A thick, gluey crab noodle soup of chewy tapioca-and-rice noodles in a starchy, savoury broth loaded with crab meat, pork, quail eggs and cha, finished with black pepper and a squeeze of lime. Comforting, rich and unmistakably Saigon.

Banh canh takes its name from its noodles, short thick strands of tapioca and rice flour with a slippery, chewy bite quite unlike pho's flat noodles. The cua version, with crab, is a Saigon favourite, its broth deliberately thickened until it clings. Tan Dinh's sidewalk stalls, including the long-running Banh Canh Cua 87, turned a single bowl into an institution, and coastal variants like banh canh ghe swap sea crab and a green-chili salt. It is eaten at all hours, a heavier, stickier counterpoint to the city's clear-broth noodle soups.

2 editor picks for Banh canh cua in Ho Chi Minh City, ranked by editorial score. All Ho Chi Minh City signature dishes · Banh canh cua across every city.