Besides the street food and sweets, Vietnam has a plethora of snacks and drink refreshers to suit all your peckish desires. In cramming our final meals in Vietnam, we attempt to fill the gaps between our meals by filling the gaps in the traditional food we haven’t tried.

Much like the elegant and sophisticated local specialties of Hanoi, the snacks and drinks which originated in this city also showcase a fascinating use of resources and the inevitable melding of history and culture. Some of what we try may not be unique to Hanoi – or even to Vietnam, but to see how the locals do it is part of the eating experience.

Hột Vịt Lộn (Vietnamese Balut – semi-fertilised duck egg)

Balut is a food infamous for its squeal factor. Best described as a fertilised egg, this unique snack consists of a bird embryo that is semi-developed in its shell before it is boiled to be eaten. If the description is too much for some people, then the appearance often puts off a majority of the rest.

With duck eggs only requiring 4 weeks to hatch, the 2-3 week incubation period allows for much of its features to be visible when the shell its cracked open. It results in patches of yellow, white, and brown and a feathering pattern of the blood vessels and distinguishable organs if you break past the albumen.

But of course, with a food as unusual as this still present and consumed by many today, it must have its appeals. In the Philippines, where it is most commonly associated, it is consumed as a supposed sexual stimulant, as well as a cheap source of protein and calcium. If you’re consuming a whole animal, you end up eating every part of its nutritionally-dense bones and organs, too.

In Vietnam they are also commonly eaten, and go by the name of hột vịt lộn. It’s hard to say where exactly you can find this delicacy on an average day out, but with our local friend to guide us, we had the opportunity to try a dish we’ve anticipated for a long time.

We were taken around the village near the apartment where she stayed, vibrant with vendors selling their wares of fresh produce, sweets, and bread. She stopped us at one shop which she mentioned was a common breakfast stop. Like any local restaurant, it was not too much more than a room with a few low benches topped with condiments, and a lady at a cart managing the production of the few snacks that they sold. She ordered us one egg each, and proceeded to dress them for us.

Under her recommendation, the balut was seasoned with a sprinkle of salt, vinegar, strips of ginger, and Vietnamese mint. We aren’t too perturbed over ugly food, so we got stuck in immediately. The flavour was surprisingly similar to that of a normal boiled egg, save an extra savoury flavour like chicken broth. The vinegar reduced any muddy flavours, and the fresh mint made it much lighter.

While the texture of the egg was predominantly normal, there was the additional crunch from some of the soft bones that had developed, which is not as unpleasant as it sounds. Like dried anchovies, it’s a texture that you’d become used to if you eat it frequently.

We both agree that we’d eat it again. It’s tasty.

Bánh Trôi (rice cakes filled with palm sugar)

To follow up was a dessert consisting of a chewy rice cake filled with palm sugar. Conceptually, it is very similar to the Chinese dessert tangyuan (汤圆), which may have a variety of fillings including sesame paste or crushed peanuts. The Vietnamese version is made in a similar way, boiling the balls of rice flour dough until they float, hence its name bánh trôi “floating cakes”. These can be eaten in a sugar syrup soup flavoured with ginger, like tangyuan, or served as is, topped with sesame seeds.

Desserts similar to this can be found everywhere throughout Asia, much like the Indonesian klepon, Malaysian-Singaporean muah chee, Japanese mochi, or the Korean chapssal ddeok, to name a very select few. In the case of bánh trôi, they are filled with shaved palm sugar, which has a fragrant molasses-like, fruity flavour similar to brown sugar and dried toasted coconuts. When freshly cooked and not yet cool, biting into bánh trôi will result in a burst of liquid sugar in the mouth… heaven.

In our case, this dessert had been ready to eat since earlier. The skin was tender, enough chew to be satisfying with an equivalent softness to not be fighting it as you eat. To our surprise, the sugar in our pre-made ones had solidified to give crystals of crunchy palm sugar alongside the burst of some that had remained liquid. Nothing short of delightful.

Bánh Cốm and Bánh Xu Xê

Every country has its own celebration food, and Vietnam is no different. Bánh cốm and bánh xu xê are both sticky rice cakes filled with mung beans, though they differ in the texture and flavour.

Bánh xu xê is associated with weddings, translating literally into “husband wife cake”. The bridegroom commonly sends a large basket of these cakes to the bride and her family on the wedding day in preparation for a good future together. Bánh cốm on the other hand originates in Hanoi. Its process to retain the correct texture and fragrance is very complex, so its recipes are closely guarded amongst the families that make them. As such, it is considered a treat.

Bánh Cốm Nguyên Ninh

In the central area of Hanoi is a long street, home to a strip of bakeries which all make the same products. Specialising in the sweet rice cakes, you can recognise Hàng Than immediately by the consecutive shopfronts with huge displays of bright green individually-wrapped cakes. At face value, they’re identical, but one bakery is distinctly different from the rest.

Bánh Cốm Nguyên Ninh is the oldest amongst this street, opening its doors in 1865. It is distinguishable by its old green shopfront, completely void of any products. It’s famous enough that it doesn’t need to flaunt its goods. Inside is hardly any more indicative of its business, consisting of a counter with its products individually boxed. Those who are unfamiliar with its history could easily mistake the store to sell almost anything else, or not even a store at all.

The bánh xu xê, which at this bakery has a yellow colour, is very stretchy, with a slightly jelly-like softness rather than the stickiness of a typical rice cake. The skin has a floral scent and the mung bean paste is sweetened enough to give it flavour without being too sweet.

On the other hand, the bánh cốm’s skin has not been pounded down to a homogenous texture. Rather you can still feel the texture of the rice grains as well as the addition of what seems to be grated coconut in the filling. The filling in this one is milder but sweeter. At only ₫5,000 (US$0.25) per cake, these are a cheap and tasty way to sample the flavours of Vietnam, and understand its culture more.

Sugarcane Juice

Many countries throughout the world drink sugarcane juice, which is the liquid pressed from the sugarcane plant. Supposedly, the drink has many health benefits including aiding recovery from UTIs and alleviating constipation. The claims seem a little farfetched but by far the most common reason to indulge in this beverage is that it tastes good.

For those who have never tasted the drink, it’s very much like a sugar water but a little grassy in a good way. In Vietnam, the sweetness of the drink is usually balanced by the addition of kumquat, a sour orange citrus fruit, or salt-pickled limes, and are sold all throughout the country by vendors and little shops.

Nước Mía 77

Several businesses seem to operate from the same space in the building. One does little metal parts. The stand outside sells chè and bánh trôi, as indicated by the pots and bowls full of syrups, pastes and jellies. If you look out for the sugarcane stalks, you can easily spot the sugarcane juice vendor, who occupies the right-hand side of the shop.

The menu is fairly simple: small and large, with ice (có đá) or without (không đá). Since filming, they appear to have updated their signage to include some English, making for ordering a little easier.

If sugarcane juice is delicious to begin with, the kumquat adds a perfect tartness to reduce the sweet sugarcane, which to some can become cloying if you drink too much. To our surprise, we recommend the addition of ice, which not only keeps drink cool in warm Hanoi but also dilutes the concentrated juice just enough. Since our filming, we noticed that there is now an option for little ice (ít đá), which could be an excellent in-between.

Coffee

Coffee is one of those commodities that the French introduced to Vietnam. The locals took it, ran with it, and have not looked back since. There, coffee is enjoyed in a multitude of ways. It can be taken black, straight from the French filter that condenses the coarse grounds into a thick, velvety black gold. Besides that, Vietnam has found several ways to work around the low accessibility of fresh dairy to create drinks of their own.

By far the most famous Vietnamese coffee is when it is iced and sweetened with condensed milk. It’s refreshing and moreish with deep, roasted coffee offset by thick milk and enough sugar to stop a heart. Alternatively, Vietnamese yoghurt, made with condensed milk and yoghurt starter, can also be used as a dairy alternative.

Perhaps lesser known is coconut coffee. Compared to the past trend of adding coconut oil to coffee, this involves a frozen coconut milk slushy with a shot of espresso. There is also the famous Hanoi egg coffee, where egg and condensed milk is whipped into a light, custardy foam to replace textured milk.

Coffee in Vietnam is an excellent representation on how cultures and food have merged together, and an absolute must-try if you’re visiting.

Cộng Cà Phê

This café is by far one of the most famous chains in Vietnam. The first thing visitors might notice is the bizarre décor, thematically reminiscent of communist Vietnam through posters depicting propaganda and even the uniforms of the staff imitating military uniforms. Besides that minor oddity, they’re also famous for their coconut coffee.

If anyone’s been to Vietnam to drink it, they probably came here for it. It’s not be a cheap drink – at ₫45,000 (US$1.95), it’s more expensive than the average bowl of noodles. But it’s also fairly sized, and absolutely heaping with the coconut milk slushy. In the hot weather it’s a great refresher, cold, creamy, just a touch of sweetness, and not bitter at all. Even Noms, who can’t drink coffee because of its bitterness, downed it like a champ and even concluded that it could have done with an extra shot. Just for all that tasty, tasty coconut slushy.

Giảng Cafe

Dozens of places throughout Hanoi serve the famous egg coffee, advertised on the windows of cafes all around the little city to attract the tourists looking for a taste of the unique local drink. Giảng Cafe is a slight exception, already famous enough that it needs little more than the sign above a tiny alleyway. People flock here, where the coffee is good and there’s space to take them in, as they have more than one floor of seats. We were told that the ground floor is quieter, as everyone tends to go upstairs.

Compared to other cafes, Giảng offers more than just coffee. You can also order the same egg custard with chocolate, green tea, or with mung bean drinks, and both hot and cold. We decided to go with a classic hot egg coffee and a cold egg mung bean drink.

The hot coffee (₫30,000; US$1.30) requires a little bit of stirring, or the egg stays on the top and the coffee at the bottom. We were surprised at how fine the froth was, the bubbles tiny and smooth on the tongue, much more velvety in texture than what we’d tried at Maison Marou. The drink isn’t served hot, which might be a shame. The coffee was also a little burnt, resulting a bitterness as you drank. Perhaps not the most fantastic place to come for it, but we couldn’t fault the texture of the coffee.

While cold egg mung bean (₫30,000; US$1.30) sounds like a lot of words which don’t belong together, we can say that they certainly do. Mung bean, when cooked into a chunky soup or paste is a common dessert in Southeast Asia. Nutty in flavour a little like fresh green peas, the egg custard turned it into more of an indulgent dessert. However, we can’t recommend the cold drinks, as the large chunks of ice dilutes the flavour and disrupts the drinking and eating experience. For those who don’t like coffee, there are still plenty of options which are equally enjoyable.

Much like the rest of the country, Hanoi, with its rich history and particular climate, is the origin of many unique dishes. You can also read about our experiences with eating their local dishes and their specialty sweets, too.