Goby fish hotpot, pancakes, braised burnt rice, fish sauce hot pot… are options for first-timers visiting Ho Chi Minh City.

Southern cuisine always inspires visitors with its unique flavors and distinct ways of processing. In Ho Chi Minh City, there are dishes below that you should not miss if you come for the first time.

Grilled snakehead fish

Grilled snakehead fish is typical for the river region, appearing a lot in Ho Chi Minh City. The dish is famous for its unique taste, but the preparation is very simple. Fish just need to be cleaned, skewered through a bamboo stick to cooking on the grill, without seasoning.

The difference of the main dish is the soft and sweet fish meat, and the taste of peanuts and onion fat. When eating, just peel off the burnt skin, use rice paper rolls with fish, vermicelli and raw vegetables to serve such as lettuce, cucumber, star fruit, pineapple, acrid banana, herbs such as basil, basil, etc. basil, laksa leaves, fish paste, tubers, bean sprouts, chives … then dipped with fish sauce seasoning, tamarind sauce or ginger sauce…

Reference address

– 74A Tan Ky Tan Quy, Ward 14, Tan Phu District
– 91 Phan Dinh Phung, Tan Thanh Ward, Tan Phu District
– 954 Tan Ky Tan Quy, Tay Thanh Ward, Tan Phu District

Vietnam’s west cake

Western pancakes are a familiar dish of the people of Ho Chi Minh City. The ingredients are a combination of ready-made rice flour, mixed with turmeric powder, coconut milk and finely chopped scallions. The filling is diverse, depending on the preferences and available ingredients, the fryer can flexibly change. The commonly used fillings are bacon, shrimp, chicken, duck, mushroom, bean sprouts…

Delicious food and good taste, the rim of the cake is crispy, round, and the filling is spread evenly after being folded. The accompanying vegetables include lettuce, basil, lettuce, collard greens, perilla, mango bud, cassava bud, lentil bud, guise leaf… so as not to get bored. When eating, diners take vegetables, add the crust, roll the cake, dip it in sweet and sour fish sauce.

Reference address

– 204 Nguyen Trai, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1
– 10A February 3rd, Ward 12, District 10

Goby fish hotpot with leaves

Goby fish hotpot is a typical and rustic dish of the Southern people. The ingredients are very simple with goby fish, Giang leaves, bitter vegetables, tomatoes, garlic, onions, chili, pineapple… creating a fragrant hot pot with its own unique flavor.

A special feature of goby hotpot is that raw fish will be dropped into the boiling hot pot right at the table. For many first-time diners, this approach can make them a bit surprised or “afraid”. But that’s just the first impression. The delicious taste of the food will change them completely. The hot pot has a mild sweet and sour taste, fatty fish meat. Pour hot pot sauce into vermicelli, dip fish, bitter vegetables into garlic chili fish sauce or tamarind sauce to serve.

Reference address

– 87 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, Ward 7, District 3
– 14-16 Pham Ngu Lao, Ward 3, Go Vap
– Alley 252 Ly Thuong Kiet, Ward 14, District 10

Braised fried rice

Braised fried rice is very popular in the South. This is a rustic dish, cheap, easy to make and very generous. Indispensable ingredients of the stew are fish sauce, bacon, dried shrimp, a little sugar and pepper. When served, the stew is usually yellow-brown in color and has a rich sweet taste.

Just break a piece of burnt rice, dip it through the stew, and you can fully enjoy the taste of the dish. In addition to burnt rice, diners can dip boiled vegetables with braised pork.

Reference address

– C567 Tung Thien Vuong, Ward 12, District 8.
– 226 Su Van Hanh, Ward 2, District 10
– 19 Pham Van Dong, Ward 3, Go Vap District

Hot pot with fish sauce

Mam hot pot is a symbol of the river region and there are many delicious goods in Ho Chi Minh City. The dish is a complete synthesis of products from the sea, ponds, fields, and rivers, with ingredients including fish, shrimp, crab, squid, beef, pork… The characteristic of a fish sauce hotpot is the broth. from Chung fish sauce, usually choke fish sauce, snakehead fish, or Linh fish…

Many vegetables are the most obvious feature of the dish. Vegetables eaten with fish sauce hot pot are all types that grow under water such as coriander, bitter vegetables, dandelion, gun hyacinth, water hyacinth, rafter, basil, chopsticks, etc., creating a unique flavor for the dish. .

Reference address

– 140/13 Tran Huy Lieu, Ward 15, Phu Nhuan District
– 74 Ut Tich Street, Tan Binh District
– 40 Vinh Khanh, Ward 8, District 4
– 410 Nguyen Xi, Ward 13, Binh Thanh District