Hà Nội Province

The original pho - clear bone broth simmered for hours, flat rice noodles, thinly sliced beef, and just ginger and charred onion for aromatics, served with minimal garnish unlike the southern version

Delicate Hà Nội noodle soup with shredded chicken, pork floss, silky egg crepe strips, and dried shrimp in a clear chicken broth - traditionally made after Tết to use up leftover meats, finished with a drop of mắm tôm

Grilled pork patties and belly over charcoal served with cold rice vermicelli, fresh herbs, and a tangy dipping broth - Hà Nội's most iconic lunch dish, eaten only at midday at smoky street stalls

Rice vermicelli with fried tofu, pork cuts, and fermented shrimp paste - eaten communally on a wooden tray, the pungent mắm tôm mixed with lime and chilli ties everything together, a Hà Nội street food institution

Tomato and crab paste noodle soup - field crab pounded into a paste that forms fluffy dumplings in a tangy tomato broth, topped with fried tofu, pork, and shrimp paste, a Hà Nội breakfast staple

Rice vermicelli with freshwater snails in a sour, turmeric-tinged broth - the snails are chewy and briny, the broth sharp with vinegar and tomato, eaten at tiny women-run stalls in Hà Nội's Old Quarter since the French colonial era

Chewy glutinous rice candy with ginger and peanuts - a traditional Hà Nội sweet sold at temple fairs and Tết markets, sticky and warming with a sharp ginger bite that lingers

Muscovy duck crisped in hot oil and showered with fried garlic - the skin shatters like a chip while the meat stays juicy, a Hà Nội specialty eaten at family restaurants in the Old Quarter with steamed rice and pickled vegetables

Turmeric-marinated snakehead fish fried tableside with dill and spring onion in a sizzling pan - served over vermicelli with roasted peanuts and shrimp paste, so iconic it gave its name to an entire street in Hà Nội's Old Quarter

Northern fried spring rolls - smaller and crispier than the southern chả giò, filled with pork, crab, glass noodles, and wood-ear mushroom, wrapped in thin rice paper and fried to a golden crunch, dipped in sweet and sour nước chấm

Soft-serve ice cream from the legendary Tràng Tiền parlour on Hoan Kiem Lake - a Hà Nội institution since the 1950s, eaten while walking along the lake at dusk, available in coconut, durian, and green bean flavours

Sticky rice balls coated in powdered khúc leaves and filled with mung bean paste and pork fat - a cold-weather Hà Nội breakfast sold by women carrying baskets through the Old Quarter at dawn, with an earthy green colour and fragrant herbal taste

The thinnest steamed rice rolls in Vietnam, made in Thanh Trì village since the 15th century - served without filling, just a paper-thin sheet of rice flour topped with dried shrimp and fried shallot oil, eaten cold with nem chua

Omelette made with rươi - a seasonal polychaete worm harvested from Red River estuary mud in October and November - mixed with egg, pork, and citrus leaves then pan-fried, a rare seasonal delicacy eaten only in autumn in Hà Nội

Pyramid-shaped steamed rice flour dumplings filled with pork and wood-ear mushroom - wrapped in banana leaves that perfume the soft, silky dough, sold from street carts as a quick breakfast or afternoon snack across Hà Nội