Hanoi Street Food Tour

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is famous for its rich culture. Accompanied with rich culture, Hanoi has abundant street foods. We think that you, the tourists, don’t want to miss some delicious Hanoi street foods. In this article, ICA Travel Group will give you the Hanoi Street Food Tour that definitely won’t disappoint you. It’s also a good way to learn more about Hanoi culture.

Hanoi street food tour No 1: Tao pho – Tofu  

The first dish we would like to introduce you is Tào phớ, known as Tofu. Tofu is a popular summer dish loved by all ages, not only in Vietnam but also in Asian countries. 

Tofu is made from soybeans, filtered to remove the residue like making tofu but more thoroughly, then boiled, cooled, and frozen. When eating tofu, add a little ice and you’ll have a delicious bowl for cooling off in the summer.

In Hanoi, people enjoy tofu with sugar water mixed with jasmine flowers. Like other dishes, making tofu also has its own craft village. An Phu village (now in Nghia Do ward, Cau Giay district) is considered the birthplace of this dish in Hanoi. Currently, diners can find many tofu shops in this area. The seller uses a spoon or mussel shell to put thin spoonfuls of pho into a bowl. Therefore, the dish is smooth and consistent, then add sugar water and a few ice cubes. A bowl of standard tofu in Hanoi is not too sweet, has jasmine flavor, is light and comfortable. Nowadays, there are more toppings in tofu, which serves for preferences, such as tapioca pearls, caramel, jelly, lotus seeds, …

Although many cool desserts have been imported, tofu, tofu, and bean curd still maintain their own position as popular dishes loved by Vietnamese people of all ages. Today, in all three regions, the way to eat tofu has been changed to suit the increasingly diverse culinary tastes of diners. However, at any store, you can still enjoy the classic tofu dish, served with sugar water and ice cubes. That’s such a good start for Hanoi Street Food Tour.

Hanoi street food tour No 2: Bo bia ngot – Sweet popiah 

Next, we cannot miss one of the well known snacks in Hanoi, Bò bía (popiah). Actually, there are 2 types of popiah: the sweet one and the popiah with meat. In Hanoi, the former is more popular. 

Ingredients need rice paper made from flour, some shredded coconut, malt candy bar, and a little black sesame. There are so many vendors, but the one who can “attract” everyone has a secret. That’s the handmade ingredients, unlike other goods imported from factories.

To be delicious, sweet popiah needs very old coconut, giving it a very crunchy, fleshy, fatty pulp. Two rice paper shells stacked diagonally on top of each other, a layer of shredded coconut, two crunchy malt candy bars, a few black sesame seeds, … The seller rolls the cake up and people just need to hold the lovely, white piece of cake. When you bite, you can hear the candy crunching in your mouth.

The flavors blend together. The fatty taste of coconut rice, the strong sweetness of malt candy and the softness of the rice paper wrapped on the outside, …. People order one but want to order two, so they eat until they are full without getting bored. Wherever you eat, you will feel the flavors blending together.

Hanoi street food tour No 3: Nem chua ran – Fried fermented pork roll

One of the famous dishes among youngsters is Nem chua rán (fried fermented pork roll). The best time to enjoy fried fermented pork rolls is as soon as they come out of the pan. The crust is rough and crispy, hot to the bite. The inside is chewy and sweet with the meat and skin, fragrant with the scent of garlic. There’s nothing better than eating a piece of fried spring rolls dipped in spicy chili sauce and a little kumquat. It will make you feel hot, fragrant, delicious, and especially attractive on cold days. Eat one and want to eat two, eat two and then want a few more. It can be said that it is a delicious and not too expensive snack. 

The ingredients are lean meat or raw sausage, pork skin, chicken eggs, mushrooms and sugar, tapioca starch, garlic, pepper, … To attract customers, each restaurant has its own “secret”: the dipping sauce, the way of frying fried fermented pork roll, …
Nowadays it is not difficult to find a delicious fried spring roll restaurant in Hanoi. It not only attracts teenagers but also attracts diners of all ages. You can easily meet a few middle-aged men with pints of beer and plates of fried spring rolls discussing business. You can also meet a group of office ladies who invite each other to enjoy snacks during their lunch break.

Hanoi street food tour No 4: Che – Sweet soup

If you love something sweet, Hanoi has one thing for you. It’s Che, known as Sweet soup.

In Hanoi, sweet soup has long been a familiar snack of people. Previously, Hanoi only had simple sweet soup dishes such as lotus sweet soup, black bean sweet soup, and green beans. Over decades, this dish has become more diverse with many different types of sweet soup. However, decades-old sweet soup shops with the bold flavor of sweet soup are still of great interest to many people.

In the past, Hanoi people often ate sweet soup that simply had one type of bean, … Gradually, the flavor of the sweet soup mixes with black jelly, pearls, and fresh coconut depending on the preferences.

The attractive thing about Muoi Six sweet soup shop is that the beans are simmered to just the right degree. The taste of each cup of sweet soup brings a refreshing taste with a typical traditional sweet one.

Hanoi street food tour No 5: Nom bo kho – Dried beef salad

Dried beef salad has simple ingredients, such as green papaya, carrots, dried beef, roasted peanuts, herbs and salad dressing. First, the green papaya is peeled, washed and grated into small strips, dotted with a few red carrot strands. The papaya fibers will be soaked in diluted salt water to reduce the sap and bitterness. Then draining thoroughly helps prevent them from becoming soft and mushy. Herbs mainly include marjoram and basil. When in season, add a little coriander, wash and chop. Roast peanuts until just cooked, pounded finely. Dried beef is cut into bite-sized pieces. So many ingredients are prepared, when the customer calls, they are put on a plate and filled with salad dressing. When eating, guests manually mix the ingredients with the salad dressing and then enjoy.

Sellers marinate tendon, spleen, book, beef liver… with basil, spices and then roast or fry until golden and fragrant. When the guests eat, they cut more into the plate. Surely these things have created a new flavor for the mannequin dish. But the main thing that makes the difference between this mannequin shop and that mannequin shop, bad mannequin and good mannequin, is the mannequin sauce, the water used to pour into the mannequin. From the same ingredients: vinegar, chili, fish sauce, salt, … with different mixing ratios, the salad will have its own flavor.

While eating and chatting, watching the flow of people going back and forth to trade, travel, and sightsee on Hoan Kiem Lake street, the plate of mannequin had already become empty. By the time they had finished eating, many customers, would even pick up their plates, slurp up the salad sauce, which was now richer than ever, before stopping their chopsticks and leaving.

Hanoi street food tour No 6: Banh troi tau – floating rice ball

Hanoi has started to have cold winds these days, people are also getting ready for the cold winter days. And when winter comes, everyone invites each other to eat typical dishes of Hanoi this season. In that cold weather, people just want to munch on something to warm their stomachs. It’s maybe potato cake, banana cake or grilled sweet potato corn, … especially the floating rice balls.
In Vietnamese culinary culture, there are 2 types of floating rice balls. Every year on the 3rd day of the third lunar month, Vietnamese people often have the custom of offering floating and vegetarian rice balls to their ancestors. A Vietnamese floating rice ball is a rice ball kneaded with sugar and molasses, cooked in water, then taken out, cooled, and eaten dry. The filling is a bit more elaborate, eaten with sugar water, a little ginger and coconut milk, and sprinkled with a few peanuts and greasy grated coconut.

It is actually extremely simple and easy to prepare, only including: Sticky rice, green beans, black sesame, old ginger, and sugar. A bowl of Banh Troi Tau usually has 2 balls, one has green beans filling, another has black sesame. People enjoy the dish with sugar water fragrant ginger, warm and spicy.

What makes the core of a delicious bowl of Banh Troi Tau lies in the sugar water mixed with spicy ginger. To be delicious, people keep this water simmering on a charcoal stove, which makes it retain the rich flavor. The color of the water must be the golden, brown color of honey, smelling the spicy ginger. If the sugar water is too sweet, it will unintentionally lose the sophistication and elegance of this dish.

In conclusion, ICA Travel Group gave you an instruction for your Hanoi Street Food Tour. However, Hanoi cuisine has more than these above. For detailed information, please contact us and ICA Travel Group are glad to offer you the Hanoi Street Food Tour ever!