EXTREME Vietnamese Street Food - 5 Must Eat Foods in Hanoi!!

Good morning, hey everyone. Hope you're having an amazing day. It's Mark Wiens. I'm in the vibrant city of Hanoi in northern Vietnam. This is a street food paradise. Today I'm hanging out with my friend Khoa from Hanoi Food. He is a local food expert. He's eaten just about everywhere in the city and he's gonna take us on a Hanoi street food tour where we're gonna eat five of the best dishes that you don't wanna miss when you come to Hanoi and I'm gonna share all of the amazing food with you. Coming up right now in this video. Good morning again. It's 6.30 a.m. bright and early in Hanoi. This is a city that wakes up early and people, I mean, you'll find throughout the whole quarter you'll find throughout the entire city people love to eat breakfast. Gets you going in the morning. I mean, from the moment you wake up there's just street food lining every single street and markets. It's so vibrant and so colorful and so we're beginning this morning with the first dish which is served right here. Good morning, Quang. Yeah. Good morning. How are you today? My name, my name. I'm fine. And where are we at first? I will introduce for you the very, very famous sticky rice restaurant in Hanoi. Very special is the owner in this restaurant is working very quick, very quick, super quick. This make her very famous in Hanoi in Vietnam. Is it common to eat sticky rice for breakfast in Hanoi? Yeah, you can see everyone, a lot of people here to eating this food. All right. All right, so this is where we're beginning with dish number one for the day and I can't wait. You have to see her skills. Okay, so she dishes out the sticky rice and she has this yellow kind of like chunk which almost looks like cheese but it's actually, I believe, mung bean or green mung bean, which she just shaves onto the top of the sticky rice plus some seasonings, plus sometimes some, I think maybe you could choose your different meat on top as well. Oh, wow. She is in absolute joy to watch. Her hands are flying. She dishes out the sticky rice, adds on some toppings, I think slices some things up, adds on some toppings like literally because her hands are almost moving at the speed of sight. You almost can't follow her hands. She's so fast. She knows exactly what she's doing. Oh, she has mastered the art of putting toppings onto sticky rice and assembling sticky rice for breakfast. We have two different versions, right? Yes, four, yes, four versions. Oh, there's four versions. Yeah, here's the most popular. Okay, the two most popular. So the first one is with, it's a yellow sticky rice. Yes. And then that's the one that she shaves on that mashed green bean, fried shallots, pork floss, and some of the Vietnamese cured ham, Vietnamese ham. Okay. Oh, it's really dense, that sticky rice. And it's so fragrant with the fried shallots as well. Oh, that's incredible. That's absolutely delicious. That's an incredible combination because we've got the warm, really gooey sticky rice. That's contrasted by those thin slices of compressed mung bean, green bean kind of taste, which is really starchy, but a totally different texture. The saltiness is coming from those crispy shallots and the fragrance. And then you've got that kind of hairy, fluffy pork floss, which gives it another textural dimension. It's really good, really good. And then you can combine that with pieces of the cured, the pork ham as well. Oh yeah, that's really good. Very good. Oh, this is a real awesome Hanoi breakfast. I'm really impressed how well it comes together in your bowl with all the different toppings. It all just comes together in this amazing harmony. And I'm really impressed with the green bean paste. That somehow is like a bean butter almost. It really works well with the entire dish. This entire sidewalk is turning into an almost parking lot with motorbikes and just people gathering. That's why she has to fly so fast. She has a huge crowd that comes here for breakfast. We have another version. Not only is it sticky rice, but there's corn mixed within the sticky rice with the green bean, with the shallots, with that hairy, hairy pork floss on top. That fluffy. Let's try this one. Oh, that's excellent too. It's more softer than this one. Actually, that corn, the corn is soft. Very creamy, yeah. And it just kind of melts into the sticky rice. So it's not quite as sticky, but it's also very hearty. Nutritious and filling in the morning with that, those hearty grains of corn in there. Oh man, they're both really good. So satisfying. Oh, that was a fantastic way to begin this Hanoi street food tour. We are moving on to dish number two. We're a few streets over from the main central market. And I think we're heading down this tiny slot alley to get to the next place to eat. In yesterday's pho tour, we went to a similar place with an alley that leads to a tavern, like a cave. Whoa, it opens up. It's packed. Oh, what a spot. Oh, what an incredible, we're in this like hidden courtyard, jam packed. People just slurping down bowls of breakfast noodles. You could smell the aroma of the seafood in the air. Oh, this is a hidden gem, just tucked into a courtyard. Here's the owner, her name is Juan. Juan? Yeah. Okay, very nice to meet you. How are they famous for here? Bun Rieu. It's almost unbelievable how fast they're able to assemble bowls of noodles perfectly. And just her skill at balancing out the broth, because they just keep transferring broths from different pots to the serving pot. She balances it out, she taste tests it, she adds in some more crab roe or some seasonings, and she just tastes it quickly and knows exactly. That is ultimate experience. But then they just literally fly. There's two ladies on making each dish, according to your preference. But they know the ingredients to go in, handful of green onions, the shallots on top, the broth, everything precise, and like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and a bowl is ready. Unbelievable attention to detail and strategy. And one cool thing that they were just mentioning is that the bun, which are those types of noodles, they sell 100 kilos every five hours. That's how popular this place is. They take noodle culture to the next level in Vietnam. And this is serious noodle action here. And I mean, pho is a noodle dish that gets a lot of attention. And I mean, it is one of the most popular, but there's so many other extremely famous and extraordinarily delicious and complex noodle soups in Vietnam. This is one of them. Oh wow, there it is, fully loaded. And there it is, the egg. What a topping for a bowl of noodles. We went all in. We got everything from beef to sausage to fertilized duck egg to mantis shrimp, tofu, tomatoes, fried shallots. The broth is made completely of crab and she just keeps balancing it out. And we finally got a table right here in the center, just surrounded. Oh, you can smell the crab and the shrimp paste in there also. Yes. And then so much going on. So complex. Very smooth. Yes. Oh wow. I'm blown away by that broth. It is a masterpiece of a broth. It's so, so complex. So many flavors in your mouth all at once. And you've got the bitterness of that crab roe. Oh, plus a sweetness. And you can tell from the way she just mixes it up just how much pride they take in that broth. I like eating with vegetables. And it's more delicious. Yeah, the vegetables really kind of brings out the freshness. Yes. The vegetable is very important for this food. Yeah. She's got a huge basket of, there's lettuce, looks like banana stalk as well, and some herbs. Mm. Delicious. Mm-hmm. Oh man. With those herbs, that gives it a really refreshing taste along with that shrimpy crabbiness. Then we've got beef. We've got, oh, the mantis shrimp. Mm. Oh wow. It's really sweet. I love the flavor. I love how many things are going on. And we haven't even added condiments yet. There's still more condiments to add if you wanna enhance your broth a bit more. But what Que has taught me about eating Vietnamese noodles is you wanna eat about half your bowl before you start seasoning so that you really taste the pure flavor of the broth. The centerpiece of the bowl. Slightly fertilized duck egg. Oh, so many textures. A little bit of feather action in there. You've got the yolk and the white with totally different creamy and silky and crumbly textures. Delicious though. Delicious. I think I'm ready for some chili. Oh, thank you. Okay, so there's fried chili. There's some fresh chili. Oh, thank you very much. Yes, that's good. That's good. Thank you, Que, for hooking me up with some of that chili. This is a special type of vinegar which, wow, almost has a little alcoholic aroma. Almost like alcohol aroma. Wow. Like a cider. A little bit? Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good? Okay, and then you wanna stir it up again. Rebalance, rebalance. Oh, let it all absorb into that tofu as well. Oh, with the fried chili. Oh, the vinegar adds like this sweet and sourness to it. It has more smell. Yeah. Even transforms it a little bit more, if that's even possible. Makes it even more complex. And chase every bite with that award-winning broth. This is the ultimate bowl of surf and turf noodles. I mean, from beef, to duck embryo, to mantis shrimp, to crab, just all in your bowl, floating around in your soup. Wow, that was incredibly satisfying and just another testament to the deliciousness of the noodle culture in Vietnam. How good the noodles are just tells you why this place is just continuously packed full. Now that is a bowl of noodles I won't forget. And auntie here is so nice. She wouldn't even accept our payment. Highly recommended, this is the spot. You come down this slot canyon alley and you are in a paradise of Bun Rieu. It's a single file alley. This is the place. That's two dishes. We've got three more to go. All right, hello Khoa. Hello. Where are we going now? Now we take you to the very, very special noodle in Hanoi. All right. But the temperature of this food is not hot. It's not hot. It's cold. Oh, okay. So we've come to the spot. She's so friendly welcoming us and in that clay jar, that's the legendary broth, the snail cold soup that we came to try. And this will be my first time to try it. Oh, there's the snails. Yes, snail. She brought out the like pans full of fresh snails. Those are huge, de-shelled. She makes hot noodles and cold noodles. So I think she's making some hot noodles for us that, but that broth is quite amazing too. All these like snail meatballs floating around with tomatoes in the broth. So aromatic. This is special order, 100,000 VND. Full of snails. It's double. From normal. Double, double the amount of snails. You're really hungry for snails. Okay, so the snails go in. Oh man, she's just so friendly. She wanted to show us everything. We came only thinking to eat the cold snail soup, but she wanted to show us everything, including the giant bowl with like half a dozen massive gigantic snails in it. So I think we might be sampling everything here. I believe from what Koya was showing me, she started off very humbly from selling her snail soup from one of the manual carrying carts with the baskets on either end. And she would just set up here and then she would put out some chairs and serve it. Now she's, I mean, she's become so legendary and sold so well that she has opened a shop. But you can still come and sit here on the sidewalk to eat. So we got a table right here. Okay, here we go. Sit down. Oh yeah, so you've got all the vegetables and herbs on the side. You've got noodles on the side, which you then dip into the broths, I believe. And then there's some chili, some vinegar for seasoning. Cold noodle broth, and those snails are gigantic. It looks like a scallop or an abalone almost. Oh man, and you got a little bit of chili oil floating around on top. But I want to just taste that cold broth first. Oh, oh, it's salty and so much umami. Wow, that is so much flavor packed into that broth. Sharply salty and just sharply, like it doesn't have a real strong snail flavor to it. I mean, it's just like a, wow, incredible with the acidity of the tomatoes. Oh, it's good. It's a little cold. Yes. And you can smell, and I'm feeling this one in the soup. What is that one? The same with the vinegar. Oh, okay, for the vinegar, for the vinegar, okay. And that you can kind of contrast maybe the saltiness because the broth is quite salty. But that's also because it's more of a dipping sauce also for the noodles and the vegetables. Look at this snail. Egg. Is it an egg? Huge snail. Wow, a little bit earthy tasting. A lot of textures. It's crunchy and slimy. Yeah, all together in your mouth at once with that chili oil. Oh, very good. The second, you should try with some soup. Oh, add some soup to your bite with the snail. Oh yeah. Because then you've got the saltiness of the broth together with that snail. What a dish, what a broth, what a soup. So this is the noodles which are into little bite-sized patties. You dip it into the broth, let it submerge and soak, and then you can bite it. That absorbs so much flavor in that broth. You can take some of the herbs and vegetables from the salad mix over here. Add this and just kind of dunk it. And then you eat that all together with the herbs and the boon. That soup, the soup is so much flavor. Unbelievable. It is already actually a little bit spicy with that chili oil on top. I think I'll add a little more to bump it up. Garlic vinegar. Let's stir this around and then grab another, go in for another snail. Wow. The slimy crunch of that snail. Oh, that chili is wonderful. You like this one? Yeah, I really like it. One of your favorites? This one of my favorite. One of your favorite dishes? Yeah. I can eat a lot of time. It is very good. Yeah. Very good. That's a mouthful of snail. With the hot soup, it's with pork bones also. Not just the snails, but I think pork bones in here, which is different from the cold broth. So this is the hot broth. Let me taste that hot broth. The herbs already inside of the hot broth with tomato, but also with pork bones, I believe. Oh yeah, that's good too. Rich. A little more rich, I think. But actually, somehow the cold broth is quite rich also. So much flavor, such a complexity, and the sourness of the tomatoes. Okay, I'm gonna try one of these. These are the meatballs that are floating around in that broth. And I think it's a combination of snail and pork in these meatballs. It's so juicy. Maybe there's some egg in there to make it fluffy as well. A little pork in there. And then every now and then, you have these little bits of snail in there. And because they bob around in the soup, they just kind of absorb all that broth. Oh, that's a brothy meatball. That's so good. Come on, come on. Thank you very much, thank you very much. She has to be the most passionate, most happy snail soup vendor you'll ever find in the world. She loves what she does. She has an unbelievable recipe. She's so friendly and nice and welcoming. And her snail soup is absolutely so much flavor. It will blow you away. Another delicious meal in Hanoi, Vietnam. And another noodle specialty. Oh, that was very, very satisfying. And to continue with this ultimate Hanoi Vietnamese street food tour, we're going to eat what is the undisputable champion of lunch in Hanoi. The next one I will need to do for you, a very famous traditional noodle in Hanoi is bun cha. I really, really love this flavor. What's the name of the restaurant? Bun cha Hang Quat. The last restaurant is the people who come here is sit along this alley. Oh, so the seating is all along the alley. Oh, what a spot. And the food is all along the alley as well. The entire kitchen is within the side of the alley. Well, we're gonna see the process and walk down the alley and see the whole process. And then the seating is further down. But this is one of the greatest dishes, one of the top Vietnamese dishes and one of the all-time great dishes of Hanoi. So let's take a look at what's going on and how it's prepared before we start eating. And so it all begins with the bun. These are the rice noodles. That is the foundation of the dish. So let's walk down to the grill. The aromas are just out of control down this alley. So then there's two different meats which are marinated and actually kind of pre-grilled. There's the pork pieces as well as pork little meatballs, little burger patties. Those get to ignite on fire with the fat until they're scorched and brings out the aroma and so smoky. Then they go to the serving station where they go into a bowl with some of the soupy sauce. And then you combine it all together which you'll see when we start eating. Oh, here comes the bun, okay. Look at how wobbly it is. Oh, yes, here it is. Come on, come on. I remember when I first came to Hanoi 11 years ago, my wife and I, we tried bun cha for the first time. We didn't know what it was. And we almost could not believe how tasty it was. It just, I was in disbelief. The combination, the smokiness, the fish sauce, sweet balance, the garlic, the fresh chilies and all the herbs all eaten together. Is it mostly for lunchtime? Yes, sir, usually. Especially for lunchtime, okay. Today you have opportunity to eat again. I am very happy. This time you have me to guide you. I think it's better. Yes, for sure. For the first time. We've got the pork pieces plus the patties plus all the pickled vegetables plus the broth which is a combination of fish sauce and sugar and maybe some broth as well. And then you can see how everything is charred for a reason on the fire so that it brings out the smokiness and that goes into the broth. Try that soup with chilies. There's garlic in there as well. Yes, sweet and sour and then this undeniable smokiness. You can add the noodles as you go. Let them soak in and absorb. Oh, yeah, that just immediately hydrates the noodles. So it's almost like a soup but a dipping sauce at the same time with some of the pork. Mm, mm. Delicious. And they just totally like, the noodles just fill up with the flavor of that smoke. Oh, it's so rich and so sweet and sour and balanced. And then you can start to add more vegetables. There's lettuce. I really love the perilla leaves. Add this to your bowl and the same thing, just let it absorb that briny fish sauce juices with the noodles, with the pork all together. As soon as you dip the vegetables, they bring out, that brings out the aroma. I love the vegetables, the herbs. And crisp and fresh. And then when you wilt them, they just slightly wilt in the broth. That even brings out the flavor. But I love the pepperiness of the mint and the perilla leaves. It's such an addictive flavor. Like everything your taste buds need. Okay, I'm gonna try one of the meatball meat patties. That is, oh yeah, mm, that meat is so smoky and fatty. And then again, it just absorbs that broth. It's like a juicy meatball. And the garlickiness, yeah. That is a flavor to cherish. Raw garlic, raw chilies you can add to your bowl. Oh, I really want those chilies. And a bit more garlic. Bump up the flavor. Oh, more garlic and chilies. Oh yeah. I love it with that extra garlic, those extra chilies. These are the fried spring rolls. So that is interesting to have the fried spring rolls as the side dish for boon cha. But it is only the additional. It's not inside of the boon cha, but it's an addition. But people always order this. Always order it. To go with boon cha. Something extra crispy. Yeah. Excellent. Crispy, a little bit oily. That is good. Really good. What a combination. That was absolutely delicious. And a place that you should definitely check out and eat at when you are in Hanoi. That's four down. We've got one more food to eat. We have made it to the final dish. Dish number five that is gonna complete this tour today. We have a two. Oh, okay. We might have an extra dish. But this is number five. And what are we gonna eat? Kanji, kanji. And it's gonna be right here across from the market where they sell kanji. And it's a very old, a very legendary restaurant, very famous restaurant. But there is gonna be possibly an extra bonus dish coming up after we eat this. But let's eat this first. They specialize in chow here, right? Which is kanji or rice porridge with fried dough sticks with, I think, some of the pork floss. Wow, yeah, it's so thick and so smooth. All that aroma coming out of the steam smells incredible. They have a huge pot of it. It looks really, like a really fine texture as opposed to a coarse kanji, but really fine texture. Looks like there's some meat in here. Right now, they said it's not very busy, but it will just get more and more busy throughout the evening. And chairs will be spread out throughout this entire area. Normally, I see kanji, you can see the rice. But this one, you can't even see any grains of rice. It's completely smooth. Oh, yeah, look at that texture. I don't know if I've ever had a kanji that's so fine in texture. So I'm excited to try this. Oh, this is something different that I haven't seen. Okay, let's taste it. Do you want to put some more zucchini powder? I think I do. Wow, it's really soothing and warming. And you taste the flavor of the pork, maybe also cooked with pork broth. It really has a strong flavor of pork, but not overly rich. And then just really, really like starchy and creamy. Chao suan is very popular in Vietnam. In Vietnam, it's very popular. We call chao suan. Chao suan. Chao, chao mean kanji, suan, rib, pork. Oh, so ribs, ribs kanji. Rib kanji. Okay, compared to the other dishes that we've eaten today, this is the most simple flavor. Because we've had a lot of flavors that are very complex with many different ingredients. And this one is a very soothing, very simple. This kanji is heavily seasoned. Heavily seasoned, yeah. Even better if you go with the topping. Oh, okay, okay. Like, yeah, it's already salty. Salty. It's already salty. And you can taste the, yeah, the meaty flavor of it. I mean, you can taste the bone broth. It's so much so, in fact, that it almost is like a hearty gravy, but definitely it needs some seasoning. A little pepper, a little bit of chili powder. For sure. Okay, and then stir it around. You can add. Oh, thank you. This is called kuey? Kuey? Put it inside. Drop that in. Submerge it, submerge it. Okay, now, we're good to go now. Oh yeah, with the crispy, the crispy texture of the dough. Yeah. Oh, that's really good. Now, I just feeling delicious. Yes. Yes, put it on. And with the chili and the pepper? Yeah. That steps it up. But there's one more bonus. Might be the most exciting dish of the whole day. Will it be the most exciting? I think so. Exciting of the whole day? Yeah. Maybe, maybe. And that's coming next. I can't wait. So, we're here now to eat our final and our last and a thrilling end to this street food tour today. What is it called? Cha duoi. In Vietnamese, it's called cha duoi. It's a very, very special food in Hanoi. Only in Hanoi. Yeah. Only in Hanoi. A sandworm pancake. There they are. Those are the sandworms. A lot of pepper in there, shallots, and a lot of herbs in there. And there's minced pork in all of that. Herbs. That is tangerine. Oh, wow. What a recipe. What a batter. Sandworms look like earthworms almost. Okay, so from what I understand, the worms, the sandworms, live deep in the rice paddy fields, way below the surface. And they're only available during a certain season, which is not this season, so these are actually frozen worms. That's why they're not wiggling around. But that, what an impressive mixture of batter with eggs, with pepper, so many herbs and dill, with shallots, with tangerine, with the sandworms. And she delicately mixes that up into this batter. Oh, fried in chicken oil. Wow, nice. This chicken fat, to fry it and increase the flavor. So maybe more than a pancake, it might be more like an omelet. Omelets, or the pancakes, are fried into little patties. And lots of people take them to go, but she does actually serve them here. And there's some tables and some little chairs on the sidewalk nearby. But then she serves it as a full meal, so she slices it up into bite-sized pieces, serves it with herbs, serves it with the dipping sauce, serves it with bun. Bun is one of the staple foods in Hanoi, and I think this is our tray. Oh, yes. So we got it as a full meal set. Oh, awesome. Oh, that's hot and fresh, right out of the chicken oil. I cannot wait to try the... Yes. The cha ruoi. Cha ruoi. And this is something very special. It smells so good. The aroma of the chicken oil, and I like all the herbs that she used inside of it. And then served with more bun. Yes, yes. Together with bun. We had a lot of bun today. And then served with herbs, and then a dipping sauce. My first taste of sandworms. Oh, wow. It melts in your mouth. Yeah. And I love the flavor of the dill in there. You've got egg, you've got minced pork. All the crispy edges. It kind of absorbs some of the chicken fat. The sandworm kind of has a very soft texture. Kind of just melts in your mouth. No strange taste at all. Just extraordinarily tasty. And then dip it into that sauce for the next move. With a little bit of pickle in there. Yes. Oh, wow. That makes it a little more salty, and a little more juicy. This is something new I haven't tried in Vietnam. There are a lot of people afraid of this food. Oh, okay. When they see the worm. Oh, okay. Yeah, especially if they're the live, look like earthworms. It is a little frightening. But the taste is very delicious. The taste is incredible, yeah. We go with some of the bun. A little bite-sized bun that you can dip. Dip it inside the. Dip it inside. Oh, just fully submerged. Come together with this. The combo bite. Yes. Do the combo bite. Hot and cold. The silky texture of the noodles. The crispy. The sauce. Wow, that's sensational. It's so good. Unbelievably tasty. One thing on the table could make it even better. I'm talking about this. Oh, yeah. So incredibly, addictively good. Into the sauce. All loaded up with chilies. Yes, that will bump up the flavor. A little bit of heat, and then the crunch of the chilies. Go with some of the herbs. Some perilla, some coriander, some mint. Not too sweet. The soup is very good. It's almost a little bit like bun cha, but even more exciting. Because of the sand worms and the. This is a highlight for the day for me. That herbal combination of dill and that citrus finish with the tangerine peel and the sand worms squished in between. That's something really special. And so that completes five, actually six of the best street foods to eat in Hanoi. The variety, the complexity, the balance. It's all there. And I just love the eating culture in Vietnam, where you can just eat pretty much anywhere, sitting on the low stools. And food in Vietnam is not only about the delicious food, but it's also about the conversation. It's about hanging out. It's about spending time with friends and family and talking and just enjoying time, socializing while you eat. And that's what food really should be. So I'll have all of the places that we ate, all six places in the description box below that you can check out when you are in Hanoi for some delicious food. And I wanna say a huge thank you to Que from Hanoi Food. He makes food videos in Vietnamese, which is mostly about food in Hanoi. So go check out his channel, subscribe to his channel and check out his videos. There are some fantastic local recommendations. And that's gonna be it for this video. I wanna say a huge thank you for watching. Please remember to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you. And if you're not already subscribed, make sure you subscribe now for lots more food and travel videos. Good night from Hanoi, Vietnam. I'll see you on the next video.