7 popular street food dishes in Vinh City

Rice noodle soup with scrambled eggs

Banh muot is prepared similarly to banh cuon in northern Vietnam; however, it's not made from premium fragrant rice like the famous banh cuon, but rather from flour milled from ordinary rice. The simplicity of the ingredients surprises diners with its unique glossy and chewy texture. Banh muot is a popular breakfast dish in Vinh, often served with stir-fried eggs, offal, or duck. A long-standing place to eat banh muot with stir-fried eggs is at 15 Tran Phu Street, priced from 20,000 to 30,000 VND.

Eel soup

In Nghe An, eels are not deep-fried until crispy but cooked whole to preserve their full flavor. Many tourists shudder at the sight of the soft, slippery eels in the soup, but once they've tasted it, the flavor of eel soup will leave a lasting impression. The eels are cleaned of their slime, and the meat is separated from the bones into long strips after boiling. The broth is rich, fragrant with the aroma of shallots, and has a reddish-orange color from annatto seeds and chili powder. This appealing soup is served with a squeeze of lemon, a few slices of fresh chili, and accompanied by bread or rice noodles. You can enjoy eel soup at Ba Lieu restaurant at 87 Mai Hac De, or Ba Lan restaurant at the beginning of Cua Nam street…

Rice porridge

The rice noodles are made from wheat flour mixed with a little rice flour, kneaded thoroughly, flattened, and cut into strands by hand or machine, resulting in a firm, chewy texture and a fragrant aroma of fresh rice. The broth is sweet from simmered bones, with an attractive golden color. The main ingredients in rice noodle soup are usually snakehead fish, shrimp, pork sausage, meatballs, and quail eggs. A bowl of rice noodle soup typically costs between 15,000 and 20,000 VND and is served with a plate of hot, crispy bread. Locals are often familiar with eating rice noodle soup at the city gate (Cua Nam) and at restaurants on Dinh Cong Trang street.

Pigeon porridge

The pigeon is simmered whole for many hours. The broth is naturally fragrant and sweet, the rice grains are fluffy but not mushy, and when eaten with Nghe An chili powder, it's simply delicious.

This nutritious porridge costs around 70,000 VND per bowl, and the most popular place to eat it is Mai Oanh restaurant on Phan Chu Trinh street.

Banh ngao

The cake is made from rice flour, shaped into round balls like glutinous rice dumplings. The highlight of this traditional cake is the thick, red syrup boiled with ginger to make a hot, sweet tea-like liquid. The cakes are added to the boiling syrup to absorb the flavor evenly, hence the name "sweetened cake".

Banh ngao, whether filled with mung bean paste, meat, or plain, is delicious. Tourists can find a bowl of banh ngao at local markets for around 10,000 VND.

Grilled corn

Spicy and sweet grilled corn is a specialty of Vinh City on chilly days, making anyone far from home yearn for it. Not only are the corn kernels carefully selected for their firmness and sweetness, but this dish also captivates diners with its sauce made from chili paste and butter, drizzled over the corn before grilling.

Vinh's cuisine, characterized by its spiciness and saltiness, is clearly evident in its delicious street food, most popular at the Vinh Citadel gate, the Nguyen Tat Thanh Park gate, and the 12-9 Cinema gate.

Steamed sugarcane with ginger

Many grilled corn vendors sell steamed sugarcane with ginger. The sugarcane is cut into long pieces and steamed in a large pot with crushed ginger. It's a simple dish, but the sugarcane has a strong, fragrant aroma, and when bitten into, it's sweeter and softer than usual, making it especially delicious on rainy days.