Getting up early for breakfast is only worth it when you have Vietnamese food on the menu. Vietnamese breakfast not just bursts with flavor in your mouth, but also brings all your senses to life. And what’s a better place to try out all the Vietnamese breakfast foods on your bucket list than the bustling street markets and famous restaurants of Vietnam itself? The people of this country start their mornings early, which is why you will find the street food stalls, sidewalks, restaurants, and other spots filled up with early birds eagerly waiting for their breakfast. So, what is it that fuels their bodies and gives them energy for the whole day while maintaining its mouthwatering flavors and aroma? Vietnamese breakfast, of course.
What Do You Eat For Breakfast In Vietnamese Regions?
In the heart of Vietnamese culture lies its delicious culinary landscape, among which the breakfast menu is a favorite of tourists. Trying out Vietnamese breakfast is not just a “thing” that you do on your itinerary to the country, it’s a must-try experience that is worth making a detour from your planned activities.
If you want to know what to eat for breakfast in Vietnam, here are the 9 most popular items served on the menu that you can find almost anywhere in Vietnam.
1. Bánh mì
If you are looking for a Vietnamese version of crispy thin baguettes with an airy texture, try out Bánh mì. This is the most popular breakfast in Vietnamese cuisine and resembles a baguette, cut lengthwise and split in half, before filling it with savory ingredients and meat. In other words, it is the Vietnamese breakfast sandwich that is preferred by millions as a quick, tasty, portable, and hearty breakfast.
This signature breakfast recipe in Vietnam uses different meats and vegetables, such as the Vietnamese sausage chả lụa, cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro, and pickled daikon. The French introduced this breakfast item in Vietnam in the mid-19th century, which is why Bánh mì also contains French cuisine condiments such as red chili, pate, and mayonnaise.
This Vietnamese breakfast sandwich quickly evolved as a staple food and delicious street food that goes by the names of Saigon sandwich’ or ‘Saigon-style bánh mì as well. If you are ever in a hurry and also want to taste the best breakfast in Vietnamese cuisine, try out Bánh mì – you surely won’t regret it.
2. Pho
If you want to do breakfast in Vietnamese fashion, try Pho – a soup dish that consists of broth, noodles, rice, meat, and herbs. This popular Vietnamese breakfast is served fresh on street stalls and restaurants all over the country. It is a hearty main course that contains generous amounts of meat such as beef, chicken, tendon, meatballs, tripe, or internal organs of chicken like heart, gizzard, and undeveloped eggs.
The Vietnamese breakfast Pho is served with specific flat rice noodles, dipped in a clear beef broth, which also contains the meat. When you ask for Pho at a streetside stall in Vietnam, the vendor will always ask you which type of meat or which part of beef or chicken you would like to be added. You can also decide how you want it to be done.
Pho was already famous in the country, but it is believed that after the war the refugees popularized it everywhere, making it a globally recognized Vietnamese breakfast that tourists fly to taste from all over the world.
3. Xoi
Vietnam’s breakfast isn’t always salty and savory. Sometimes it features sweet variations too such as this dish made with glutinous rice – the Vietnamese Xoi. Xoi is more popular as an on-the-go breakfast in Vietnamese and a snack. It is served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even as a dessert. People in Vietnam also eat it as a main dish in many regions.
The savory xôi are known as xôi mặn, and the sweet ones are called xôi ngọt. You might recognize these terms on the menu of places serving Xoi, to help you order your preferred choice. The main ingredient in Xoi, the sticky rice, uses special ingredients such as turmeric, pandan leaves, and vegetable broth, that make the rice colorful and sticky.
Xoi holds special cultural importance in Vietnam as the country heavily relies on rice cultivation. The sticky rice is served along with other ingredients as well. You might find a small pack of sticky rice enveloped in a banana leaf, or accompanied by red beans, black-eyed beans, cold cuts, and braised eggs.
4. Mi Quang
The main difference between Mi Quang and Pho is that Mi Quang has wide flat yellow noodles made with turmeric, while Pho has regular white flat noodles. However, both are rice noodles dipped in broth and are famous as a delicious Vietnamese breakfast noodle dish.
Mi Quang originally came from the Vietnamese province of Quang Nam, where it is served on many occasions from family parties to death anniversaries. You can also find this nationally recognized food in famous restaurants in Vietnam, where it is presented on the breakfast or lunch menu.
As with many dishes served as breakfast in Vietnamese cuisine, you will find lots of fresh herbs and flavors in Mi Quang. The rice noodles float in a small amount of broth atop a bed of meat and fresh herbs. The broth is small in quantity but strongly flavored, which is why only a small amount is used to coat the vegetables and noodles.
The meats used in Mi Quang range from shrimp, pork, beef, chicken, and fish, and the broth is made using fish sauce, shallot, garlic, black pepper, and other ingredients to give it that strong punch of flavor.
5. Bun Bo Hue
You will find a lot of soupy noodle dishes on the Vietnamese breakfast menu, but as a tourist, you must recognize their differences to appreciate their distinct flavors. We have discussed how Mi Quang is different from Pho. But there is also a stark difference between Bun Bo Hue and Pho. A broth is used in both soups, but Pho is generally made using chicken stock or beef broth, and Bun Bo Hue broth consists of pork and beef, to give it a saltier and robust taste.
Bun Bo Hue is also comparatively spicier than Pho, but the most dominant character is that of lemongrass, which gives a citrusy, lemony aroma and taste to the dish. This breakfast on the Vietnamese menu is prepared using beef bone or beef shank broth with lemongrass. The broth is then seasoned with sugar and fermented shrimp sauce to add extra taste. And later, to make it spicier, chili oil is added to complete the cooking process.
Bun Bo Hue also sometimes contains chunks of oxtail and thin marinated and boiled beef slices and is served with lime wedges, cilantro sprigs, green onions, and raw sliced onions.
6. Com Tam
Eating Vietnamese breakfast is not just about trying out different meals – it’s an experience that makes the flavors linger on your memories for as long as you are in its trance. Com Tam is another one of those memorable dishes served as breakfast in Vietnamese culture. Com Tam means “broken rice,” two words that are used to describe the traditional method of cooking broken rice grains in ancient times among poor people.
Com Tam is a dish that is prepared using fractured rice grains, which are a cheaper quality of rice that are created as a result of rice damage in mills. Other main ingredients of Com Tam are grilled pork ribs, Vietnamese-style steamed omelet, meatloaf, chopped scallions, cucumber, tomatoes, and mixed fish sauce that gives an overall sweet, savory, and spicy flavor to the dish.
Com Tam tastes like a very thick and intensely flavored rice dish. Based on your personal preferences, you can also ask for the fish sauce to be made more sweet or salty. There are many different types of Com Tam available throughout Vietnam, so make sure that you read the menu thoroughly.
7. Bo Ne
Bo Ne translates to dodging beef – a unique dish eaten in Vietnam for breakfast that consists of sizzled beef and fried eggs. The dish also contains a heap of pate and butter which is smattered across a crispy baguette.
Bo Ne is the perfect fusion of Vietnamese and French cuisine and no matter what time of the day it is or what moment of celebration, this Vietnamese breakfast is always a highlight of the food menu. Bo Ne is essentially just steak and eggs. The steak comes from European origins and is seasoned with Vietnamese herbs and flavors. The sides too are unique Vietnamese and French food items, which means that there is no better breakfast for tourists from Europe or the States to try out in Vietnam than Bo Ne.
This Vietnamese breakfast has some of the most unique and unconventional ingredients, such as ribeye steak, yellow onion, granulated sugar, garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, and baguette. All the ingredients are combined and shaken in a Ziploc bag with the steak until it is coated and left for marination for 30 minutes. Afterward, the cooked steak is served with fried eggs and other sides, and voila! Your Bo Ne is ready!
8. Banh Cuon
Banh Cuon originated from Northern Vietnam as a Vietnamese breakfast made with thin and wide sheets of fermented rice batter. This batter is filled with distinctive flavors like minced wood ear mushrooms, cooked and seasoned ground pork, and minced shallots. Ban Cuon is eaten fresh and hot all over Vietnam, so make sure that you snack on this special breakfast in Vietnamese as soon as it is prepared.
Banh Cuon means rolled cake in English. The rice sheet is extremely delicate and made with fermented rice batter. The making of the sheet is a process to be admired, as the batter is placed on a cloth stretched over a boiling water pot. Needless to say, Banh Cuon is a very light breakfast in Vietnamese served with a variety of sides such as cha lua, bean sprouts, sliced cucumbers, and a special fish dipping sauce.
Head over to any street food stall or restaurant in Vietnam and ask for this breakfast dish. But make sure that you devour it as soon as it is presented, as you will be displeased if it gets cold while you’re busy in conversations with your friends.
9. Trung Vit Lon
Trung Vit Lon, also known as Balut, is a famous street food breakfast in Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese do not take their breakfasts lightly, which is why each of their dishes is a piece of art on its own. Unique recipes and food presentations that make you wonder, how do they even do that, are very common in the country.
This brings us to the last Vietnamese breakfast item on the list, the Balut, or Trung vit lon. This recipe uses fertilized and developing egg embryos, particularly duck eggs, that are boiled or steamed, and eaten directly from the shell. Yes, it might sound a bit too baffling to you, but it’s a dedicatedly prepared breakfast not just in Vietnam, but also in Cambodia and the Philippines.
As you hold the partially shelled egg in your hand, you might see the fetus, yolk, and veins in it, but don’t worry, it’s a famous street food in the country and commonly sold and eaten nationwide. The locals and tourists appreciate the balanced flavors and texture of Trung vit lon, or balut, and like to sip from the egg before peeling the shell to eat the young chick and yolk inside.
