Getting to know Vietnam's soup culture
Looking beyond noodle dishes to the broths served alongside rice gives you a sense of the breadth of Vietnamese soup culture. Rather than assuming your preferences in advance, it helps to first distinguish between "noodle dishes" and "table soups" when making your choice.
Just as miso soup is indispensable for Japanese people, in Vietnamese home cooking the soup "canh" — leafy or root vegetables with protein like pork, shrimp, or fish added — is indispensable at the table. Soup has its own recipe in each household, and it's a memorable, special dish especially for Vietnamese living alone or away from their hometown.
Vietnamese soups are broadly divided into noodle soups like pho and bun, and canh, a staple of home cooking. Each has regional character, and the interesting point is that differences in seasoning and ingredients can be seen between the north and the south.
Pho and bun | the noodle soups that represent Vietnam
The basics and types of pho
Pho is a rice-flour noodle originating in northern Vietnam and said to be Vietnam's national dish.
The ingredients are dried noodles made by kneading rice flour and water, spreading it thin and steaming it into sheets, then cutting it into noodles with a cutting blade. Vietnam is known as the world's second-largest coffee producer, but in fact rice production is thriving too, and a food culture using rice flour is deeply rooted.
Phở comes in two main varieties. Phở bò is beef phở — a classic dish in which the beef used to make the broth is thinly sliced and served on top, offering tender, well-simmered meat in a clear, lightly spiced soup. Phở gà, on the other hand, contains chicken, and depending on the restaurant and cut of meat, it can feel lighter than the beef version. Rather than generalizing taste preferences by gender, choose based on fat content and cut of meat.
Differences in taste by region
Hanoi-style phở bò is typically characterized by a clear broth made from beef bones combined with charred ginger and onion. However, even in the north, some restaurants do serve fresh herbs and condiments, so it cannot be stated categorically that "raw herbs are never served." A distinctive feature is the option to eat it alongside youtiao (yóutiáo), Chinese fried dough sticks.
By contrast, phở in Ho Chi Minh City tends to have a slightly sweeter broth, and many restaurants serve a wide variety of fresh herbs and bean sprouts on a separate plate. "Sourness" is mainly added by the diner, typically with lime, and varies from restaurant to restaurant. Toppings include garlic chives, coriander, chili, and similar garnishes. Phở was originally eaten only in northern Hanoi, and it is said to have spread to the south after the end of the war of independence from France in 1954, when many people moved from Hanoi to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).
The difference from bun (rice vermicelli)
Bún, which is often confused with phở, is also a rice-based noodle, but it is not simply another name for all dried rice vermicelli as known in Japan. It differs in shape, production method, whether fermentation is involved, and how it is used in cooking.
Phở and bún are both made from rice, but they differ in production method and the variety of dishes they appear in. Bún is made by extruding kneaded dough through small holes under high pressure. While phở appears in a relatively limited range of dishes — beef or chicken noodle soup, stir-fries, and so on — bún is used not only in noodle soups but also in mixed noodle dishes, as a filling wrapped in rice paper, and served with side dishes in place of rice. Phở also has its everyday restaurant and home-cooking styles, and bún has its own specialty dishes. Rather than fixing them as "special occasion food vs. everyday food," look at the ingredients and eating style for each dish by name.
The taste of home | the world of canh
Green-vegetable soup (canh rau)
Vietnam, where various flavorful green and yellow vegetables are harvested year-round. A simple soup using seasonal leafy vegetables is not only delicious but also a way to take in nutritious vegetables.
Especially popular is water spinach soup (canh rau muong). Water spinach is characterized by a crisp texture and a faintly sweet aroma, and is widely used in Vietnamese cuisine. The slightly sour soup is perfect for a hot day too. Also, in the hot season, Malabar spinach soup (canh rau mung toi) is popular. Malabar spinach has a mild taste and turns slightly thick when heated. It's often cooked with crab paste, but dried shrimp, fresh shrimp, or luffa may be added too.
Root-vegetable soup (canh rau cu)
Soups using root vegetables are characterized by depth of flavor — soups with broth taken from bones or richness from ground pork — and suit rainy days and the cold season.
Popular among root-vegetable soups is a soup using purple yam with a creamy texture (canh khoai mo). Made by simmering with pork bones or shrimp, this soup lets you enjoy the contrast of the creamy soup and the fluffy texture of the purple yam. The soup is thick but light in taste, going superbly with other dishes.
Pumpkin soup (canh bi do), which lets you easily replenish plenty of nutrients, is also one of the popular soups. The soup's ingredients — ground meat, pumpkin, and herbs — are very simple, but you can enjoy a gentle flavor where the umami of the ground meat and the sweetness of the pumpkin harmonize.
Hearty soups and celebratory soups
The "thap cam" of canh thap cam means "mixed" or "assorted" in Vietnamese, referring to a soup with many ingredients. Traditionally mushrooms, carrots, and corn are used, but you can also arrange it by adding vegetables you like.
Dried pork skin and vegetable soup (canh bong thap cam) is a soup originating in the northern region. The ingredients include dried pork skin, meat, shrimp, and colorful vegetables. This soup symbolizes good luck and prosperity, and is an indispensable dish at celebratory occasions like Lunar New Year and weddings.
Spare rib and vegetable soup (canh suon non) is a flavorful soup letting you take in plenty of vegetables. The ingredients are pork spare ribs, potato, carrot, corn, and cauliflower, and simmering slowly brings out the sweetness of the vegetables. This soup can be enjoyed as a main or a side dish, and eating it with macaroni is recommended too.
Sour soup | the appeal of canh chua
Canh chua is a staple soup of Vietnamese home cooking.
This soup, with an exquisite balance of sweetness and sourness, commonly uses pineapple, tamarind, or tomato for the sourness. There are various kinds of canh chua, but the southern canh chua ca (Canh Chua Ca) and the northern canh suon chua (Canh Suon Chua) are especially popular.
Southern sour fish soup
The southern "sour fish soup (Canh Chua Ca)" is a soup where the sourness of tamarind and the like harmonizes with the delicate flavor of freshwater fish. Since the soup also contains herbs, tomato, bean sprouts, and taro stems, it's very filling.
Taking the fish out of the soup onto a plate and eating it with a little fish sauce combines spiciness, sweetness, and sourness for an addictive deliciousness. This distinctive balance of sourness and sweetness is also a feature of the southern Ho Chi Minh City seasoning.
Northern spare-rib sour soup
The northern canh suon chua (Canh Suon Chua) is a sour soup using spare ribs. Northern seasoning is simpler than the south, with a more modest use of spices. Good broth comes from the spare-rib bones and soaks into the vegetables.
Locally there's a potato version too, and a recipe using taro is popular. To avoid needing to soak the taro, peel it just before use. Stir-frying the taro before simmering removes the stickiness, turning the surface translucent for a melting texture.
Easy recipes you can make at home
How to make chicken pho
We introduce a basic recipe for Vietnamese-style pho you can easily make with one pot.
Ingredients (serves 1): approx. 45 g phở noodles, 50 g chicken thigh, 50 g bean sprouts, ¼ onion, 1 spring onion, lime and cilantro to taste, 500 cc water. Seasonings: ⅓ tsp sugar, ½ tbsp fish sauce, chicken stock granules. As salt content varies significantly by product, start with less than the indicated amount of stock and adjust to taste.
To prepare: cut the chicken thigh into bite-sized pieces, slice the onion, and chop the spring onion into rounds. Add the seasonings and water to a pot and bring to a boil, then add the chicken and onion. Rather than treating "4 minutes" as a fixed cooking time, ensure the chicken is thoroughly cooked through to the center. For the phở noodles, check the package instructions — if separate boiling or soaking is specified, follow those directions — then combine with the bean sprouts at the end. Top with lime and cilantro to taste.
It's a dish with a light soup carrying the umami of chicken. Enjoy the chewy noodle texture and the freshly made, piping-hot soup.
Grated Chinese yam and ground pork soup
This is a recipe arranging a traditional Vietnamese home dish with Japanese ingredients.
The ingredients (for 2 servings) are about 150g of Chinese yam, 2 thin green onions, cilantro to taste, 10g of dried shrimp, 100g of lean ground pork, 1 tablespoon of rice oil, 2 cups of water, and a little pepper. Seasoning A is 1 tablespoon of nuoc mam and a little pepper. Seasoning B is nuoc mam to taste and a pinch of sugar.
Cut the thin green onion into the upper green part and lower white part; finely chop the green part into small rounds and mince the white part. Crushing the white part first with the flat of the knife before mincing greatly brings out the aroma. Rinse the dried shrimp quickly, rehydrate for about 10 minutes in 2 tablespoons of hot water, and once soft, chop finely with a knife.
It's a rustic, comforting soup characterized by a smooth texture and deep richness.
Tips for ordering and dining manners
How to order on the ground
We introduce points for ordering soup at Vietnamese street stalls and restaurants.
When ordering pho, choose "pho bo" (beef) or "pho ga" (chicken). Sizes are usually chosen from "small (Nho)," "medium (Vua)," and "large (Lon)." Toppings can be added too; if you want to add raw meat, say "Tai" (raw beef), or "Chin" for simmered meat.
On the table there are usually seasonings and condiments like red chili, lemon, nuoc mam, hot chili sauce, and pickled garlic-and-chili. Adjusting the taste to your liking is the way to enjoy Vietnamese soup.
Dining manners
Attitudes toward eating sounds vary by household, restaurant, and dining companion. There is no fixed rule that "making noise shows appreciation," so it is better to follow those around you and prioritize not dipping your own chopsticks directly into shared condiments or ingredients.
Eating with chopsticks and a spoon is common. Lift the noodles with chopsticks and scoop the soup with a spoon. For pho, we recommend enjoying it as is without changing the seasoning at first, then adjusting to your liking with the tabletop seasonings partway through.
Squeezing lime or lemon adds freshness, and adding chili gives a spicy kick. Add fresh vegetables like cilantro and bean sprouts to the soup just before eating and enjoy the crisp texture.
Things to check before ordering to avoid mistakes
- Whether it is a noodle dish or a canh (broth served alongside rice)
- The base stock — beef, chicken, pork, or seafood — and how the ingredients are cooked
- Allergens such as fish sauce, shrimp, crab, and peanuts
- Whether raw vegetables and herbs are added, or heated in the hot broth
- Add table condiments gradually in small amounts after tasting the original flavor, not all at once
Summary | enjoy the depth of Vietnamese soup
Vietnam's soup culture is rich in diversity by region and household.
From noodle soups like pho and bun to the home-cooking soup called canh, each has its own appeal. The difference between the north's simple seasoning and the south's complex flavor also tells of the richness of Vietnamese food culture.
Even when making it at home, master the basic recipe and you can enjoy authentic Vietnamese soup. With easy-to-find seasonings like fish sauce and chicken stock, it turns out plenty delicious. That you can customize it to your liking with tabletop seasonings is also a big appeal of Vietnamese soup.
When you visit Vietnam, do try the authentic soup at local street stalls and restaurants. And after returning home, why not take on making Vietnamese soup at home?
For those who want to know more about Vietnam's tourist information and coffee culture,VNplease see. It's packed with information you'll want to read before a trip — Vietnam's food, cafés, the atmosphere of the streets, and even local ways of life.
