A bright, room-temperature noodle bowl: cold rice vermicelli topped with charcoal-grilled lemongrass pork, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables, cucumber, crushed peanuts and often a crisp fried spring roll, all dressed with sweet-and-sour nuoc cham poured over and tossed.
Bun thit nuong is a Southern Vietnamese staple and a Saigon lunchtime workhorse, a dish built to be light and cooling in the heat. Cold noodles carry the smoke of grilled pork marinated in lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce and sugar, and the whole bowl is unified by nuoc cham rather than a hot broth. Sidewalk specialists like the Chi Tuyen stall on Co Giang have run for decades on this one dish, grilling pork over charcoal through the lunch rush. Add a fried cha gio spring roll and it becomes bun thit nuong cha gio.
1 editor pick for Bun thit nuong in Ho Chi Minh City, ranked by editorial score. All Ho Chi Minh City signature dishes · Bun thit nuong across every city.