Vietnamese street snacks
The plastic-stool food eaten standing up and between meals — the banh mi cart, the sizzling pancake, the fresh and fried spring rolls, the little Hue rice cakes, a basket of sticky rice at dawn. Vietnam’s street snacks are cheap, fast, and often the best thing you’ll eat all trip. Here’s the field guide to ordering them.
The fresh, un-fried rolls — shrimp, pork, herbs, and rice noodle in translucent paper.
© Kent Wang from Austin, TX · CC BY-SA 2.0A crackly turmeric crêpe stuffed with shrimp and bean sprouts — wrapped and dipped.
The colonial-baguette sandwich Vietnam perfected and the world stole.
The crisp, deep-fried rolls — "nem rán" in the north, "chả giò" in the south.
© Nguyễn Thanh Quang · Public domainThe portable breakfast of champions — glutinous rice, savoury or sweet, in a banana leaf.
© trungnguyen299 · CC BY-SA 2.0A communal northern platter built around fried tofu and Vietnam’s most divisive dip.
A whole evening eating culture — sea snails and shellfish, beer, and plastic stools.
© Vietcuongdao · CC BY-SA 4.0Hue’s little water-fern saucers of steamed rice topped with shrimp and crackling.
© Baoothersks · CC BY-SA 4.0Skewers of grilled pork sausage you wrap at the table with herbs and rice paper.
© manda_wong · CC BY 2.0Crispy little coconut-batter cups topped with a prawn, wrapped in greens and dipped.
© Light Write · CC BY-SA 2.0Da Lat’s “Vietnamese pizza” — rice paper grilled crisp with egg and toppings.
A Hanoi twist: uncut pho sheets wrapped around grilled beef and herbs, no broth.