What To Eat With One Dollar in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Imagine you are traveling at a second country, wander around a dynamic modern city to find a few yummy food for your brunch and suddenly know that there is less than one dollar ($1) inside wallet. What will you do next?

How can you find any things which cost less than one dollar?

In Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) - the biggest city in Vietnam, it is possible to do that amazing thing

Almost travelers who have been visited Saigon all know that this city is famous for many special street food, which is made from unique recipes by local. Experiencing street food is one of the best things to do in Saigon. While the local cuisine in the North is oriented around traditional foods with complicated recipes, the South is better known for its simple street food, which is a harmonious combination of the best dishes from 3 regions, leading it to be called the heaven of Vietnamese street food. Many travelers tend to search and book Saigon street food tours which guided by local to understand more about these street food.

Not only incredibly delicious, tasting street food in Saigon is also adventurous, atmospheric and authentic. The perks of eating at these roadside vendors are that the food is delicious and not too much money – for less than one dollar (1$) you can get a lot of nice dishes

This list below will amaze you

Rice paper salad - Bánh tráng trộn 

Rice Paper Salad or Mixture Rice Paper is one of best street food so far in Vietnam, especially in the South. This dish is the first thing that comes to mind if your budget is less than one dollar.

Rice paper salad

The combination of ingredients, such as: dried shrimp, sliced mango, quail eggs, peanuts and herbs all stirred together in the rice paper salad brings your pallet a wonderful mix of sour, salty and spicy flavours, resulting in an explosive taste in your mouth

Price: $0.5 - $1 / serving

Fried rice flour cake

This is a favourite street snack for many students and teenagers in Vietnam. It's similar to Singaporean/Malaysian Chinese carrot cake.

A dish of fried flour usually consists of pieces of deep fried rice flour cake, mixed with fried eggs, topped with pickles, green onion and eaten with fish sauce. Detail recipes and ingredients can find here

This food is first served by Chinese-Vietnamese families and quickly become a popular street food in Saigon.

Price: $0.64 - $1.07 / dish

Knocking Noodle - Hủ Tiếu Gõ

It's not so special but affordable. A typical bowl is made from simple ingredients: soup, pork, wonton..  but the name "knocking noodle" referring to a popular selling method. Sellers usually use two wooden bars, knocking together to make noise to grab people’s attention, so it's called the knocking noodle

The noodles are usually sold on bikes or tuk tuks, moving one from this place to another instead of having a fixed place.

The name "knocking noodle" referring to a popular selling method

This dish is sold from afternoon to midnight, so it's also a popular street food for people who interested in exploring the city at night

Price: $0.7 / bowl

Soup of Crap (Crap Soup)

Vietnamese crab soup, a popular street food snack in Saigon. This soup contains high nutrition and health friendliness. It is a kind of mixture soup from crab, chicken, egg, mushroom, sweetcorn and adding some sauce and chili.

This dish is the best choice on cool or rainy day

Price: $0.64 - $0.86 / bowl

Baked (grilled) banana with coconut sauce

So sweet and So creamy.

Baked banana with coconut sauce is one of the most well known snacks of Vietnam southern people and recipe is extremely simple.

Source: @peequee1804

Banana is cover by a rice layer before baked on stove. The banana is served with lots of coconut milk, adding peanuts, cassava and some copra. 

Chuoi nuong Nam Bo Ut Lua (115 Phan Dang Luu, Phu Nhuan, District 1) is recognized as the best grilled banana, this vendor is famous among both locals and travelers

Price: $0.34 - $0.51 / serving