When we were growing up, our parents took us out to restaurants quite a bit, exposing us to a number of different Asian cuisines before we could even differentiate which country they were all from. Vietnamese food was a particular favourite with our mother, whose go-to dish was often hủ tiếu Nam Vang as she chased the flavour of the renditions she’d eaten as a student in multi-cultural California.

Hủ tiếu (or hủ tiu) is derived from the Teochew Chinese kway tiao – the flat, wide rice noodles we’d already enjoyed several times throughout our trip. Nam Vang refers to the dish, a Cambodian dish in either a pork bone and seafood soup or dry, often served with seafood and slices of pig’s liver or heart. There are many variations of it, including our parents’ favourite: dry with egg noodles. Inevitably, we were influenced by their tastes but it didn’t stop us anticipating eating it as it should be.

Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang Thành Đạt is a restaurant located only a few minutes’ walk from the central tourist area of Ho Chi Minh City, serving this dish 24 hours a day. With a limited menu and a busy crowd during peak meal times, one can assume it’s a restaurant with good food.

We ordered the two Nam Vang dishes on their menu: nước, meaning water, is the soup version, whereas khȏ is soupless (dry). Each one came with thin rice noodles topped with seafood, fish balls, sliced liver, and a generous helping of spring onions and fried shallots. In addition to the dry version having no soup, it came with a seasoning sauce of what seemed to be a soy sauce mix. Of course, there was also a plate of fresh herbs to add to our noodles as we liked.

Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang Nước – Soup Nam Vang Noodles ₫41,000

The broth was clear and flavourful, tasting vaguely sweet and strongly of seafood, likely the seafood that was cooked in it. The noodles were very thin and slurpy, following the common trend of Vietnamese rice noodles of soaking every last bit of flavour from the broth. Despite the soup and the noodles both being very light in flavour, they complemented each other well, delivering impactful mouthfuls of umami that leave you going back for more.

The soup also had the benefit of drawing out and lending the flavour of the toppings and other ingredients. There was the meaty taste of the liver and the sweetness of the prawns, which was what differed the most from the dry noodles.

Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang Khȏ – Dry Nam Vang Noodles ₫41,000

The absence of the flavourful soup did not make the dry Nam Vang any less delicious. Instead, the noodles lay in a shallow pool of a seasoning sauce, likely comprised of soy sauce and sugar. This one was more concentrated in flavour, more suited for those who like slightly saltier and sweeter foods.

Of course, the best part of a dry noodle is when you reach the last bite. The sauce drenched all the final little pieces of shallots, meat, and straw noodles, which when scooped onto a spoon made for the sodium-laden, thirst-inducing, eye-rolling meal finale that connoisseurs of dry noodles yearn for.

Both dishes, despite having similar components, brought completely different experiences. One was deep but light, the other concentrated. It’s not about which one is better rather than which suits your taste more at the time. In any case, at only around ₫40,000 (US$2) a bowl, cash really isn’t an issue over stomach space – if you’re dropping by for a bowl, be it at noon for lunch or two in the morning, it’s not a bad idea to try them both.

Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang Thành Đạt
25 Cô Bắc, Phường Cầu Ông Lãnh, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Open 24 hours