Top 5 Delicious Vietnamese Soups Across Vietnam

Table with two different Vietnamese Soups

When traveling in Vietnam, Vietnamese food is something you have to try. Why? Because there are a lot of good dishes in Vietnamese cuisine, especially Vietnamese soups. Below are the top 5 Vietnamese noodle soups that are delicious and popular in Vietnam, from the North to the South.

5 Vietnamese Soups In Different Regions

Most Famous and Popular Vietnamese Soup is the Pho Bo

1. Phở Bò (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

Phở Bò (or Pho Bo) probably is the most famous Vietnamese soup that foreign tourists know. However, it has a shorter name, which is Pho. Pho was originated in Nam Dinh province (in the North of Vietnam). After that, Pho became popular in Hanoi as well.

Pho Bo consists of broth (pho soup), soft rice noodles, thinly sliced beef, sliced onions, and green onions. The pho broth is made from beef bones, pork bones simmered for about 10 to 12 hours, together with spices such as cinnamon, star anise, roasted ginger, clove, and coriander seeds. Fish sauce and sugar will also be added to the broth.

It is not as easy as it sounds to make pho soup because you need to watch the beef broth to make sure that it will not be boiled. Otherwise, the broth will not turn out clear and might have some overcooked flavor.

Nowadays, you can easily eat Pho at any local restaurant in Vietnam. Vietnamese people can eat Pho for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or whenever they are hungry.

Bowl with Vietnamese Soup Ban Da Cua

2. Bánh Đa Cua (Crab Red Noodle Soup)

Bánh Đa Cua is a traditional dish from Hai Phong City, which is about 100 km far away from Hanoi. This noodle soup has red noodles, minced pork wrapped in piper lolot leaves, crab brick, vegetables such as water spinach, and herbs. The noodles are red because they put the Gac fruit into the rice flour.

Local people usually eat Banh Da Cua with sliced lettuce, bean sprouts, and some other fresh herbs.

Vietname Soup Bun Bi Hue Beef Noodle

3. Bún Bò Huế (Hue Beef Noodle)

As you can guess from its name, the Hue beef noodle started in Hue province in the central area of Vietnam. Hue beef noodle is different from the beef noodle soup from Nam Dinh and Hanoi. The noodles are round, like stick noodles (bún) in the Hue dish, but not flat as the pho noodles. In addition, the soup includes a pig’s hooves, a pig’s blood cube, sliced beef, onions, and other herbs. The Hue beef noodle has a sweet and salty taste.

When eating Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese people usually dress with some lime juice, and add bean sprouts and pickled shallots to the soup. As same as with Pho, you can eat Bun Bo Hue at any time in the day.

Bowl with Vietnamese thick noodle Soup Banh Canh

4. Bánh Canh (Thick Noodle Soup)

When you travel in the Central provinces such as Nghệ An, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, you can try the thick noodle soup, which is the traditional food here. The noodles are thick because they are made from tapioca flour or a mix of rice and tapioca flour.

There are different versions of Bánh Canhdue to the different ingredients served with the noodles:

  • Bánh Canh Cua: a rich, thick crab soup, often with the addition of quail eggs.
  • Bánh Canh Bột Lọc: a more translucent and chewy version of the noodle.
  • Bánh Canh Chả Cá: the dish includes fish cake and is popular in South Central Vietnam.
  • Bánh Canh Tôm: a shrimp-flavored broth that is also mixed with coconut milk.
Hands holding chopsticks and asian soup spoon into a bowl with Vietnamese Soup Hu Tieu

5. Hủ Tiếu (Southern Noodle Dish)

Hủ Tiếu is popular in Southern Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh City (or Sai Gon). It can be served as noodle soup with hot broth or mixed dried noodles. Basically, Hủ Tiếu consists of white rice noodles, pork bones, shrimp, and green onions. In addition, fresh herbs are often served with a bowl of Hu Tieu.

The Southern Vietnamese noodle soup usually tastes sweeter than the noodles in the North or the Central.

Other Popular Vietnamese Soups

6. Bún Thang (Pork, Chicken And Egg Noodle Soup)

Pork Chicken Egg Noodle Soup Bun Thang

Bun Thang is a Hanoian noodle soup. It includes rice noodles (bún), sliced pork or Vietnamese sausages, tared chicken, thinly sliced fried eggs, herbs, and broth. Laksa leaves, as known as Vietnamese coriander, are added to the soup too. The original version of Bun Thang also includes shrimp paste (mắm tôm). However, the shrimp paste might have a strong flavor, so you should ask the seller not to put the shrimp paste in.

7. Bún Riêu Cua (Tomato And Crab Noodle)

Table wit bowl of of tomato and Crab Noodle Soup Bun Rieu Cua

Bun Rieu Cua is popular in the river delta area in North Vietnam, including Hanoi, Hai Duong, Hai Phong. The soup has a nice flavor with tomato broth, crab brick, fried tofu, rice vermicelli, deep-fried onions, and herbs. Making this recipe takes less time than cooking Pho because the broth doesn’t need to be simmered.

Fresh vegetables such as lettuce, Thai basil, red shiso, and sliced banana blossom will be set aside with Bun Rieu Cua. Definitely, this Vietnamese soup is a delicacy worth trying!

8. Phở Gà (Chicken Noodle Soup)

Pho Ga is also a popular Vietnamese noodle soup nationwide. It has soft noodles like in Pho, but with chicken instead of beef. To make the broth, people simmer the chicken bones and pork bones for a long time to create a sweet and nutritious soup. Lime leaves are sliced very thinly and then added to the soup when serving it.

Learn Vietnamese Phrases For Ordering Food

Do you love Vietnamese food? Learn some Vietnamese phrases below to help you order traditional Vietnamese soups:

EnglishVietnamesePronunciation
Hey (to get the waiter’s attention)Em ơi!
Can I have a bowl of __?Cho tôi một bát __?
No shrimp paste, please!Không ăn mắm tôm.
Noodle soup / Dry mixed noodlesBún nước / Bún khô
HerbsRau thơm
Check billTính tiền

You can learn more phrases for eating out in Vietnam and practice speaking the phrases with the Ling app. In addition, it has fun mini-games that will entertain you. Download the Ling app from the App Store or Google Play Store and try it out for yourself today!

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