Top 11 Meaningful Hanoi Specialties to Gift

Chá Cake is one of the traditional treats of ancient Hanoi, often passed down through generations. It’s said that ‘no one else has a flavor like this, the oldest and the best in Hanoi.' This cake is addictive due to the distinctive flavor of the fragrant lime leaves and the rich, savory pork fat, all wrapped in a crispy flour crust, making Chá Cake a beloved snack of the Tràng An region.

The name Chá Cake comes from its small, golden appearance with a mixed filling surrounded by a flour crust, resembling a minced meat ball. Like many traditional cakes, Chá Cake is best enjoyed with hot tea.

For a long time, Chá Cake has been a favorite snack in Hanoi, enjoyed by both young and old. While no one knows exactly when or who created it, it’s clear that in ancient Hanoi, there were many families who specialized in handcrafting and selling these cakes. Over time, Chá Cake has become a traditional snack of the people of Hanoi.

‘On a chilly day, nothing beats enjoying a piece of Chá Cake with a sip of tea, savoring the sweet, fragrant, and rich flavor of the cake.’ In the early cold of Hanoi’s winter, biting into a golden crispy Chá Cake followed by the chewy richness of pork fat is a flavor you won’t find in any other cake.’

In Hanoi, while the autumn air is filled with the fragrance of green rice, summer brings the tranquil beauty of West Lake’s lotus blossoms. During the scorching June heat, it is the perfect time to enjoy a cup of Lotus Tea, a refreshing and sweet drink that helps cool down the intense summer heat.

If you plan to gift this West Lake Lotus Tea to someone far away, be sure to advise them on the proper brewing technique to bring out its full flavor. The best way to prepare Lotus Tea is to use a porcelain or Yixing teapot, pre-warmed with hot water. Then, use a small bamboo stick to place the tea leaves into the teapot, adding water that has cooled to about 90–95°C to avoid a bitter taste.

Next, pour the water in a steady stream to ensure the tea leaves swirl evenly in the pot. Keep pouring until the foam rises above the teapot's edge. Let the tea steep for about 10 seconds, then pour the first batch into a small teapot or cup for tasting. For the second steeping, open the teapot lid and use the bamboo stick to stir the tea leaves, allowing them to relax. Then, add some lotus seeds into the pot and pour water. For the third batch, add lotus stems, and for the fourth batch, add the delicate yellow lotus flowers. Each steeping offers a new layer of flavors. By following this process, you will fully appreciate the rich taste of the tea and feel the happiness of tea lovers savoring truly delicious tea.

Lotus Tea is a refined beverage, and when enjoyed, it offers a deep, lasting flavor that lingers in your mouth.

If you have family in Ho Chi Minh City who can’t make it back to Hanoi for Tet, gifting Tranh Khúc Chung Cake will surely be a delightful treat. In the South, bánh tét is the traditional Tet food, so introducing the Northern flavor of bánh chưng will add a fresh twist to the Southern spring celebrations.

Tranh Khúc village, located along the Red River, benefits from exceptionally pure water, which plays a key role in making their Chung Cakes famous. What sets Tranh Khúc Chung Cake apart is the handmade technique that ensures its distinctive sharp-edged square shape.

The ingredients are top-notch: sticky rice from Hải Hậu, perfectly steamed green beans that are mashed and formed into smooth balls, combined with seasoned pork belly. The dong leaves and bamboo strings used for wrapping are carefully selected, sourced from Tràng Cát (Hanoi) or brought from Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Lào Cai, and Yên Bái. Even the strings are imported from Lương Sơn (Hoà Bình). Every step in the process, from choosing ingredients to boiling, is done with great care. The cakes are boiled in steam or electric pots for 6-10 hours immediately after wrapping, and once done, they are drained quickly to avoid water absorption, which could ruin the texture.

A typical Tranh Khúc Chung Cake weighs about 1.2 kg and is priced around 60,000 VND. There is also a Gấc version available for 95,000 VND, and custom-sized cakes can be ordered for about 100,000 VND each. Authentic Tranh Khúc Chung Cakes are widely available in various shops.

How about choosing sticky rice cake as a special Hanoi gift? Quán Gánh Sticky Rice Cake would be the perfect choice if you're looking to bring a taste of Hanoi to loved ones far away.

When it comes to Hanoi sticky rice cake, food connoisseurs immediately think of Quán Gánh village in Nhị Khê, Thường Tín, Sơn Tây, Hanoi. Quán Gánh is known for making various types of sticky rice cakes, including plain, sweet-filled, savory, and even Gấc (red melon) sticky rice cakes.

Making these delicious sticky rice cakes requires great skill. The rice used is the finest Hải Hậu sticky rice, free from any damaged grains. The rice is soaked thoroughly, then steamed into a soft, sticky consistency before being pounded while still hot. It is then molded into smooth, round cakes. For the sweet variety, the cakes are filled with finely mashed steamed green beans, while the savory ones are made with a rich blend of pork fat and fragrant green beans. The cakes are carefully wrapped in fresh dong leaves or arranged neatly on plates, making them irresistible both in appearance and taste.

Uoc Le is a traditional village located in Tan Uoc commune, Thanh Oai, Hanoi. According to local legends, the village frequently hosted festivals on the 10th day of the lunar new year. During these festivals, each hamlet would prepare a special offering, known as the “precious offering,” consisting of the village's finest products, with pork sausages being the highlight and most commonly offered to the village’s deity and the king.

This tradition led to the fame of Uoc Le Pork Sausage, known for its high quality. To create these delicious sausages, the craftsmen must pay close attention to every detail, from selecting the finest pork to processing it carefully. Instead of using boiling water to prepare the pork, they use a dry cloth to wipe off any excess water from the meat before mixing it for processing.

The sausages are made using the meat from small pigs, weighing between 35 to 40 kilograms. The pork is then finely chopped and quickly pounded using a heavy wooden pestle. The mixture is seasoned with the finest fish sauce, following the village’s secret recipe, and then wrapped in banana leaves that have been boiled. The wrapping involves three layers: fresh leaves on the inside, medium-aged leaves in the middle, and older leaves on the outside. The sausages are then boiled for about 55 minutes until they expand and produce a sound when tapped, indicating they are perfectly cooked.

In addition to the steamed sausages, Uoc Le is also famous for its fried sausages, particularly the “cinnamon sausage” and “fried pork sausage.” The cinnamon sausage has a unique flavor, combining the scent of cinnamon with the sweetness of honey, and it is grilled over a charcoal fire until the surface becomes slightly crispy. The fried pork sausage, on the other hand, has a different texture, being rich and fatty with small chunks of fatty pork mixed with finely ground lean meat, steamed, and then deep-fried until golden brown. Eating Uoc Le Pork Sausage offers a taste not just of Hanoi but of the soul of Vietnamese cuisine.

The name “Xu Xue” originally comes from the Dinh Bang village in Tien Son, Bac Ninh, which has its own distinct version of the cake. The Bac Ninh version is made with glutinous rice wrapped in dong leaves and boiled. However, the version from Hanoi is made from a refined starch dough (called hoang tinh), sweetened with sugar and infused with the fragrant oil of pomelo flowers. The dough is stirred in a pan before being steamed, and then shaped with a sweet filling to create the small cakes we are referring to here.

Once you hold the cake in your hand and admire its delicate shape, you will be even more surprised when you take a bite. The soft, chewy texture is perfectly complemented by the nutty taste of mung bean and coconut, along with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. It’s an experience that will surely impress even the most discerning guests.

The Xu Xue Cake from Hanoi is particularly famous in the area around Hang Than Street, which is known for selling these treats. However, the origin of the cake comes from the same place as the beloved “com cake,” which is Vong village. Similar to the “com cake,” the Phu The cake is best eaten fresh, as the mung bean filling can spoil quickly. Therefore, make sure to enjoy these cakes while they’re at their freshest or share them with loved ones as soon as possible.

If you're looking for a long-lasting Hanoi specialty to bring back as a gift, roasted peanuts with herb seasoning are a popular choice among many visitors.

Roasted peanuts with herb seasoning are widely available from numerous small shops lining a 200-meter stretch along Ba Trieu Street in Hanoi. This tasty snack is named after Mrs. Van, who first introduced the delicious roasted peanuts to the capital in 1963. Today, many shops sell this treat, but the original store – the one that pioneered roasted peanuts with herb seasoning – is the 'Cu Van' shop at 176 Ba Trieu Street. The shop's name has become synonymous with this delightful snack.

What sets 'Cu Van' roasted peanuts apart is the meticulous preparation. The peanuts are sourced from the fertile lands of Bac Giang and Nghe An, where the best peanuts are grown on sandy soil. These peanuts are carefully soaked with sugar, salt, and a blend of four spices: cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, and cloves, creating a perfectly balanced flavor that is neither too salty nor too sweet. The peanuts are then roasted by hand, using clean, dry yellow sand that is heated to the perfect temperature before the peanuts are added. The roaster must carefully monitor the heat to ensure the peanuts cook evenly without cracking the delicate red skin and without sand getting into the crevices between the halves. After all the painstaking work, the result is a batch of crispy, fragrant, and irresistibly delicious peanuts.

Diễn Grapefruit has long been a renowned delicacy in Hanoi, especially around the Lunar New Year, thanks to its unique and delightful flavor. Diễn is the name of a region in Phúc Diễn, Bắc Từ Liêm, Hanoi. This area boasts soil and climate conditions that are perfect for cultivating a grapefruit variety that is sweet, fragrant, and refreshingly light.

Due to its fame, many hybrid varieties of grapefruit that are not grown in the Diễn region have emerged, causing confusion for buyers. These hybrid fruits are bland and lack the strong fragrance of the authentic Diễn variety. A true Diễn grapefruit typically weighs between 0.8 to 1 kilogram. It is about the size of two clenched fists, round, with a thin skin that isn’t perfectly smooth. The flesh of a Diễn grapefruit is very thin—around 2 cm—and the segments are golden, firm, and not overly soft. The pulp is juicy, sweet, and fragrant, with no bitterness or astringency, making it a delicious treat.

Because of its exceptional quality, it’s best to buy Diễn grapefruits directly from the farm. As the fruit is quite particular about the type of soil it grows in, purchasing it from less reliable sources may result in receiving inferior varieties grown elsewhere, which won’t taste as good, but will still cost as much as the authentic kind. Diễn grapefruits are relatively heavy, so if you plan to send them as a gift, it’s best to use a bus service for shipping. Your loved ones will surely appreciate this special gift!

It’s often said:

“Though not fragrant like jasmine flowers, Even without elegance, we still are from Tràng An.”

Could it be that all the cultural essence of Hanoi is captured in the local treats that people pass from hand to hand? Among the many gifts from Hanoi, we have pho, green rice, or Thanh Tri rice rolls. But one treat, though not a specific specialty, always comes to mind when thinking about Hanoi: sour plums, or Ô Mai.

People from Hanoi have been fond of Ô Mai from childhood, when they would savor these treats while playing, to old age, when they enjoy them with hot tea on cool winter days, reflecting on life with loved ones.

The flavor of Ô Mai is a delicate balance: a hint of spice on the tongue, a subtle sweetness that awakens the taste buds, and a tangy tartness that lingers at the back of the throat. None of the flavors are overpowering; instead, they blend together to create a unique, unmistakable taste that’s found only in Hanoi.

If you're a fan of traditional cuisine and Hanoi's cultural heritage, you might wonder which types of Ô Mai are most beloved by locals. Should you ever visit Hanoi’s Old Quarter and want to bring home a local treat as a gift or for your own enjoyment, consider Ô Mai.

Some famous Ô Mai brands in Hanoi include: Ô Mai Vạn Lợi, Ô Mai Hồng Lam, Ô Mai Tiến Thịnh, Ô Mai Gia Lợi, and Ô Mai Gia Thịnh.

When talking about Hanoi's specialties, one item that is always at the top of the list is green rice (Cốm). Cốm has long been considered a unique gift, a special treat that embodies the simplicity and purity of the countryside. Made from the first harvest of young rice, it represents a blessing from the vast green rice fields that stretch out over the land.

The best time to enjoy Cốm is in the fall. When the cool autumn breeze rolls in, bringing a hint of chill to the air and the lotus leaves begin to wither, the finest Cốm of the year is harvested. Thanks to the favorable weather, Cốm from the autumn harvest is always more fragrant, tender, and flavorful than that of the summer. People in Hanoi eagerly await this delicacy to mark the season’s end, savoring the elegant gift from the young rice plants.

For many in central and southern Vietnam, Cốm may seem like a strange or unfamiliar treat, one they may have never tried. But for anyone in Hanoi, Cốm is an essential part of life. Not only is it the delicate green rice wrapped in lotus leaves and tied with golden straw, but it is also the key ingredient in many local dishes, from sweet Cốm tea to Cốm cakes, Cốm sticky rice, shrimp wrapped in Cốm, and even Cốm spring rolls. In every dish, Cốm adds both flavor and fragrance, contributing to the distinctive “Hanoi taste” that author Vũ Bằng once described as so deeply beloved, making one feel truly Vietnamese.

Vong Village Cốm is a truly exceptional variety, with the soft and sticky texture, the delicate aroma of fresh rice, and the subtle fragrance of lotus leaves. It’s a bite of autumn captured in every grain.

It’s no exaggeration to say that: “Anyone who hasn’t tasted Cốm cannot truly experience the soul of Vietnam, and anyone from Hanoi who has never had Cốm cannot be called a true Hanoi native.”

Over the years, Cốm has become more than just a delightful snack. It has become a cultural treasure, a taste of home that reminds every Hanoi native of their roots, even when far from home.

Che Lam Cake is a well-known specialty from the traditional craft villages in Hanoi or the former Ha Tay region. Anyone who has tasted this delightful treat will surely remember its distinct soft, chewy texture and aromatic flavor.

In the past, Che Lam was typically made during festivals and special occasions. Today, this cake is not only a beloved delicacy in Ha Tay but has also traveled with tourists far and wide.

With main ingredients like sticky rice flour, white sugar, malt syrup, ginger, sesame seeds, and a secret blend of traditional spices, Che Lam offers a unique culinary experience that captures the essence of rural Vietnam!

Che Lam is most delicious when the ingredients are perfectly balanced: the sticky sweetness of the syrup, the fine texture of the rice flour, and the fragrant spices. The cake features a delightful mix of chewy rice flour, sweet syrup, a hint of ginger's spiciness, and the nutty flavor of peanuts, all blending to create a truly intoxicating taste.

The best way to enjoy Che Lam is with a cup of green tea. For an even more extraordinary experience, the cake tastes best when the weather is cool and crisp. On chilly autumn or early winter days, nothing beats the enjoyment of Che Lam paired with tea.

On cool autumn days transitioning into winter, savoring this cake is a real treat. Slice the cake into small pieces and enjoy slowly with a cup of tea. Taking a bite of Che Lam, the chewy texture of the rice flour melts in your mouth, followed by the sweet syrup, the mild heat of ginger, and the crunch of peanuts. One sip of tea, and the gentle sweetness of the flavors is pure bliss!