South East Asia is well known for its street food, which as well as being incredibly cheap, is some of the most delicious and traditional food to be found! From salads to springs rolls we've left no stone unturned in our quest to bring you our top 10 eats from Vietnamese streetfood and Thai and Cambodian delights!
I think it would be pretty impossible to travel to Vietnam and not eat pho, the most popular dish on offer. Pho is noodle soup made with meat (my favourite is beef) herbs and bean sprouts. So many places in Vietnam claim to have the best pho around, so enjoy hopping from stall to stall, testing them all!
This is a regional Vietnamese dish, only found in Hoi An, in central Vietnam. With much thicker and short noodles than many South East Asian dishes, the highlight of this dish is the crispy pork that tops it off, as well as the leaves that give it fresh twist – a nice change from fried food.
Bánh mì is Vietnamese for bread. Baguettes are a remnant from the French Colonial period and are still eaten widely throughout the area. With a lighter crust than their European counterparts, the rolls are usually filled with cold meat (usually pork) and salad, including classic Vietnamese pickled carrots.
The reason I love goi cuon so much is because these fresh spring rolls are one of the few dishes in South East Asia that aren’t deep fried. After lots of (albeit delicious) fried food, some raw veg gives such a dose of freshness into your diet that these little spring rolls won’t last long on your plate - yum!
Khao soi, egg noodles with pickled cabbage, shallots, chilies and meat (usually chicken or pork), is my favourite Thai dish. What makes it so special is the combination of boiled and deep fried noodles, meaning every mouthful has a delicious crunch!
This dish is to Thailand is like bangers and mash to the UK. This stir fried noodle dish is one of the most popular dishes in Thailand, thanks to a 1940s campaign to get the Thai population on to eating noodles so that more rice would be available to export! The mix of noodles, tofu, dried shrimp, chilies and palm sugar are available on almost every street corner, with many vendors having their own twist to the classic recipe.
Som tam is the famous Thai papaya salad. Combining the main flavours of Asia, the sour lime, spicy chili, salty fish sauce and sweet palm sugar are a perfect combination. Side with sticky rice and chicken with cashew nuts and you’ve got yourself a fantastic meal!
Tom Ka Gai is coconut chicken and galangal soup – one of the tastiest soups in Thailand. For some reason, I always eat this dish with garlic rice, which definitely sounds like a weird combination but I assure you its great!
When in Cambodia, you can’t leave without trying fish amok, a delicious coconut curry cooked in banana leaves. If you’re not a fan of spice then you’ll love it – the lemongrass and kaffir lime gives the curry a zesty flavour, rather than a crazy heat!
Lok lak is one of Cambodia’s simplest dishes – just cubed, stir fried beef with red onions on a salad bed. However, it is the sauce that the beef is dipped in that is the key to this delicious snack! Lime juice, salt and Cambodian Kampot pepper is all you need for an amazing and thrifty meal.
If this has piqued your appetite and you want to try some streetfood in Vietnam, Thailand or Cambodia, we can help! If food is your passion, we can book you a street food crawl with a local guide or even a cookery class with a local chef. Even in a few weeks, you could hop through all three countries and try every dish!
We can tailor-make every aspect of your trip to your style and budget, including flights, transfers, accommodation and tours. Simply call us on +44 1273320580 or request a quote by email to start planning!
Fresh out of high school, Milly left her home comforts behind and set off to work in a school in Thailand for a year. Whilst working in Thailand she managed to explore Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and China before uni. In the breaks from her English & American Literature degree she interned for Travel Nation, eventually joining our team in 2014. Milly is fascinated by wildlife and food and weaves these elements into both her own trips and those she plans for others. Her natural instinct for building fascinating trips that take you off the beaten track inform the trips she plans and she currently works in our Product Team sourcing great hotels and tours for our customers.
