As all of you may know, Vietnamese cuisine is famous for Pho. However, Pho is not the only specialty to eat when you come to Vietnam. In Northern Vietnam, for example in Hanoi, you can have Banh Mi or another post I have written about Top 5 must-try dishes of Hanoi cuisine. What about other regions? In this post I will talk about Central Vietnamese food.
1. Pork rolls with rice paper – Bánh tráng cuốn thịt heo
Pork rolls with rice paper has existed for hundreds of years and seems to be a daily familiar dish of many people in Da Nang – Vietnam.
Two main ingredients are rice paper and pork, but it is impossible to ignore other ingredients selected to be served with rice paper and pork to create a perfect dish.
It will not be the true pork rolls with rice paper if there is no vegetables. The green to have in this kind of dish include more than 10 different kinds of herbs such as lettuce, Thai basils, peppermint, banana blossoms… What makes this dish be perfect must be the anchovy fish sauce.
Firstly, you can put the rice paper on the flour paper and take it out quickly. Flour paper is Pho before being cut off into strings. After that, you can roll the papers with whatever you like, including pork and your favorite types of vegetables. Finally, dip it with the fish sauce and enjoy.
Address to have in Da Nang:
– 4 Le Duan Street, Hai Chau District, Da Nang.
– 19-21 Tran Binh Trong Street, Hai Chau District, Da Nang.
– 35 Do Thuc Tinh Street, Cam Le District, Da Nang.
2. Grilled sausage of Nha Trang – Nem Nướng
Grilled sausage is the most popular food item of Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa Province of Vietnam.
The key ingredient is the ground pork which is formed into sausages or meatballs and then grilled or baked.
Similar to the pork rolls with rice paper, the grilled sausage of Nha Trang is also served with fresh vegetables such as lettuce, julienned pickled vegetables like carrots and white radishes, and fresh herbs like mint and basil.
Different from the pork rolls with rice paper, the grilled sausage can be served with the rice noodles instead of the kind of Pho before being cut into strings. The way of diluting fish sauce for the grilled sausage is also different from fish sauce to have with the pork rolls of Da Nang.
Address to have in Nha Trang:
– 16A Lan Ong, Nha Trang.
– 29-31 Le Loi, Nha Trang.
– 29 Hai Ba Trung, Nha Trang.
3. Vietnamese pancake with spring rolls – Bánh Xèo and Nem Lụi
I don’t know where the origin of this dish is. Maybe it comes from Hue or Hoi An.
Banh Xeo is the name of Vietnamese pancake, which is named after the sound when frying the rice batter with small shrimps.
It can be served as rolling with different kinds of the green such as lettuce, mint, fish mint, sorrel, perilla… and Nem Lụi (grilled ground pork in a lemongrass skewer).
Address to have in Hue:
– 81 Dao Duy Tu, Hue
– 38 Ba Trieu, Hue
– 2 Dien Bien Phu, Hue
4. Quang Noodles – Mì Quảng
Quang noodle is a typical specialty dish of Quang Nam and Da Nang – the Central Vietnamese food.
Noodles are usually made from finely ground rice flour with water from gardenia seeds and eggs and coated in thin layers, then sliced horizontally to have thin noodles about 5-10mm.
Under the noodles are raw vegetables, Quang noodles must be served with 9 flavors of raw vegetables to create a passionate flavor: basil, fresh lettuce, new sprouts, white bean sprouts can be cooked or left to dry, coriander, cilantro with finely chopped spring onions and thinly sliced banana flowers.
On the noodles are pork, shrimp, chicken, frog meat, snakehead fish meat (sometimes boiled eggs) along with broth made from pork bones. People also add dry roasted peanuts and pound them, finely chopped green onions, herbs, red peppers…
In addition, noodles are also served with sesame rice paper, adding crispy roasted peanuts to create a unique flavor.
Address to have in Da Nang:
- 53 Quang Trung, Hai Chau, Da Nang
- 19-21 Tran Binh Trong, Hai Chau, Da Nang
- 251 Hoang Dieu, Hai Chau, Da Nang
5. Fish ball noodles – Bún chả cá
Fish ball noodles is a typical Central Vietnamese food. Fish after being processed into fish balls, along with vermicelli and other ingredients are the ingredients of a bowl of fish noodle soup.
This dish is more popular in the Central region than in other regions because this region has almost all kinds of delicious fish to be processed into fish balls. It is often found in the coastal provinces, as these regions are home to high fish catches.
Address to have in Da Nang:
- 113/3 Nguyen Chi Thanh, Da Nang
- 109 Nguyen Chi Thanh, Da Nang
- 319 Hung Vuong, Da Nang
- 63 Le Hong Phong, Da Nang
I hope you guys will enjoy them all when traveling the central Vietnam, because the cuisine here is very rich and varied. If you know any other delicious Central Vietnamese food, please let me know and I will be happy to try them.
