Hủ Tiếu: Saigon's Sino-Vietnamese Noodle Soup
A clear pork-bone broth with rice noodles, prawns and crackling — Saigon's everyday alternative to phở, with Chinese roots.
Hủ tiếu is the noodle soup Saigon eats when it isn't eating phở. The broth is clearer and less aromatic than phở's, the noodles are usually thinner, and the toppings reach for the sea as well as the farmyard: pork, prawn, squid and quail eggs in the same bowl.
What it is
A clear pork-and-dried-shrimp broth. The noodles are usually hủ tiếu — fine, slightly chewy rice noodles — though many stalls offer mì (egg noodles) or hủ tiếu mềm (soft fresh rice noodles) as alternatives. Toppings: poached prawns, slices of pork, minced pork, liver, pork crackling, a quail egg or two, chives and bean sprouts. Served with lime, chilli, soy sauce and a small dish of hoisin on the side.
The main versions
Hủ tiếu Nam Vang — the Phnom Penh-style version that became the Saigon standard. Pork-and-shrimp broth, the full house of toppings. Brought south by ethnic Chinese cooks via Cambodia in the early 20th century.
Hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho — from the Mekong delta town of Mỹ Tho. Slightly sweeter broth, denser noodles.
Hủ tiếu khô — "dry" hủ tiếu. The noodles are tossed in a soy-and-oyster-sauce dressing, and the broth comes in a separate bowl alongside. Eat the noodles, sip the broth.
Where to try it
In HCMC, Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang Liến Húa at 313 Võ Văn Tần in District 3 is the long-running classic for around 70,000 VND. Hủ Tiếu Hồng Phát on Võ Văn Tần is the rival. Hủ Tiếu Mỹ Tho Thanh Xuân on Tôn Thất Thiệp is the place to compare regional styles. Cheaper neighbourhood bowls run 40,000 to 55,000 VND.
How to eat it
Hủ tiếu is more flexible at the table than phở. Add hoisin and chilli sauce directly to the broth if you want — locals do. The soy-and-vinegar dish is for dipping pork, not seasoning the soup. Pickled chillies on the table are sharp and worth using.
Regional variations
Hủ tiếu is a southern dish; in the north it is almost unknown. Within the south, every Mekong town has its own version, and the Phnom Penh style remains the benchmark in HCMC itself.
Honest take
If you eat phở every breakfast for a week in Saigon, you have eaten wrong. Alternate with hủ tiếu — particularly the dry version, which is unlike anything in northern cuisine and is the easiest way to understand the Chinese influence on southern Vietnamese cooking.
Related reading: Phở, HCMC food guide, Central and southern cuisine, Ho Chi Minh City, Cơm tấm.
Comments
No comments yet.