, in 2019, Culture Trip honored Saigon Com Tam as one of the best dishes in Vietnam.
Delicious Fresh Snail Dishes - Local Dishes in Saigon
There are many prices and many places to sell these fresh snail dishes in the evening. You will not be surprised to find many of these restaurants in all districts of Saigon
Each restaurant uses many types of snails to cook into many different dishes such as boiled snails, spicy fried snails with tamarind, fried snails with chili pepper, and grilled snails… for users to freely choose.
Special! Snail dishes can be processed from rustic to high-class, the most common price is 30,000 VND to 200,000 VND for restaurants.
Combined with the typical sweet sauce, spicy chili, and salted figs, the snail dish creates the dusty style of Saigon people. In particular, try this dish in winter, the characteristic hot and spicy flavor will give you a feeling of relaxation in the cold winter days of November and December.
Popular dishes: Saigon Noodles - Hu tieu dishes
Hu Tieu is a strange name but the taste is also very strange. Many people confuse pho with pho in Hanoi, but it is different from the process to the ingredients. Saigon noodle soup has characteristics that create a very Southern style.
Hu tieu can be made in many formats, for example: Braised beef noodle soup (Hu tieu bo kho ), Hu Tieu '' knock '' (sold in the afternoon and evening for very cheap prices and you can see Hu Tieu '' gõ '' all over the streets of Saigon),… And there are many other types of Hu Tieu in Sai Gon
Soft noodles combined with a carefully prepared broth, adding a few typical spices have created a specialty dish with the pungent flavor of the people of the South.
If you eat vermicelli, remember to add some raw vegetables to make the dish more flavorful.
Vegetables are also a plus point for the dish because they will make the dish fresher and more frugal.
You can eat Hu Tieu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each bowl of sizzling noodles, brimming with toppings, can warm your stomach in no time.
Delicious snacks - Vietnamese fried rice paper salad
This is a dish originating from the Central region, but now it has become a popular dish across the country. As food in Saigon, the salad brings a bit of a strange taste of the South.
The dish is popular thanks to the shredded rice paper mixed with ingredients of dried beef, dried shrimp, quail eggs, mango, laksa leaves, satay, shrimp salt, and a little kumquat, creating a sweet and sour taste.
You can also feel the unique deliciousness of mixed rice paper with a little spicy chili and chopped laksa leaves.
Besides the fried kind, this food can also be rolled into a roll. After being rolled, you will pour the avocado or tamarind sauce to enhance the flavor. Don’t forget to sprinkle some fried onion to make them more attractive.
Draft beer and food - Representative of Saigon Western Cuisine
Rogue is known as one of the beer bars with a great rooftop view combined with good music taste, many activities, and great music games. There is also a stage for the underground artists to perform.
You will have the opportunity to listen to indie music from pop, and guitar to rock. It’s really exciting to feel Saigon from this point of view. In addition, the place is convenient to find and visit. Besides, the food in Saigon here is delicious as its price, although it’s not diverse.
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Street Food - One stop for many unique dishes in Saigon
Vietnam is known as the paradise of street food, and Saigon is also home to many famous street foods. Wandering around the streets of Saigon, joining the night markets, you can easily taste many street foods at a reasonable price.
However, a note for you: the above dishes are also considered street food, can be sold in many restaurants on Ho Chi Minh streets, popular and rustic. Hence, just some more suggestions for your street food tour. Let Vietnam car rental introduce to you many dishes only available in Saigon, Vietnam.
Fried rice flour cakes (Banh bot chien)
Fried rice flour cakes are a simple dish originating from China, introduced to Vietnam and other countries.This food soonly becomes a common breakfast, dinner, or late-night snack of Saigonese.
The fried dough dish is prepared quite easily with the recipe from rice flour, eggs, shredded papaya, soy sauce, garlic, and green onions. To eat the cakes, you should pour a little soy sauce to make a flavor taste.
Many Saigonese and visitors love fried rice flour cakes due to their easy-to-find ingredients, quick cooking, and special taste.
Although the food is served on a day-to-day basis, you should enjoy it on the cold days in Saigon for the best flavor, around November and December.
Vietnamese bird’s nest cake (Banh tai yen)
The origin of the name is because the cake is like the shape of a bird’s nest In some places, bird’s nest cake is also known as cone cake.
An authentic cake must ensure the chewy taste of cooked rice flour in the heart of the cake, the sponginess of the outer shell, and the cool sweetness of sugar and coconut water.
Besides, the shapes of the cakes must not be flat, the color should be more yellow on the border around the cake.
However, recently the vendors selling this kind of cake are slightly disappearing from the street, making it harder to find the food. Therefore, you’re so lucky that you can taste the traditional cake in Ho Chi Minh city at least once!
Balut (Trung vit lon)
Saigonese is interested in balut as their favorite breakfast and afternoon meal. The most popular kind of this food is boiled balut, which can retain the original taste.
To eat the food, you just have to add a little salt, pepper, rice vinegar, a few laksa leaves, and some slices of ginger.
However, remember that the balut must be well-cooked, otherwise, you will get a stomach ache. The well-cook one will have no red inside the egg.
Moreover, this is not just a kind of food but also the Saigonese folk beliefs. They usually call balut the up-side-down duck eggs according to the Vietnamese meaning.
The “up-side-down” word also shows that the bad things can turn into good things, therefore Saigonese believe that when they eat the odd numbers of balut, they can remove the bad luck from their life.
However tasty the food is, many people find it disgusting to put the baby duck part in their mouths.
But the taste and the nutrients of this food make it unputdownable for those who are familiar with the look of balut. So beginners, just calm down and forget the detail to take a bite!
Final Thought
Checking the list of food in Saigon, we’re sure that the last thing that you regret is that you can’t taste all of the food. Therefore, if you’re planning to visit Saigon, please spend at least 3 days exploring and get lost in the food paradise.
Belongs with that, you can travel with the local tour guide, who deeply understands the Saigon culture. Vietnam car rental will always support you with hundreds of tailor-made tours, please check it out.
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