Everything about noodles in Vietnamese Cuisine

When people mention Vietnamese Cuisine, they always think about “Pho”. Pho is considered not only the national dish but also the “cuisine ambassador” which helps people all over the world know more about Vietnamese cuisine. Although Pho is so well-known and beloved everywhere, there are much more delicious noodle soups and in this post i am going to introduce everything about noodles in Vietnamese Cuisine.

Vietnamese food boasts a huge variety of noodle soups; each has a distinct flavor and influences. The noodles are available in both term of fresh and dry form. From different kind of rice and cooking method, Vietnamese have created a wide range of noodles:
1.    Bánh phở: fresh flat rice noodles which is used to make well-known dish: Pho
2.    Bún: thin rice vermicelli nooldes
3.    Bánh canh: thick noodles made from the mixture of rice flour and tapioca flour ( quite similar to Udon)
4.    Cellophane noodles: thin glass noodles
5.    Mì: wheat flour noodles, can be either yellow or white
6.    Bánh đa đỏ: red noodles, very popular in Hai Phong province, mixed with crab
7.    Bánh đa: rice cracker





From these different noodles, Vietnamese people have created delicious food in both hot noodles soups and dry noodle dishes

Hot Noodles Soups:
 
-    Bun Bo Hue: this is also called spicy noodle soup which was originated from the royal city of hue in central Vietnam. The dish contains beef bones, shrimp paste, lemongrass and dried chilies which give the broth a tasty and distinctive flavor. It usually is served with mint leaves, bean spourts, and lime wedges.
-    Banh canh: as mentioned before, banh canh is the tapioca noodle soup with very simple broth. It often includes pork, crab, chicken, shrimp and onions sprinkled on top
-    Bun rieu: a very famous dish in HaNoi_the capital of Vietnam. The noodle is made of thin rice noodles and topped with crab and shrimp paste, served in tomato soup with bean sprouts, prawn paste, herbs and chunks of tomato.
-    Hu Tieu: a noodle soup which was brought to Vietnam by way of Chinese immigrants. The noodles usually contains egg noodles with BBQ pork, shrimp and eggs.
-    Bun Thang: thin rice vermicelli noodles with shredded chicken meat, fried egg, steam prok cake and sliced sausages.

Dry Noodles Dishes:

 
-    Bánh hỏi: extremely thin rice vermicelli woven into intricate bundles, it is topped with chopped scallions and meat
-    Bún đậu mắm tôm: delicious dish contain fried tofu served with shrimp paste
-    Bún thịt nướng: a cold noodle dish with grilled pork and lots of vegetables and herbs
-    Bánh cuốn: steamed rice noodle rolls, served with minced pork and wood ear mushroom and Vietnamese pork sausage

After getting through everything about noodles in Vietnamese Cuisine, we understand why traditional Vietnamese cooking is greatly admired for its creativity, fresh ingredients, minimal use of oil, and reliance on variety of herbs and vegetables. With the balance between fresh herbs, meats and noodles, Vietnamese food is considered one of the healthiest cuisines worldwide.