Vietnamese cuisine includes many types of noodles. These are often served in soup but are also served directly.
There are numerous types of noddle in Vietnam that distinguished by their shape, texture and the ingredients that they served with.
Noodles can use for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For foodies coming to the country, the world of Vietnamese noodles is a vast and enticing place, filled with surprising discoveries and moments of pleasure. Read on for an inside guide to noodles in Vietnam, as well as a few must-try dishes to sample during your visit.

Main types of Vietnamese noodles

Phở (steamed flat rice noodles)

Pho is a kind of fresh noodle, made from rice flour. It is white, thin, flat and tastes slightly buttery and sweet like boiled rice.

“Phở” is a popular dish in the north of Vietnam and properly the second most popular food among Vietnamese (after boiled rice). Nam Dinh is said to be the homeland of “Phở”, however, Hanoi is where this delicious food is largely consumed and becomes famous specialty. “Phở” is favorite breakfast, lunch or late night snack of many Hanoians and becomes a must-try food for any tourist comes to the city.

About 50 years ago, “phở” was brought from the north to the south of Vietnam and new dishes like “phở tôm”- shrimp noodle, “phở khô Gia Lai”-dried noodle were born. After 1975, many Saigoneses immigrated to the US, Canada, Australia, and brought “Phở Sài Gòn” to the Western. Nowadays, prestigious restaurant chain like “Phở 24” which operates in Vietnam and many countries all over the world makes it known internationally.

Today, instant “phở” can be easily purchased in any grocery or supermarket. Cooking this kind of “phở” requires a little amount of time (just few minutes), and people can enjoy “phở” anytime, anywhere they want (they only need a bowl and boiling water). However, people still prefer to enjoy “phở” at roadside restaurants because of better flavor, lively atmosphere and their habit somehow. There are a few varieties of this dish, mostly on the types of cooking and the kind of meat involved. It never hurts to learn some of the word when ordering the dish, not only to present yourself as a food-savvy but also to make you more approachable to the local.

• Pho bo: Pho with beef
• Pho ga: Pho with chicken
• Pho moc: Pho with small balls of ground pork or beef
• Pho xao: stir fried pho
• Pho sot vang: pho served with a thick stew instead of beef or chicken broth
• Pho chua: a unique type of pho that could only be found in Northern mountain area such as Lang Son. It is served not with broth, but a mix of fish sauce and peanut and lemon.

Bún (steamed round rice noodles)

Bún is one of Vietnam’s most versatile noodles. The hint of sourness coming from the leaves used in the steaming process perfectly balances Vietnam’s savoury and sweet dipping sauces. Thin and round with a soft bite, these snow-white noodles are prepared in iconic noodle soups, and provide a light starch component for spring rolls and noodle salads with grilled meat.

Miến (dried glass noodles)

In Vietnam ‘miến’ refers to clear glass noodles or vermicelli. These noodles are thin and cylindrical, with a slightly chewy texture. Mien is cooked in soups such as miến gà (glass noodles with chicken), prepared as a base in dishes such as miến lươn trộn (dry glass noodles with crispy eel), or used as filling for deep-fried snacks such as bánh gối (pillowy pork and mushroom empanadas.)

Mì (wheat or egg noodles)

Mì is the Vietnamese name for thin wheat noodles. These noodles are often mixed with egg yolk to add yellow colour, then are dried or cooked al dente in hot soups. Mì noodles are most easily found at stalls serving mì vằn thắn, a Vietnamese wonton noodle soup that combines steaming green onion and shallot broth, char siu pork, and sliced boiled eggs.

Bánh đa cua (Red rice noodle)

Red rice noodle is the key ingredient that creates the special flavor of this dish. So that it must be carefully picked and processed. Actually, this kind of noodle has brown color instead of red color as its name. High quality rice is soaked in water for hours then milled and diluted to become a liquid. After that, the noodle maker coats and bakes it to make the red rice noodles.
Crabs which are used for the soup must be fat ones that live in fields. It’s better to choose the feminine crabs whose nutrition is copious. That makes the fatty taste of the broth.

The last but not least ingredient is bindweed. The bindweed used in Banh da cua is often broken into half and added into the bowl before sprinkling the broth.
A bowl of banh da cua often has the red of chili and tomato, the green of vegetable, the pink brown of crab, the brown of noodles, the yellow of dry onion. If you want to enjoy Banh da cua’s taste, you should try the bowl like that. Due to vary tastes of customers, the cook might add some more things, such as shrimp, beef, pork or gio lua, etc.