10 noodle soups lead culinary trip through Vietnam
I f you live in Houston, chances are you’ve tucked into a warming bowl of pho. Vietnam’s most famous culinary export, the aromatic beef noodle soup is especially popular at the moment, with several pho-only concepts — The Pho Spot downtown and The Pho Shack in Sugar Land among them — bubbling up around town. But pho is the tip of the iceberg where Vietnamese cuisine is concerned. When Vietnamese refugees arrived in Houston in the 1970s, they brought with them many rich culinary traditions incorporating elements of French, Chinese and other Southeast Asian influences. Including other delicious noodle soups, which have found their way onto menus at local restaurants.
With most bowls ringing in at less than $10, and low temperatures to stimulate our appetites, winter is a fine time to take a culinary trip through Vietnam. Here are 10 soups to try, arranged by region of origin, along with my suggestions on where to find the best versions of each in Houston. If a few ingredients seem too adventurous for your palate, well, don’t knock it until you try it.
NORTH VIETNAM BUN RIEU (crab and tomato noodle soup)
A dish that originated in the rice paddies of the Red River Delta, bun rieu (pronounced
“boon rhe-ooh”) is a noodle soup composed of thin rice vermicelli noodle (bun) and a pounded crab paste (rieu). Traditionally made with small paddy crabs found in the region’s rice fields, the crabs are pounded, shell and all, into a paste. The juices extracted from the paste are cooked with pork bones and tomatoes to yield a sweet and tangy broth, and the crab paste itself is mixed with egg, then dropped into the broth until it forms what looks like curdled lumps of crab-meat topping. Other toppings in bun rieu include chunks of fried tofu and a few deep-brown, gelatinous cubes of congealed pork blood (huyet). Accompaniments may include a side dish of julienned lettuce and limes, as well as a fermented shrimp paste known as mam ruoc. This savory noodle soup has tons of umami and a strong crab essence, and is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes of all time. A version with escargot is called bun rieu oc, and the vegetarian version is called bun rieu chay.
Where to try it in Houston:
Cafe TH, Pho & Crab Restaurant, Viet Huong Restaurant, Bun Viet Son
BUN MANG VIT (bamboo and duck noodle soup)
Bun mang vit (“boon mong
veet”) is a thin rice vermicelli noodle soup topped with sliced bamboo shoots (mang) and duck (vit). The soup itself — usually pale yellow, clear consommé — is made from duck or a combination of duck and chicken. Dry bamboo is added to give the broth its unique earthiness. Though some places serve the noodle soup with the duck and noodles floating in the broth, a popular contemporary convention is to serve the broth, noodles and bamboo shoots in one bowl, with slices of duck arranged over an accompanying side salad of shredded cabbage garnished with fried shallots and Vietnamese coriander (rau ram). When ordered this way, the dish is eaten by alternating slurps of noodle soup with bites of the duck salad. A ginger dipping sauce is essential to the experience. Bun Mang Vit Thanh Da, Com Ga Houston, Huynh Restaurant
BUN OC (snail noodle soup)
A specialty of Hanoi, the capital city of North Vietnam, bun oc (“boon oak”) features thin rice vermicelli and snails (oc). A popular breakfast and lunch dish in Hanoi, the spicy soup exhibits a distinct sour savoriness thanks to the addition of fresh tomatoes and a special rice wine vinegar (giam bong). The chewiness of the plump snails, which should be dipped in an accompanying ginger fish sauce, adds a delightful textural dimension. The soup is served with herbs (such as perilla), shaved banana blossom and lime wedges.
Where to try it in Houston:
Pho Tan Loc
MIEN GA (glass noodle soup with chicken)
Next to pho ga (chicken pho), mien ga (“mee-ehn gah”), made of mung bean glass noodles (mien) and chicken (ga), is the soup to get when you want a clean-tasting, low-calorie bowl of steaming-hot noodles. The simplest of the Vietnamese noodle soups on this list, one of the most satisfying versions — mien mang ga — contains bamboo shoots.
Where to try it in Houston:
Com Ga Houston
CENTRAL VIETNAM BUN BO HUE (spicy beef and pork noodle soup)
Like pho restaurants and ramen shops, new restaurants selling only bun bo Hue (“boon
boh hway”) — Two Bowls Bun Bo Hue and Bun Bo Houston opened this past year — are trending. The official dish of the Imperial City of Hue, this laborintensive soup involves stewing pork hocks with beef bones, lemongrass, annato seed oil and fermented shrimp paste. Its singular flavor profile — deep, full-bodied, beefy and sweet with bone essence — is quite addictive. Topped with sliced beef shank, pork hocks, huyet, along with Vietnamese pepper and pork sausage slices, the noodles are thick like Japanese udon. It is typically served with a side of shredded purple and green cabbage, lime wedges and mam ruoc.
Where to try it in Houston:
Bun Bo Hue Co Do 2 (one of the several locations), Mai’s Restaurant, Bun Viet Son, Bun Bo Hue Doc Chuong
SOUTH VIETNAM HU TIEU NAM VANG, HU TIEU MY THO (pork and shrimp noodle soup)
Often described as the Southern Vietnamese cousin of pho, hu tieu (“hoo tee-eww”) can be a little bit confusing because there are so many versions of it. The words “hu tieu” actually refer to the type of noodle in the soup, and there are two types. One is an opaque rice noodle indistinguishable from a pho noodle. The other is a clear, chewy noodle called hu tieu dai. Generally you can specify which type you prefer when you order. Then there are the regional varieties of hu tieu — hu tieu Nam Vang, made in the Cambodian style of Phnom Penh, and hu tieu My Tho, which comes from the southern town of My Tho along the Mekong Delta, are most popular. More obscure versions include hu tieu Sa Dec, which comes from Sa Dec, and so on. Some restaurants forgo the regional variations and serve hu tieu with certain toppings. Hu tieu tom cua, for instance, is topped with shrimp and crab (“tom” is shrimp, “cua” is crab). As for the soup itself, the pork-based broth is a slightly opaque tan. Dried shrimp and squid are often added to the soup base, which gives it a wonderfully porky umami flavor. Toppings vary considerably and may include a combination of quail egg, sliced pork, minced pork, fish balls, shrimp and crab — generally limited to pork and seafood. Liver slices are added sometimes. The Nam Vang
version also contains copious amounts of garlic and is served with bright, crisp Chinese celery leaves.
Where to try it in Houston: Hu Tieu Hong Phat (for Hu Tieu Nam Vang), Crawfish & Noodles (for Hu Tieu with char siu pork and shrimp)
BUN SUONG (shrimp sausage and noodle soup)
A rice vermicelli noodle soup topped with cylindrical shrimp sausages (“suong”) and thinly sliced pork in a pork-based broth, bun suong
(“boon swuhng”) comes from the coastal province of Tra Vinh in southwestern Vietnam. Suong are small caterpillars in the area, and the sausages are cylindrically shaped to mimic the shape of the caterpillar. Bun suong is a fun dish to eat because the sausages are sort of spongy and chewy. Red annato seed oil added just before serving makes the dish pop with color.
Where to try it in Houston:
Pho Dung, Thien An Sandwiches
MI VIT TIEM (braised duck noodle soup)
Brought to Vietnam from China, where it was originally served in Chinese-populated areas such as Cho Lon in Ho Chi Minh City, mi vit tiem (“mee
veet tee-ehm”) is made of thin egg noodle (mi) and braised duck (vit tiem). The recipe involves marinating the duck in Chinese spices, pan-frying the leg and thigh to a golden brown, then braising the bird in a pork-based broth with Chinese herbs until it’s fall-offthe-bone tender. Mi vit tiem is topped with sweet greens and shiitake mushroom, and usually comes with a small side plate of thinly sliced, sweetpickled green papaya.
Where to try it in Houston:
Pho Ngon, Thim Hing Sandwiches
MI BO KHO (beef stew with egg noodles)
A Vietnamese lemongrass and five-spice beef stew, bo kho (“baw-khaw”) can also be ordered as a noodle soup. Ordered with egg noodles, it is called mi bo kho. Ordered with hu tieu rice noodles, it is known as hu tieu bo kho. Reminiscent of French boeuf bourguignon, regardless of the noodles you prefer, both are hearty, stick-to-your-rib bowls. Make sure to get a loaf of plain banh mi for dipping.
Where to try it in Houston:
Pho Saigon, Mai’s Restaurant
BANH CANH TOM CUA (shrimp and crab tapioca noodle soup)
In Vietnamese, “banh” means cake and “canh” means soup, so banh canh translated literally is “cake soup.” In actuality, banh canh (“bang
cang”) refers to an udonlike tapioca and rice noodle. Originating in the southwest region of Vietnam, the thick, white noodles have a slightly chewy consistency. The broth varies from consomméclear to thicker and more gelatinous, made with pork hocks. The soup is topped with shrimp and crab.
Where to try it in Houston:
Mai’s Restaurant