- Coming up for all you food rangers out there,
we're going deep for street food in Hanoi,
finding snails, street stools and spring rolls,
fried shrimp cakes, street food bar-style
rolled rice noodles and more.
Here we go.
Check it out, it's Trevor James.
We're in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Today we're going for a big day of eating street food.
Let's check it out.
(upbeat instrumental music)
Hanoi's street food scene will blow you away.
As soon as you walk out on the street in the morning,
you'll find street food everywhere.
And with so many different street foods to try,
you'll never run out of things to eat.
Since we flew to Vietnam just to eat,
you can discover along with us just how diverse
and amazingly delicious the street food in Vietnam is,
so make sure to watch all the way until the end
because you won't believe just how much many different
types of street food there are that you're gonna
surely want to fly here for it.
Let's eat.
It's almost like every few meters
there's new street food to try.
So that's what we're gonna do today is just go around
and try a bunch of different stuff on the street.
First up, we found a lady selling bun oc,
a famous light and fragrant escargot rice noodle soup
infused with the most elegant tomato flavor.
You can see this dish all over the streets of Hanoi.
When you try it the first time,
you'll definitely fall in love with the elegant freshness.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Bun oc.
(speaking in foreign language)
Bun oc.
Oh, there's the rice noodles.
Oh, look at that.
Bun.
Bun, bun.
Bun. - Bun.
- Bun.
- Oc. - Oc.
Bun oc.
- Oc, oc, oc, oc. - Oc, oc, oc.
Okay, getting a language lesson here on the street.
That's perfect.
Oh, and she's putting some MSG, a little salt.
Those must be the snails.
Oh yeah.
Oh, that smells awesome.
Nice.
(speaking in foreign language)
Look at this.
Bright and early.
Wow, look at this, guys.
Look at all those huge, plump snails.
Tomato, cilantro, green onions,
and the tomato aroma just is very, very strong.
I'm just gonna put some Vietnamese herbs on there.
There's mint.
Oh, there's basil.
Lots of herbs.
Oh yeah.
And then that smell is...
It smells so fresh.
Mm.
Wow.
It tastes like pasta almost with
the aroma of the snails in there.
Whoa.
And the herbs.
And it's so fresh with that beautiful mint and cilantro.
Oh, and basil flavor all throughout.
Next up, just a couple of steps down the road,
we found another famous Vietnamese street food on offer.
Bun dao, a plate of delicious fried spring rolls,
tofu, and fish cakes with rice noodles and herbs that you
can all dip into a fish sauce or a fermented shrimp paste.
Another amazing street food.
So today we are gonna try a ton of different street food.
So we had this the other day.
Oh, look how little this stool is here.
Oh yeah.
And you can see she's frying up some spring rolls and tofu.
They give you a strong fish paste.
Fish sauce.
(upbeat music)
Oh yeah.
Some pepper.
Okay, chili.
So we were just walking and we found
this bun dao on the street.
You can see she's pulling out the vermicelli there,
and you dip it in.
You dip it into a fish sauce
or a fermented shrimp paste sauce.
Ah.
(speaking in foreign language)
You see, she gives a fish sauce and some herbs.
(speaking in foreign language)
Let's try it out.
Oh yeah, look at that spring roll.
Awesome, you can see it's full of rice noodles.
Looks like there's some pork and mushroom
or maybe some onion in there.
Oh yeah.
And we're just gonna dip it right in.
Let's try it out.
Mm.
Oh, the mushroom flavor is very strong.
I think this is more of a garlic,
a spicy, sweet garlic sauce.
What I love so much is all of the herbs that they give you.
You can just dip them in to this sauce,
this sweet, spicy garlic sauce,
and that just completely balances
the slightly oily spring rolls and tofu.
Next up, just another couple steps down the road,
we went to try a dish that's famous in Hanoi
and something definitely worth flying here for.
Banh cuon noodle rolls served to
you on the street bar style.
I think this is banh cuon rice noodle rolls.
- Hello. - Banh cuon.
- Banh cuon. - Banh cuon.
Banh cuon. - Banh cuon.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Okay, so we're gonna get the banh cuon.
(speaking in foreign language)
So that's the dip.
Oh, it has garlic water.
Oh, fried caramelized scallions, pepper.
Oh, and chili.
(speaking in foreign language)
You see, she's putting that rice flour.
(speaking in foreign language)
Yeah, she's putting the rice flour, spreading it out,
and then she's gonna put this pork mushroom mix on top.
Oh yeah, here it is.
Oh, there it is.
- Banh cuon. - Banh cuon.
Nice.
So it's just like a street food rice noodle roll bar.
Mm, fresh cilantro.
Awesome.
Oh, the fried scallions.
That is bringing in flavor, you can tell.
Mm.
Okay.
I want to get a nice big bite with lots of cilantro.
Oh, lots of that fried scallion mix.
And she just stuffed it with a pork mushroom mix.
(speaking in foreign language)
And this is fish sauce.
Sweet garlic.
Let's try it out.
Mm.
Number one. (laughs)
Number one.
Oh, and she's just putting more and more on here.
Awesome.
Oh yeah, just stacking it up.
There is a lot of flavor in that filling,
especially when it's covered in the scallions.
When you dip it in this slightly spicy,
slightly sweet garlicky sauce with all
those fried scallions and chilis inside.
That's awesome.
It's a true street food mecca here in Hanoi.
Food everywhere.
Look at this little alley here.
We're gonna see what we can.
Oh, what's this?
Look at this, this looks like a shrimp cake.
(speaking in foreign language)
Awesome.
(light upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
Awesome, look at this.
I think that that is tapioca starch that she's making it.
That she's making it with.
And then they just get fried over here.
Nice.
(speaking in foreign language)
So I think what it is is a tapioca starch
with slices of sweet potato and shrimp deep fried.
Oh, it looks great.
(speaking in foreign language)
(laughs)
Okay, so we've got this tapioca starch.
I think I said something funny.
Oh, with this.
Oh, with these fresh herbs.
Oh yeah, yeah, look at that.
The chili.
Oh.
(speaking in foreign language)
Nice.
Let's try it out.
Mm.
It just tastes like a fried batter in a sweet, spicy sauce.
We got a couple more big meals coming up.
Hanoi has been so amazing.
The food is incredible.
Way better than I expected.
So fresh, so complex, yet so simple at the same time.
It's mind blowing.
Right up here I think there's a famous
escargot place cooked in lemongrass.
We're sitting on the street.
It's gonna be good.
What we stumbled into was a true delicacy.
Locals love these snails cooked in lemongrass,
and watching them being made on
the street is half the delight.
The snails are cooked in ginger, lemongrass,
and kaffir lime leaves and served with
a heavenly dip made of fish sauce,
chili, lime leaves, garlic and lemongrass.
It's completely amazing.
Look at those big juicy escargot.
And you can really smell the lemongrass.
It's potent.
Wow.
Okay.
Beautiful.
(speaking in foreign language)
Wow.
The lime and the dip.
Wow.
So the escargot, he just helped me pull it out.
The aroma coming from this is insane.
Oh!
Wow.
That is incredibly delicious.
The aroma of the lemongrass is infused into
these steaming, painfully hot escargot.
Oh yeah.
Look at that.
There it is.
Escargot cooked in lemongrass with
all of these accompaniments.
I think this is kaffir lime leaves and shallot,
ginger and chili, and the nuoc cham Vietnamese dipping
sauce, which is fish, sauce, garlic, ginger,
a little sugar, I believe, chili, and lemongrass,
which is just, the flavor is steaming off of these escargot.
Mm.
Wow.
That is the most aromatic and flavorful sauce.
You could actually just drink that sauce.
It is so enjoyable.
The lemongrass, the kaffir lime,
the ginger, the chili, the fish sauce.
A little bit of sweetness in there
all in this amazing, amazing escargot.
That flavor will blow your mind.
Yes.
It is really delicious.
Okay, let's see.
- It's really good. - It's really good, right?
- It's because the sauce.
It have a ginger.
- It's good, right? - Yeah.
- You having a good day, Ting? - Yep.
- That's the most important thing.
Good food in Hanoi, right?
- Yeah.
- Awesome food.
After finishing up those delicious escargot,
we made our way for our pre-dinner snack of pho cuon,
classic Vietnamese spring rolls on the streetside all made
by hand, one by one with beef, mint, cilantro, and basil.
To die for.
I really want to have some authentic pho cuon,
Vietnamese beef spring rolls.
I think there's a place right up here.
Oh yeah, here we go.
Awesome.
(speaking in foreign language)
They're making the spring rolls one by one.
Wow.
Pho cuon. - Pho cuon.
- Pho cuon.
Look at those.
Nice.
I think the beef is marinated in lemongrass.
I think I can smell that a little bit.
And then they're stuffing it with herbs, cilantro, basil.
It looks like Vietnamese mint in there as well.
Common herbs that we're seeing everywhere
in almost all the dishes we're having.
Wow.
(light funky music)
This looks so good.
It's like the spring roll hotspot here.
That huge bowl of beef, all those herbs,
one by one with those rice paper rolls.
Oh, they look soft and tender.
Pho cuon just came.
Look at this big mound of Vietnamese spring rolls.
Oh yeah, look at that.
And it comes with that dipping sauce that
we're having all over the place here.
It's a sweet fish sauce with,
I think that is green papaya as usual.
Oh yeah, look at this.
And these nicely wrapped pho cuon.
I have never had this before,
so this is gonna be my first experience.
I can't wait to try it out.
Oh, look at that.
Dip it in.
Let's try it out.
Mm.
Oh.
Wow.
Oh, the beef is, mm.
Oh yeah, the beef has a lot of flavor.
It is really simple with those herbs.
Oh yeah.
Dipping it in the sauce there.
Mm.
Wow.
For our final meal of the night and something
you must experience, we visited one of the thousands
of family-run street stalls in Hanoi.
To me, the best part about eating in new places
is without a doubt chatting with the local people.
And even with a language barrier, smiling is the best way.
You'll discover that most people are just like you and me.
Friendly.
You gotta be careful crossing the street.
But the secret is to just keep at the same pace.
You don't want to stop or change your speed
because that's how you get hit.
Oh yeah, right here.
(light upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
- Okay. - Okay.
This is like the street food bar.
Look at this.
Oh yeah. (speaking in foreign language)
Oh, you can get a ton of different dishes here.
(speaking in foreign language)
Different noodles, different rice noodle dishes.
But I've ordered the dry version because
I am a fiend for dry style noodles.
Oh yeah, herbs.
Always herbs.
Oh yeah, that is fresh.
Chicken, bean sprouts, cilantro,
herbs, mint, fish sauce.
Just a little soy.
There might be some garlic water.
Oh, and the scallions.
The fried scallions.
And then a little broth.
Oh yeah.
This is gonna be delightful.
Ton of herbs, cilantro and mint.
(light upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
Oh yeah, look at this.
This is gonna be superb.
Lots of fresh chicken.
Rice noodles, bean sprouts, mint, cilantro.
Mm.
Oh yeah.
And it's in a light seasoning of soy sauce, broth.
Mm, and the flavor is gonna be enhanced
from all of those scallions.
Let's try that out.
Mm.
Oh.
Wow.
Very good. - Very good.
- Very delicious.
That is really good.
Wow.
The flavor from the fried scallions
really brings it up a notch.
All those herbs seasoned with light soy sauce
and broth, a little bit of pepper.
You can also add chili and lime.
Mm.
Wow.
To me, gan ban, as they say in China,
or dry style noodles like this pack the most flavor
because instead of it being diluted in a soup,
it's all there in the bite.
All those herbs lightly seasoned.
Mm, you cannot get this is Canada.
Not this good.
It's so good here.
Wow.
Mind blown.
You have a good day, Ting?
- Yes, really good day.
- It's been an awesome time in Hanoi.
We barely scratched the surface, but the food has been
mind blowing and my expectations were surpassed.
It has been so good.
- Yeah, we tried lots of food though.
- Lots of good food.
So please let us know what you
thought in the comments below.
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Thank you so much for watching.
- Thank you.