The basics of ordering Vietnamese street food for expats
There are some rules to follow when eating street food in Vietnam for the best experience
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Appearances can be deceiving
It is not uncommon to see a motorbike garage in the day magically transformed into a full blown restaurant by the evening. So do not judge appearances. Occasionally you may eat on the side of the street or even in someone’s kitchen with the kid’s watching the TV. All street food restaurants typically serve food on small red or blue chairs. You may find it a bit painful at the start, especially if you are the tall kind. There is currently no cushioned seating in Vietnam. This could be a good business idea for anyone who knows how to import cushions into the country.
Etiquette
The Vietnamese eat every meal with chopsticks, and a spoon. You will need to get used to being without a knife, and also learn to cut meat with a spoon. Be prepared to not see any knife for miles around unless you are in an expensive restaurant. There is not too much etiquette regarding chopsticks, just don’t leave your chopsticks sticking up in rice or whatever you are eating, because this is the rudest thing you could possibly do in Vietnam. In Vietnam, it is normal to share food from the same plates when you are having dinner together with other people, so don’t feel ashamed to steal something which catches your eye from your friend’s plate when they are not looking.
Portions
The Vietnamese have a small capacity to eat, although they always seem to be eating on the go, and the sizes of the dishes are designed for them. Consequently, do not feel ashamed to order a second or even third plate or bowl. Some locals may laugh and make some light-hearted comments about how much you eat. But after all, the size of your stomach is larger than theirs, so please don’t starve yourself.
Spice
There is the general thought that Vietnamese food is not spicy. However, the spices are served on the side and it is up to you to customize the dish based on your requirements. In fact, the Vietnamese eat incredibly spicy food, it’s just that the dish is initially served without spice.
Composition
Vietnamese food can be incredibly healthy if you choose the right stuff to eat, with significant amounts of fruits, vegetables, herbs and other whole foods readily available and more often than not integrated into each dish.
Just bear in mind that carbs are at the forefront of nearly every dish in the form of either rice noodles or just plain white rice. So watch your intake and your belly. Some studies say that white rice could have almost the same effects as eating pure table sugar on blood sugar levels and insulin, although this is has not been proved definitely. A Vietnamese scientist did find anti-diabetes compounds in white rice in 2019, which could balance out the effects in theory. Aim to eat more brown rice or brown rice noodles when you can due to their lower glycemic index and impact on sugar levels, although you will not find this on the street. Street food should be seen as a treat, and feel free to tuck in to some rice noodles after some heavy exercise to replenish your glycogen stores.
Most protein is in the form of meat: pork, chicken or beef. Meat is used sparingly and there are typically only a few pieces in each dish. In terms of animal welfare, ducks and chickens can often be seen roaming free in the city, as well as mountain goats and cows in less urban areas, which is probably as free range as it can get. Although, it can be a shock if you inadvertently stumble on an elderly woman skinning a duck on the side of the road or a goat being grilled on a skewer. Maybe for some, it will be a humbling experience and a real eye-opener as to where meat actually comes from.
Vegetarian options for protein are widely available such as tofu, seitan and tempeh. When looking for a vegetarian place to eat, look out for the words ‘quán chay’ or ‘cơm chay’: a quick search on google maps should do the job.
The salad’s in Vietnam are some of the most delicious in the world. Try the green mango, papaya or guava salad with fried rice paper on the side. Most salads contain meat, but tofu is also a common alternative.
Seafood
Seafood plays a big part in Vietnam for dinner. It is particularly popular in the capital where you can tuck in to some fresh seafood fried in front of you. These places typically have a whole assortment of seafood, such as fish, crabs, mussels and snails, still live and healthy in oxygenated water tanks. You select what you want to eat and it is then prepared in front of your eyes. Look out for the sign ‘Ốc Đêm’ which means seafood of the night. Just a note, the Vietnamese throw the leftover shells of whatever they are eating on the floor. But don’t worry, workers on duty are constantly doing tours of the tables to clean up with a broom. The green lemon chili sauce ‘muối chanh ớt’ is a must try- it’s a Nha Trang speciality.
Observe the locals eat
Taking the moment to observe a Vietnam person eating is the best way to learn how to eat Vietnamese food and you can learn a lot from them, notably how to hold chopsticks and the order in which to add the herbs, spices and vegetables to the dish. Some Vietnamese hold the spoon underneath the noodles as they eat in case of a noodle slipping and splashing soup on their clothes. The Vietnamese also have a habit of eating shrimps with their shells on.
Extras and condiments
Always double check to see if the Vietnamese ask for anything extra to accompany their meal. Sometimes, they may ask for extra toppings, such as quail eggs, which you can too using your broken Vietnamese. This double-check will ensure that you do not miss out on anything that the locals get to eat.
For example, the Phở places typically serve you fried breadsticks on demand ‘giò cháo quẩy’, which is an ideal addition to a meal for those expats who are missing bread, for it is not too plentiful in Vietnam. Typically, foreigners will miss out on these little extras at the street food places unless you know to ask for it or are eating out with a local who will show you the best way to eat.
Buy some bread elsewhere if you are having a broth based dish
The Vietnamese have not yet discovered the joy of having soup with bread, and find it bizarre to mix the two. A lot of foreigners miss having bread with soup in Vietnam, alternatively you can buy a plain bánh mì (the traditional Vietnamese baguette) at a nearby street food place for as low as 2,000 VND, around 9 cents. The bánh mì is baked using both rice flour and wheat flour in equal portions, which makes for a more crispy texture. So go crazy and crumble it all over your soup for a treat.
It is not uncommon for the Vietnamese to buy extra food from nearby stands and bring it to wherever they are eating, it is not frowned upon. There are even often people on bicycles or on foot who will stop at the street food places and offer to sell you a selection of snacks on the side, such as slices of green mango or peanuts, and sometimes even lottery tickets. These people have some of the lowest salaries in Vietnam, so you can buy the treats whilst knowing you are doing a good deed. The Vietnamese crime film Ròm (2019) won several awards in Asia and revolves around homeless street children selling lottery tickets.
Typically, every soup based dish is served with a plate of vegetables. Normally, some lettuce, a generous helping of mung bean sprouts and some herbs. Make sure to mix the vegetables well with the broth and noodles to steam them rather than leaving them solely on the top.
The floor of most street food places is covered with lettuce and mung bean sprouts. You are likely to lose some of your own salad in the process of eating. There are many fans if you eat indoors which cause lettuce, tissues and mung bean sprouts to be constantly blown off the table. So always remember to place any tissues you are using under a glass or the bowl to avoid it getting blown away whilst you are distracted enjoying your food.
Nước chấm is the name for the range of dipping sauces in Vietnam, which have a mixture of sweet, savory, zesty and salty flavors. There is a great range to be discovered. The most popular dipping sauce is nước mắm, also known as nước mắm chấm. Nước mắm is made from fish that has been fermented, reportedly sometimes up to two years. The quality of the sauce depends on the nitrogen content- normally low grade is provided in street food stalls. First press fish sauce, which is the first sauce to be drained from the fermenting barrels also indicated quality, but these are normally eaten by the producers. For an alternative, try ginger fish sauce known as nước mắm gừng. Purple shrimp paste ‘mắm tôm’ is also popular, but it is very smelly.
Make it a habit to avoid the bottled sauces, such as BBQ and Sweet Chili. Bottled sauces are likely to be full of unhealthy additives and sugar. Similarly, be wary of the sugar content in nước mắm.
Nearly every fruit is eaten with chili salt, whether guava, watermelon or even green mango. Even packaged fruit often is often sold with salt. Eat by dipping the fruit into the salt and then enjoy.
Sugar
The Vietnamese love sugar. The Southern Vietnamese even have the habit of adding it in their savory dishes. If you want to lower the risk of diabetes, make it a habit to ask for no sugar several times by saying ‘không đường’.
Even drinks normally considered as healthy, such as avocado smoothie, still get a generous dose of sweetness. If you don’t say anything, you will get a load of sugar as standard. The Vietnamese also love using condensed milk in place of the sugar, so you can also add that you don’t want it sweet ‘không ngọt’ to be extra sure to not get your calories for the day. It is estimated that one in 20 people in Vietnam has diabetes, with the majority totally unaware of their illness. The number of people with a pre-diabetic condition is up to three times higher.
Ordering
Make sure to be extra clear when ordering food. Confusion will happen but if you repeat the same order multiple times, at least three, the message will tend to get passed across more often than not. A lot of the words in Vietnamese are very similar, and the Vietnamese will just tend to say “Yes” out of politeness for whatever you are asking.
Eat with a local
Eating with a local is the best way to get the local prices, particularly outside the city, especially for seafood. Prices can be inflated up to 400 % for foreigners. Otherwise, you may be stuck eating a couple of mussels grimly whilst watching and scratching your head wondering how a nearby Vietnamese family can afford to eat a whole selection of delicacies on a nearby table
Food hygiene and safety
Concerns about food hygiene are plenty but if you know what markers to look out for then you will survive unscathed. The Vietnamese generally pay the upmost respect to cleanliness and hygiene, after all most Vietnamese live off their own street food also. It’s fairly common to see motorbike drivers stop off on the side of the road to pick up some sticky rice or another or two from a local seller. It is still worth having a filter somewhat to avoid getting food poisoning. There are a few steps you can take to minimize the risk nevertheless.
1) The more Vietnamese locals in a restaurant the better
Judge a restaurant not by its exterior or physical appearance but instead by the number of Vietnamese eating away with appetite. The Vietnamese use the noise they create from eating and slurping their noodles to represent how delicious the food is. It is also scientifically proven to make food taste nicer due to the intake of air which magnifies the taste. So the more noise you hear at a street food place, the more likely it is that you have unearthed a gem.
2) Eat in places specialized in just one dish
Aim to eat at places which specialize only in one dish, or two to three at the maximum. These places are likely to serve food that is not only more delicious but more fresh. The key to identifying this is in the sign. A restaurant with just one dish as its speciality will tend to call itself after the name of the dish followed by the number of the street. This is why it is important for expats to start learning the names of the different dishes to make their stay in Vietnam more worthwhile.
3) If it’s late in the day stick to the local dinner places
Some street vendors prepare their food in the early morning, unless you go to a place which only opens for dinner. So if you are not sure, aim to buy street food by midday to avoid getting food that has been reheated to avoid the risk of food poisoning. I have only had mild problems twice since my stay here which were resolved in less than an hour, so don’t be too worried. The dinner places are typically tapas style with a lot of dishes to be ordered in order to be able to leave full and satisfied, such as stir fried water spinach, fried rice, seafood and tofu. Look out for Vietnamese families with a number of plates on the table. If you are in Hanoi, you will be hear the crackling of aluminum foil and bubbling of water as people either barbeque their own meat or have their own hotpot to keep warm. This is definitely something to try if you go to the north of the country.
Final word
Vietnamese food is known for its variety and almost any dish which exists in the country can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a shame however that the many other dishes of Vietnam are not well known to the global audience, even to many expats living inside the country itself. Keep on trying new food and follow the above tips for the most enjoyable experience. A bit of curiosity can go a long way.
