Top 20 Signature Saigon Street Food Dishes

1. Phá lấu

Phá lấu is made from organs such as intestines, stomach, lungs, liver, and heart, marinated with spices, fried until golden, and then boiled until tender. Coconut milk is the main ingredient of the broth, giving a sweet and rich flavor. When eating phá lấu, diners can enjoy it with bread, offering a unique taste that only Saigon has. You can find phá lấu in every corner of Saigon's streets. It's a popular and enticing street food dish for both local and visiting tourists in this vibrant and dynamic city.

• Price reference: 100,000 VND.

2. Mixed Rice Paper Salad

When it comes to mixed rice paper salad, many young people are surely familiar with it. This dish originates from the Central region of Vietnam but has now become popular nationwide. In Saigon, mixed rice paper salad has a unique flavor of the South. The dish is loved for its small pieces of rice paper mixed with dried beef, dried shrimp, quail eggs, mango, coriander, chili sauce, shrimp salt, and a bit of kumquat, creating a sweet, sour, and spicy taste. Diners also appreciate the unique deliciousness of mixed rice paper salad thanks to a bit of chili and finely chopped coriander.

Price: 25,000 - 50,000 VND/bowl

Preparing this dish is quite simple. Firstly, a rice paper is placed on the griddle, then beaten chicken eggs mixed with spring onions and dried shrimp are evenly spread over the surface of the rice paper. Just a little chili sauce added, fold it up, and diners can enjoy this delicious and enticing dish. It is sold on many streets and is beloved by the people of Saigon. With its unique flavor, quick preparation time, and affordable price, grilled rice paper is a dish that appears frequently in the daily lives of locals.

Price: 12-15,000 VND/piece.

Grilled Lotus Seed is a dish that many people mention when they come to Saigon. Originating from China, it has become a delicious and attractive street food in Vietnam. Simply skewer a lotus seed and grill it over charcoal until the outer shell is charred, indicating that the inside is cooked. You can enjoy the grilled lotus seed while it's still hot and dip it in a little chili sauce. Surely, you will feel the richness of the meat, the crispiness of the outer shell, the spiciness of the chili sauce, and the enticing aroma of the dish that will make you swoon.

Price: 15,000 VND

The dish fried rice flour cake is prepared quite simply with a recipe consisting of rice flour cake, eggs, shredded papaya, soy sauce, and spring onions. The crispy fried rice flour cake accompanied by soy sauce enhances the rich and delicious flavor. Many people, upon arriving in Saigon, have been amazed and praised by this seemingly simple dish, made from easily available ingredients and simple cooking methods yet possessing such a distinctive taste. Visit Saigon on chilly winter days to enjoy this enticing fried rice flour cake.

Price reference: 45,000 VND/plate

Snails are a popular snack with various cooking methods, offering unique flavors that are unforgettable. Saigon snails carry the distinctive taste of Southern people. Prepared from various types of snails into different dishes such as boiled snails, spicy tamarind stir-fried snails, chili lemongrass stir-fried snails, grilled snails... giving diners a wide selection. Combined with a dipping sauce featuring a characteristic sweet taste, spicy chili, and fragrant salt, it creates a dish with the rustic style of Saigonese. You can easily find and enjoy snails at every corner of Saigon's streets. Especially, try this dish in winter, the characteristic spicy and hot flavor will give you a relaxing feeling on chilly winter days.

Price reference: 30,000 - 110,000 VND/portion

When it comes to roasted corn, you surely know its delicious aroma and rich flavor. This dish is popular all over the country with distinctive flavors that create unique regional styles. It is made from easily accessible ingredients such as sweet corn, roasted peanuts, scallions, and a little butter. The sweet, tender corn kernels, mixed with the richness of butter, the crunchiness of roasted peanuts, the savory taste of scallions all blend together to create a flavorful and delicious dish.

Price reference: 25,000 VND/portion.

Hu Tieu, an unfamiliar name with a unique taste. Many mistake hu tieu for pho, but they are different. Saigon's Hu Tieu has its own distinct characteristics, creating a Southern-style cuisine. This specialty dish attracts considerable attention from tourists. The soft hu tieu noodles combined with meticulously prepared broth, enriched with special aromatic spices, create a flavorful dish with a rich, spicy taste typical of Southern people. When enjoying hu tieu, remember to add some fresh herbs to enhance its flavor. Just like Hanoi's pho, if you haven't tried hu tieu, you haven't truly experienced Saigon.

Price: 55,000 VND/bowl

Balut Eggs, known as 'balut' in the North and 'hot vit lon' in the South, are highly nutritious, affordable, and delicious. This popular dish is commonly found in the daily lives of locals across the country. A special treat for visitors to Saigon, balut eggs are typically served boiled with shredded herbs, ginger, a sprinkle of peanuts, and a dash of soy sauce, creating an unforgettable flavor profile that leaves a lasting impression. Additionally, there are also tasty variations such as roasted balut eggs with tamarind. This delicious and inexpensive street food is sought after in Saigon for its easy consumption and exotic taste.

Price: 7,000 VND/egg

Pho is a traditional Vietnamese dish, often considered one of the most iconic dishes of Vietnamese cuisine. The main components of pho include flat rice noodles and broth (known as 'nuoc leo' in the South) along with thinly sliced meats. While beef pho is most common, there are also variations such as chicken pho, pork pho, and shrimp pho. In Ho Chi Minh City, pho retains its authentic flavor but is often served with a plate of fresh and delicious herbs including bean sprouts, basil, and culantro.

Price: 35,000 VND/bowl

The dish called corn ram originates from the name in the central region, but in Saigon, it has been transformed and carries its own unique style. While ramen in the Central region is made from pieces of ram wrapped with crispy fried shrimp and onions, Saigon's corn ram is wrapped with sweet corn, with a touch of fragrant scallions, bringing a different, rich, fragrant, and attractive flavor. Anyone who has tasted this dish will surely not forget the creamy taste of each young corn kernel within the crispy ram layer. Give corn ram a try once, and you'll surely want to enjoy it many times over.

Price reference: 35,000 VND/plate.

No land gathers as many desserts as Saigon does. With the characteristic convergence of diverse population sources, Saigon desserts are extremely diverse in flavor, color, and varieties... Food experts comment that Hanoi desserts focus on flavor, Hue desserts focus on appearance, while Saigon desserts focus heavily on ingredients. But it doesn't end there; Saigon desserts are a sparkling mix of colors.

Price reference: varies by type of dessert

Banh mi, typically toasted until crispy, sliced open along its length, and filled sequentially with condiments, butter, meat (or egg, sausage, char siu, etc.), a handful of vegetables (pickles, cilantro, onions, etc.) layered over the meat filling, and drizzled with sauce (chili, soy, etc.).

Price reference: 15,000 VND

Varying in preparation depending on the place, but the most common is still vegetarian stir-fried vermicelli, with cabbage, mushrooms, tofu, and crispy tofu rolls. This dish is light and favored by many as a breakfast option. The delicious flavor of stir-fried vermicelli is mainly determined by the noodles: thin, chewy, and moist without being too dry. Stir-fried vermicelli can easily be found at street food stalls all over the streets of Saigon.

Price reference: 15,000 VND

Fresh Spring Rolls can be found everywhere across the streets of Saigon. Just a thin sheet of rice paper as the outer layer, inside rolled with some peeled fresh red shrimp, lean pork, vermicelli, herbs, a few sprigs of fresh chives, and a cup of dipping sauce, fresh spring rolls become a favorite snack for many. The essence of fresh spring rolls lies in the dipping sauce. Each eatery has its secret recipe for making dipping sauce for each type of roll with a flavor that cannot be mixed anywhere else.

Price reference: 5,000 VND/roll

Perhaps no street food is sold as much on the streets of Saigon as fried fish balls. Almost everywhere, in any corner of Saigon, from small alleys to downtown areas, you can see the presence of carts selling fried fish balls. Fish is skewered four or five pieces on a stick. When customers arrive, the vendor puts the skewers into the hot oil pan, after 5 minutes, customers have delicious and hot fried skewers to enjoy with tasty and addictive chili sauce.

Price reference: 5000 VND/skewer

Crab Soup is one of the popular breakfast choices among locals in Saigon. Made with ingredients like crab meat, straw mushrooms, quail eggs, and bamboo shoots, along with spices such as scallions, ground pepper, etc., first-time eaters may find the soup's taste unfamiliar, but they quickly become addicted to this nutritious dish. After every rainy afternoon in Saigon, the alleys are bustling with people flocking to crab soup stalls...

Price reference: 20,000 VND

The name of this cake is intriguing because it was originally named after its resemblance to the nest of swallows, but over time, it became known as 'swallow's nest cake.' In some places, swallow's nest cake is also called conical hat cake. An authentic swallow's nest cake must have a chewy texture, a soft inner layer made of cooked rice flour, a fluffy outer layer, and a sweet and refreshing taste of sugar and coconut milk, in addition to requirements regarding its shape and color...

Often confused with spring rolls, popiah is prepared with a slightly more elaborate method. Originally a dish of the Chinese, over the years, Saigon's popiah has undergone various changes, but it still revolves around five main ingredients: Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, quail eggs, julienned turnips, lettuce, all wrapped in a thin rice paper and dipped in thick soy sauce.

Price reference: 5000 VND

When you ask locals in Saigon what the first specialty dish to try is, the answer will undoubtedly be 'Broken Rice.' It's one of the most beloved breakfast choices among Saigonese. However, nowadays, broken rice is not only consumed for breakfast but also for lunch and dinner. The special thing about broken rice is that it's made from fractured rice grains. A famous plate of broken rice not only tastes delicious but also tells a story of past hardships and scarcity in Vietnam. That's why the EBS Korea television network even made a special clip about this delicious dish in Saigon.