My favorite food in Hanoi

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"Vietnam is the land of heat and noodles". That is what an American friend wrote to me in an email when he said he missed Vietnam. While in English, there may be only some words "noodles", "vermicelli" or "noodle soup", in Vietnamese, we have various names "Phở, Bún, Miến, Bánh đa, Bánh canh, Mỳ" to describe our noodles. The Vietnamese noodles have different colors (white, red, yellow), shape and thickness, depending on the types and regions. Each of the said noodles has one more word next to it, like beef, chicken or other material, or name of a location to emphasize their specialty. For example, Phở gà (noodle soup with chicken), Phở bò (noodle soup with beef), Bún bò Huế (Huế city's beef noodle soup), Mỳ Quảng (Quảng Nam province's noodles) etc.

We often eat noodle soup, rice porridge, sticky rice or bread for breakfast. The major meals are lunch and dinner, when we eat rice, meat or fish, vegetables and soup. Vietnamese people love to eat freshly cooked food and mostly don't like freezing food. We go to markets to buy food on a daily basis. Women are always busy thinking about what to cook today and tomorrow for their families.

I found this paragraph on a website about food and wine. I agree wholeheartedly with the comment made by a foreigner, when he said about our food culture:

"I loved a lot of things about Vietnam and the Vietnamese people, but what struck me most was their obsession with food, cooking and eating. I was reminded over and over again of Italy, where the same obsession obtains. Conversation with strangers doesn't revolve around discussions of the weather, but just like Italy revolves around food - what I ate today, what I'm going to eat tonight, what I'm planning to eat tomorrow. The Vietnamese are a bunch of Asian foodies."

I have never eaten fast food in Vietnam. I've never cared about fast food, because Vietnamese food are so good. Sometimes I ate fast food when I traveled abroad, just because of their convenience. I also ate noodles in other countries, like Japan, Thailand and Laos, however the noodles in Vietnam are the best noodles I've eaten.

The photos in this blog are my favorite food in Hanoi. When we eat them, there are also some special sauce or vegetables. Some of them are not the food that we eat everyday at home, as our major food always is rice. However, we change our food very often by going to the restaurants or cooking them at home (but it may take more time and not so good like at the restaurants). The photos express only 30% how delicious the food could be, the remaining 70% of quality are your taste when you see them in reality.

My other blogs about Vietnamese food and drinks

Eating around Vietnam

"Phở" noodle soup - a feature of Hanoi

Bia Hơi (Vietnamese fresh beer)

Some must-eat food while you are visiting Hanoi

1. Phở noodle soup with chicken or beef (photos No. 5, 40, 76, 84 and 99): You can find this food everywhere.

2. Chả Cá Lã Vọng (photo No. 69): Fish and vegetables are fried on hot pan and eaten with Bún noodles, peanuts and sauce. This food is very famous. Chả Cá Lã Vọng restaurant at No. 14, Chả Cá street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi.

3. Bún Chả noodles with pork barbecue (photo No. 13) and Nem (spring rolls - photo No. 1): Restaurant at No. 1, Hàng Mành street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi (photo No. 117). A portion there is very big.

4. Bánh Cuốn (steamed rice cake - photos No. 8 to 11, and photo No. 89): My favorite restaurant is at No. 73, Hàng Bồ street (only open from 5pm to 9pm), but I'm not sure whether it's still open or not.

5. "Ngon restaurant" at No. 18, Phan Bội Châu street. There are all types of food that you need.

6. Bún bò Nam Bộ (beef noodles of southern style - photo No. 87 and 104): No. 67, Hàng Điếu street.

7. Bánh gối (pillow shaped cakes - photo No. 24 and 33): No. 52, Lý Quốc Sư street, next to St Joseph's cathedral.

8. Bánh tôm Hồ Tây (prawn pancake - photo No. 65): Restaurant on Thanh Niên street, the West Lake.

List of my food in this blog

Following is the list of my food in this blog and I write in Vietnamese, so that it will be easier for you to find them when you visit Hanoi and want to try some of these food. There are totally 97 dishes in my blog up to date and I arrange them into some groups like "noodles", "cake", "sticky rice", "sweet soup" and others.

NOODLES (24 types): Phở bò tái/chín (rare/well done beef noodle soup), Phở bò nạm gầu (beef noodle soup), Phở bò sốt vang (beef and tomato noodle soup), Phở gà (chicken noodle soup), Phở xào (fried noodle), Bún nem (noodle and spring rolls), Bún riêu cua (crab noodle soup), Bún riêu đậu (crab noodle soup with tofu), Bún riêu bò (crab noodle soup with beef), Bún ốc (snail noodle soup), Bún chả (noodle and pork barbecue), Bún thang (noodle soup with chicken, fried egg, mushroom), Bún mọc gà (noodle soup with chicken and pork), Bún bò Huế (beef noodle soup from Huế city), Bún bò Nam Bộ (beef noodle from southern Vietnam), Hủ tíu (noodle soup from southern Vietnam), Bánh đa cua (crab noodle from Hải Phòng city), Miến lươn (clear noodle soup with eel), Miến lươn xào (fried clear noodle with eel), Miến gà (clear noodle soup with chicken), Miến tôm (clear noodle soup with prawn), Mỳ (yellow noodle), Chả cá Lã Vọng (fried fish and vegetables on hot pan, eaten with Bún noodles, peanuts and sauce at a famous restaurant in Hanoi), Miến ngan (clear noodle soup with goose meat and bamboo).

Some other noodles in Hanoi without photos yet are Bún bung, Bún dọc mùng, Bún ngan, Bún cá, Bún măng vịt, Miến cá, Mỳ vằn thắn etc.

CAKES: Bánh cuốn (steamed rice cake), Bánh tôm Hồ Tây (shrimp pancake of the West Lake), Bánh giò (rice cake), Bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), Bánh tẻ (rice cake), Bánh gối (pillow shaped fried cake), Bánh chưng rán (fried rice cake), Bánh bột lọc, Bánh bao, Bánh trôi (sticky rice cake with sugar inside), Bánh chay (sticky rice cake with green bean inside), Bánh cốm (green rice cake), Bánh nếp (sticky rice cake), Bánh rán mặn (salty fried cake), Bánh rán ngọt (sweet fried cake), Bánh phu thê, Bánh trôi nóng (sticky rice cake with sweet soup), Bánh gio (rice cake with sugarcane honey).

STICKY RICE: Xôi gấc, Xôi ngô (Some other types: Xôi xéo, Xôi lạc, Xôi đỗ xanh, Xôi chè)

SWEET SOUP: Chè thập cẩm (mixed sweet soup), Chè thưng, Chè bưởi (Some other types: Chè đỗ đen, Chè đỗ xanh, Chè hạt sen)

OTHERS: Thịt gà rang muối (fried chicken with salt), Nộm đu đủ (green papaya salad), Bò cuộn nấm (beef and mushroom), Cơm rang thập cẩm (mixed fried rice), Cơm sườn (rice and fried ribs), Súp lươn (eel soup), Bánh mỳ (bread), Lợn xiên nướng (pork barbecue), Mực xào (fried squid with pineapple or onion), Trứng vịt lộn (half duck egg), Trứng gà ngải cứu (omelet with vegetable), Gà tần (chicken and medicinal herb), Lươn nấu chuối xanh (eel and green banana), Cháo ngao (rice porridge with oyster meat), Ốc nấu chuối (snail and green banana), Mực tẩm bột rán (fried squid), Cơm cháy (rice crackers with chicken soup), Sườn xào chua ngọt (sweet and sour fried ribs), Sườn nướng (grilled ribs), Lẩu hải sản (seafood hot pot), Bê hấp gừng (steamed beef with ginger), Tôm chiên trứng muối (fried prawn with fish eggs).

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