The Vietnamese Street Foodies Guide: Fat Noodle

By Bruce Blanshard

THE BEST-SELLING STREET FOOD GUIDE FOR VIETNAM

With Fat Noodle Vietnamese Street Foodies Guide, you can order up food like a local. The best food In Vietnam is always local street food with traditional secret family recipes of sublime enticing tastes.

 

More than 600 street food dishes translated from Vietnamese into English.

The only comprehensive book of Vietnamese street food translated into English.

 

A must have street food guide for any foodie traveling to Vietnam who plans to eat like a local sitting on blue (or red) plastic chairs while home cooks turn aromatic food over charcoal grills, or ladle steaming aromatic broth over homemade noodles.

 

Discover the fresh and extraordinary tastes of the world-famous street food culture of Vietnam.

Designed for the traveller on the go.

 

A superb new guidebook that makes the art of travel so much better. Experience local foods and support the locals as they cook up their treasured family recipes as you embark on a culinary adventure you'll remember for a lifetime.

 

The Street Foodies dictionary guide for Vietnamese street food includes over 180 famous local street food addresses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Addie Press
• Release date: Jul 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781916709027

Book preview

VIETNAM STREET FOOD

Welcome to Fat Noodle’s Vietnamese to English translations and colorful photo links of over 600 delicious Vietnamese street food dishes.

We’re foreign residents living here now, but when we first arrived in Vietnam seven years ago, we didn’t know Phơ Ga (chicken soup) from Phơ Bo (Beef soup). With all this tasty cuisine and cooking right on the pavement, we thought how can we make eating on the street easy. So we got busy eating, drinking and translating more than six hundred street foods.

Fat Noodle has been out on the streets discovering local flavours. The lemon grass, limes and chili of it all. From Vietnam’s favorite Phở - (Noodle soup) to more exotic eastern dishes like Bún ốc chuối đậu - (Noodles with snails, green bananas & tofu) or a simple glass of Chanh tươi - (Fresh lemon juice). We love street food and are addicted to eating on the street with the local Vietnamese people.

We’re not talking about a cookbook here. Fat Noodle is an English translation of Vietnamese street food menus. Think of Fat Noodle as an instant culinary guide to the bustling street food culture of Vietnam.

When you arrive here, you’ll find that all the street menus are in Vietnamese. Of course, you’re in Vietnam. It’s something you don’t think about when you’re packing your bags. If you don’t know how to speak Vietnamese, it’s surprising how difficult it can be to get a drink of Nước (Water). You’re thirsty, you want a cold drink. You look at the menu board and nothing is in English. What is trà đá? Ah! With Fat Noodle it’s easy, trà đá is (iced tea). Simple to use and packed with options that help you discover ingredient rich local dishes. Look in Fat Noodle and you’ll be ordering up Bánh chay (glutinous boiled sweet rice balls) and Bánh chuối chiên (banana pancake) in a flash. With Fat Noodle’s Vietnamese to English food translations, you can check the menu and find out what’s cooking in that steaming pot over the fire.

Why is street food so essential to life in Vietnam? The street food of Vietnam is a culture and a way of life for Vietnamese people. It’s origins are of the country and from the rural landscape of Vietnam. To experience Vietnamese cooking culture for yourself, just put your camera away and sit down with Fat Noodle’s translations and eat Vietnamese food like a local.You’ll enjoy the real tastes of Vietnam when you eat on the street. You’ll discover Vietnam at its most authentic.

DISCOVERING STREET FOOD

You’ll discover street food in every alley and all the city streets. Some vendors just serve one kind of food like Xoi (sticky rice) others like Lâu and Phở restaurants serve a big selection of choices in the one restaurant, such as beef, seafood, frog, crocodile, pork and chicken. Then there are the restaurants that specialize in chicken dishes or beef specialities or just a range of seafood.

Street vendors offer foods cooked in different methods, for example: Luộc - Boiled, Xào - Sauteed, Chiên- Fried, Hướng - Grilled/Baked, Hấp - Steamed, Rang - Roasted.

So roasted chicken will look like this- Gà Rang (Gà - chicken. Rang- roasted). Stir fried chicken - Gà Xào, Boiled chicken - Gà Luọc.

Street eating in Vietnam can be the highlight of your trip. With Fat Noodle as your guide, street food is now an incredible journey of culinary discovery.

HOW TO USE FAT NOODLE

Here’s how to find out what is on the menu in your Fat Noodle. If you want to see what the foods look like click the highlighted links you’ll find in the A-Z section. This connects you to a site where you’ll see colour photographs of the food.

In Fat Noodle there are four main sections to help you discover street food.

1. WHAT’S ON THE MENU?

This will tell you all the dishes available in a particular type of food such as Hải Sản - Sea Food or Cơm - Rice. Bò - Beef dishes, Bún - Noodles, Cá - Fish, Ếch - Frog or Ốc - Snails.

2. A-Z DISHES/DRINKS

In the A-Z you’ll find food and drink in alphabetical order. Making it a quick and easy way to match the menu. Also look out for the highlighted links to photographs in this section.

3. COOKING METHODS

Here you will get more information on how a dish is cooked. Such as Nướng - barbecued food or Xào-sautéed dishes.

4. STREET FOOD ADDRESSES

Here you’ll find addresses of restaurants and stalls to get you started on your street food journey.

‘Thưởng thức’ (Enjoy)

WHAT’S ON THE MENU?

BÁNH

RICE CAKES AND COOKIES

Bánh bao

Soft white bun

Bánh bao chiên

Fried soft white bun

Bánh bao đậc biệt

Soft white bun with specialty filling

Bánh bao hấp nhân lạp xưởng

Steamed soft white bun with Chinese sausage

Bánh bao hấp nhân thịt

Steamed soft white bun with meat

Bánh bao hấp