Indulge in Can Tho's Top 20 Delicacies, Memories to Last a Lifetime

When visiting Can Tho, you're not just experiencing the Mekong Delta's water world and visiting famous landmarks. Here, tourists also get to savor the top 20 delectable dishes, representing the authentic taste of the Mekong Delta.

Indulge in Can Tho's Top 20 Delicacies, Memories to Last a Lifetime

Grilled nem sandwich

Grilled nem sandwich is one of the must-try delicacies in Can Tho. Inside the crispy bread lies succulent and flavorful meat, fresh vegetables, and rich sauce. Locals in Can Tho often enjoy rolling pieces of nem or grilled meat as the filling for their sandwiches. This combination allows you to experience the delicious flavor of nem and marinated meat, characteristic ingredients of the Mekong Delta, blending with the sweet and savory sauce that tantalizes the taste buds of diners.

Address: 91 De Tham, Ninh Kieu District

Rice Paper Rolls, Burnt Rice – Ms. Hung's Rice Paper Rolls

Ms. Hung's Rice Paper Rolls is certainly well-known to many when visiting here, the eatery has long been associated with the dish of lightly-oiled mixed rice paper, small and delightful rice paper strips. Ingredients include two quail eggs, especially with fragrant pork floss, making everyone who comes here want to try this dish.

Address: 16 Nguyen Cu Trinh, Ninh Kieu District

Snails with Peanut Sauce

Snails with peanut sauce are a must-mention specialty of the Can Tho rivers and canals region. Snails are boiled or stir-fried with tamarind, with a delicious aroma. The snail meat is tasty and chewy, perfect for those slightly chilly days. Make sure to note down this dish when traveling to Can Tho.

Address: Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, Ninh Kieu District

Violet Leaf Sticky Rice Cake

Violet leaf sticky rice cake is a specialty in Can Tho. Through the skilled hands of the bakers at the Huynh family, the simple sticky rice cake becomes more eye-catching with its purple color from the violet leaves. Fresh violet leaves are cleaned, cooked, and filtered to extract the water for coloring the cake. Mung beans are soaked and then boiled until soft, while glutinous rice is mixed with violet leaf water and coconut milk, adding salt, sugar, and stir-frying on the stove for about an hour to absorb the flavors. The cake must be tied with nylon strings, cooked on a wood stove for about 4 - 5 hours to be fully cooked.

Address

- Bé Bakery in Binh Thuy Market

- Tài Hoa Bakery at An Nghiep Market, Ninh Kieu District

Crispy Fried Rice Cake

Banh cong, a delightful delicacy hailing from Can Tho, is a beloved Khmer Southern dish. Made from rice flour, mung beans, pork, and shrimp, this slightly dark-hued cake boasts an enticing aroma. Indulging in banh cong, you'll experience the crispy texture blending harmoniously with fragrant notes and the subtle richness of lean pork, mung beans, and meat. Everything amalgamates to create the distinctive flavor of banh cong.

Address:

– 134/1A Tran Phu, Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

– 86/38 Ly Tu Trong, Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

– 18 Tran Van Hoai, Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

Crispy Fried Pork Skin

Crispy fried pork skin, one of Can Tho's delectable dishes, entices the taste buds of any traveler who tries this dish. The crunchy golden piece of pork skin is fried until crispy, then drained of excess oil and topped with scallion oil, dried shrimp, and pork floss, making it visually appealing.

Address: Pham Ngu Lao, Ninh Kieu District

Alley Beef Noodles

Alley Beef Noodles at 140 Ly Tu Trong is a restaurant frequented by many travelers. The broth is rich and flavorful. In particular, the beef noodles come with fried sausage, resembling small grape leaves rolls, but when eaten, they are crispy on the outside, tender inside, enhancing the rich flavor of the bowl of beef noodles.

Address: Alley 140 Ly Tu Trong, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho

Rice Paper Rolls

A familiar treat for those in the Mekong Delta. Rice paper rolls served with grilled meat, spring rolls, fresh herbs, and spices. Rice paper rolls are similar to mixed pho found outside Hanoi but with a distinct Mekong Delta flavor.

Address: Lot A1 Cai Khe Market, Ninh Kieu District

Grilled Snakehead Fish

Grilled snakehead fish is a rustic dish typical of the Mekong Delta. The hallmark of this dish is that the fish does not require any preparation. The snakehead fish, freshly caught from the river, is cleaned and skewered on a long stick from mouth to tail. Then it's buried in a pile of dry straw and ignited or placed on the ground with straw covering it, then lit until the embers die out. When the fish is cooked, the burnt scales are scraped off, revealing tender, fragrant white flesh. This is definitely a dish you shouldn't miss.

Address:

– 573 Tran Quang Dieu, Binh Thuy District, Can Tho

– Next to 372A Le Binh, Ward Le Binh, District Cai Rang, Can Tho

– 184 Huynh Cuong, District Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

Can Tho Tapioca Cake with Pork Skin

Can Tho Tapioca Cake with Pork Skin is exceptionally flavorful and enticing. The cake is always steamed in a basket to retain its warmth. When served, the tapioca cake with pork skin is often accompanied by a few slices of cucumber, fresh herbs, and rich creamy coconut milk, topped with scallion oil, and enjoyed with a bowl of sweet and tangy fish sauce. You'll experience the softness of the cake blending with the richness of the coconut milk, crispy pork skin, and sweet meat, creating a fantastic dish.

Address: Alley 2 Pham Ngu Lao, An Hoa Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho

Ba's Fermented Fish Vermicelli Soup

Bun mam is a specialty dish in Can Tho that you cannot miss. The broth of the vermicelli is cooked using only the essence extracted from linh fish, wild fish with a distinctive aroma, and sweetness extracted from snakehead fish or pork bones... Additionally, the dish includes finely chopped lemongrass, straw mushrooms, sliced eggplant to enhance the delicious aroma and rich flavor of the broth. This dish is often served with steamed fish, slices of pork belly, shrimp, squid, eggplant, and stuffed chili on top, accompanied by fresh herbs, thinly sliced banana flowers, and bean sprouts... Especially, bun mam becomes even more interesting with a bowl of tamarind fish sauce, thinly sliced fresh chili, and a squeeze of lime to make the vermicelli even more fragrant and flavorful.

Address: Alley 124 3 Thang 2 Street, Ninh Kieu District

Rieu Vermicelli Soup

The bun rieu tom (crab vermicelli soup) restaurant in Can Tho is located on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, Ninh Kieu District. The bun rieu tom dish served at this restaurant attracts tourists because it is made with fresh live shrimp, with its vibrant yellow color and intense aroma. This is a famous Can Tho restaurant known for its bun rieu tom dish, and customers are even treated to complimentary fruits after enjoying their meal.

Address: 8 Vo Thi Sau, Ninh Kieu District

Duck Hotpot with Fermented Bean Curd at Thanh Giao

With fermented bean curd as the main seasoning, through the skilled hands of the chef, the hotpot is served to guests to enjoy, with a rich, slightly thick broth that has a distinctive, savory, and sweet flavor.

Address: Alley 1 (Turn into the alley, look to the right after 30m), Tan An, Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

Alleyway Sweet Soup

When visiting Can Tho, don't forget to try the incredibly delicious and unique sweet soups at Alleyway Sweet Soup shop. This shop offers 5 types of sweet soup: lotus seed sweet soup, corn sweet soup, sweet potato sweet soup, black bean sweet soup, and ginseng sweet soup. When you taste it, you'll experience a perfectly balanced sweet flavor that suits the palate of every diner. The creamy coconut milk is the key ingredient that gives these sweet soups here a completely different flavor from elsewhere.

Address: Nguyen Van Cu, Ninh Kieu

Fresh Spring Rolls

In the delicious eateries of Can Tho, fresh spring rolls have become a favorite snack for many diners. Can Tho's fresh spring rolls are renowned for their distinctive dipping sauce, whether it's hoisin sauce, fermented fish sauce, or spicy garlic fish sauce, all specially prepared.

Address: 25A1 Residential Area 91B, Ward An Binh, District Ninh Kieu

Sizzling Pancakes

Many people believe the name of the pancake comes from the sound 'sizzle' when pouring the batter into the hot cast iron pan. The batter used for making pancakes is rice flour mixed with coconut milk, turmeric powder, and finely chopped spring onions to create a vibrant green color. The filling typically consists of shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, jicama, or coconut shreds. When eating, diners wrap the pancakes in various fresh herbs and dip them in sweet and sour fish sauce.

Address:

– Đe Tham Sizzling Pancakes: 34 Đe Tham, District Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

– Hue Sizzling Pancakes: Giai Xuan Commune, Phong Dien, Can Tho

– Aunt Mai's Eatery: Vo Truong Toan, District Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

Crispy Pork Skin Noodles

Crispy pork skin noodles, also known as 'crunchy noodles', feature firm, fragrant egg noodles and flavorful herb broth. Can Tho's crispy pork skin noodles differ from northern-style crunchy noodles, lacking egg and firm pork slices. So when you eat them, you'll experience the distinctive flavor of the Mekong Delta.

Address: 40B 3 Thang 2 Street, District Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

Thanh Van Grilled Spring Rolls

When in Can Tho, everyone knows about the famous Thanh Van grilled spring roll restaurant located on Hoa Binh Boulevard, Ninh Kieu District. Thanh Van grilled spring rolls stand out with finely chopped pork skin and vegetarian spring rolls, filled with sweet taro creating an enticing aroma.

Address: 17 Hoa Binh Boulevard, Tan An, Ninh Kieu, Can Tho

A Chay Dumplings

This is a well-established dumpling shop in Can Tho. Known for their large dumplings with ample meat filling, served hot with green vegetables and fried shallots. The dumpling soup is particularly delicious, with added sweetness from the vegetables, making it enjoyable. Additionally, customers can choose to have their dumplings with noodles, which are small, chewy, and delicious at a very reasonable price.

Address: 28/4A Nam Ky Khoi Nghia

My Tho Sugarcane Juice

My Tho sugarcane juice is a delicious treat favored by many tourists when visiting Can Tho. It's not just ordinary sugarcane juice; here, it's served with salted peanuts, thinly sliced jackfruit, square-cut agar jelly on top of the glass, making it look very appealing.

Address: MT 68 - Alley 6 Mau Than, Xuan Khanh, District Ninh Kieu

According to Mytour

***

Reference: Mytour Travel Guide