Hu Tieu Nam Vang quite simply a top Vietnamese street food sensation! I’ve waxed lyrical a lot about the street food of Vietnam, and whilst I tend to lean towards Hanoi as being the best Saigon offers some classics, and Hu Tieu Nam Vang is one of my favourites.
How do you find great street food?
Street food stalls are packed because they serve great food that is cheap, but if you want to find the best of the best then look for the most packed stall you can find! It was during one day out in Saigon that I spotted a stall overflowing with people!
I duly lined up and ordered myself a bowl of hu tien nam vang, which set me back about $1.20, can’t argue with that! I sat down with a Saigon Beer and waited to be served.
What does Hu Tieu Nam Vang mean?
Funnily enough this dish appears to come from, or at least be influenced from Cambodian cuisine as the word Nam Vang is Vietnamese for Phnom Peng, the capital city of Cambodia and indeed my current residence.
Hu Tien literally means Chinese noodle, so Phnom Penh Chinese noodle soup.
What is Hu Tieu Nam Vang?
In very simple terms it is a soup made from cooked pork bones, this creates an almost gravy like meat type broth that as you can imagine you then simply add a bunch of noodles to.
But that is not it! They also added liver, slices of pork, quail eggs shrimp, onions, pepper and of course cilantro!
AS is normal in Vietnam you also have all the vegetables, green onions, cabbage, and of course spices that are left on the table for you to add. As is the tradition I added as much hot sauce as possible, lime and a few onions.
The taste of the broth as stated was of pork in an almost sweet and sour fashion, but one of the big joys is getting to flavor it yourself and for me adding the kick of lime made the difference.
Conclusion on Hu Tieu Nam Vang
Not the best street food dish in Vietnam and not because it is a bad dish, but more because Vietnam simply offers so much street variety, but the soupy element and all the ingredients make it the perfect dish to layer your stomach before a night crawling the bars of Saigon.
Vietnamese street food rocks…