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The food that we enjoyed in Hue was very different from what we found in Hanoi. It tended to be lighter, there were more vegetarian options, and the dishes seemed to be more diverse.
Banh Khoai or Hue Pancake
I personally think that this is my favorite dish from Vietnam. Banh Kuai, or Hue Pancakes are made from rice flour and stuffed with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts. They are fried until crispy, and topped with special sauce and piled high with fresh herbs. You can find it from 25k-40k VND.
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| Banh Khoai by Lac Thanh |
Banh Beo or streamed rice cake or waterfern cake
Another Hue original dish that I highly recommend is Bánh bèo, which are rice cakes made from a combination of rice flour mixed with tapioca and steamed until soft. The tiny bowls of rice cake are topped with minced shrimp and pork, fried onions and shallots. Bánh bèo is served with a dipping sauce made from fish sauce and chili, but it's not super spicy.
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| Banh beo or streamed rice cake, Hue |
In Hue, we started to see less meat and many more vegetarian options. One of the best restaurants that we ate at was entirely vegetarian! While northern Vietnam is heavily influenced by Chinese culture, Taoism, and Confucianism, central Vietnam is much more heavily Buddhist. Many Vietnamese Buddhists are vegetarian.
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| Vegetarian rice cake with many topping at Lien Hoa, Hue |
Banh Trang Trung or Hue pizza
I love PIZZA and I also love HUE PIZZA. This original dish made me fall in love with both the taste and price. The "crust" is made out rice paper and fried. It is then topped with egg, shredded pork, shallots, and a few different types of sauce! It's like a very thin and crispy pizza. Although it's called "Hue Pizza", the dish is really unique, and the taste isn't what you would expect from a pizza. It's surprisingly sweet! The best part was, I only paid like 15k VND ($0.66, one of the cheapest meals that I had in Vietnam).
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| Vietnamese "Pizza", Hue |
Nem lui or pork skewers on lemongrass
This is one of the snacks that is a specialty of central Vietnamese cuisine. It's very filling and delicious. The pork is wrapped around skewers of fresh lemongrass, and grilled so that the meat takes on the delicious flavors. When you want to eat, take the pork off the skewer, wrap the grilled pork and fresh veggies with rice paper like a spring roll, and then dip it into a special sweet peanut sauce.
I got this set for 80k VND ($2)
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| Nem lui or pork skewered on lemongrass, Hue |
Banh Nam or streamed rice shrimp cake
Banh Nam is made out of rice flour and topped with shrimp and ground pork, and garnished with a sprinkle of shallots. It is wrapped up in a banana leaf, sprinkled with some fish sauce (with or without red chili depending on your tolerance for spicy food). The flavors of the fish sauce and shrimp, plus a little salty taste all mixed together into a delightfully savory dish.
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| Banh Nam |
Bún thịt nướng or Grilled pork noodle
Hue's noodle specialty that you can easily find on almost every corner in the city is this delicious grilled pork noodle. The concept is similar to Bun cha (Hanoi's specialty and Obama's favorite Vietnamese dish) but it's not quite the same. This dish is a little bit sweeter and lighter.
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| Bún thịt nướng |
Salt Coffee (original)
Don't be put off by the strange name... you will love salted coffee if you like a little caramel taste. Rich Vietnamese coffee is slowly dripped over salted cream to give the drink a super smooth, mellow and mild caramel taste. It's definitely strange, but it's a specialty from Hue.
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| salt coffee by Ca Phe Moi, Hue |
Che or Hue "sweet soup"
What could be better than a cold refreshing dessert in hot weather?
Che is a glass of delicious fruits, syrups, and jellies served over ice. When you order a cup of che, you can choose the ingredients that you would like in your cup. It's eaten with a spoon.
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| mixed fruit che |
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| che - choose whatever ingredients you desire! |
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