Hue food specialties: Top 8 delicious dishes you must try

Hue cuisine stands out for its delicate flavors, blending royal court refinement with rustic folk traditions. Every dish tells its own story and offers a unique experience. This article will introduce the eight most delicious Hue specialties, ensuring you don’t miss the signature flavors of the ancient capital.

Bun Bo Hue

Bun Bo Hue is more than just a breakfast dish; it is an iconic representation of the city’s international culinary reputation. It boldly combines flavors: a rich, reddish broth seasoned with Hue shrimp paste and spicy lemongrass creates a powerful wave of taste. 

Thick noodles, thinly sliced beef, crunchy pork knuckle, and aromatic crab cakes come together to challenge every diner with a characteristic fiery heat—so warming yet irresistible. Enjoying Bun Bo Hue is savoring the intensity and essence of Central Vietnamese cuisine.

Com Hen (Clam Rice)

Com Hen is a rustic, simple dish that encapsulates the sophistication and the soul of the Hue countryside. The dish is a unique combination of cold white rice with Hương River clams stir-fried with fragrant chili and mắm ruốc, crispy pork cracklings, crunchy roasted peanuts, and distinctive fresh herbs like banana blossom and taro stems. 

The interplay between the spicy and salty taste of the clams, the rich crispness of the pork cracklings, and the refreshing coolness of the cold rice and herbs creates a balanced flavor profile. It is often served with a small bowl of hot clam broth to complete the taste.

Banh Ep Hue (Hue Pressed Cake)

If you are looking for a unique street food experience, you must try Banh Ep Hue. The name says it all: a thin layer of tapioca dough, filled with meat and egg, is placed in a mold and then pressed over hot charcoal until it is crispy and chewy. 

The delightful sensation of rolling this hot, translucent cake with Vietnamese coriander and cucumber, and dipping it generously into a bowl of tongue-numbing chili fish sauce, is unforgettable. Banh Ep is a "small but mighty" snack that provides an unexpected burst of flavor.

Che Hue (Hue Sweet Soup)

Che Hue is a distinctive culinary feature, showcasing a variety ranging from royal to folk desserts. The most famous is the unique Che Bot Loc Boc Thit Heo Quay (Tapioca Dumplings with Roasted Pork Filling), where the chewy tapioca dumpling encases a savory and fatty piece of roasted pork, eaten with a sweet and clear ginger syrup. 

Besides this, delicate sweet soups like Che Hat Sen (Lotus Seed Sweet Soup) or folk favorites like taro or corn sweet soups are also very popular, offering a gentle, refined sweetness true to the Hue style.

Nem Lui Hue

Nem Lui Hue wins over diners not only with its fragrant grilled meat skewers but also with the art of refined enjoyment. The pork paste, made from ground pork, is wrapped around a lemongrass stalk and grilled over charcoal until the outer layer is golden brown. 

However, the soul that defines the dish's quality lies in the rich, creamy dipping sauce (nước chấm lụi), made from liver, meat, peanuts, and fermented bean paste, which creates a "perfect" flavor when combined. Nem Lui must be rolled in rice paper with a variety of fresh herbs, tart green banana, and sour star fruit to balance the palate, making for a complete and satisfying wrap feast.

Tre Hue

Tre Hue is a highly traditional specialty, demonstrating the exquisite preparation techniques of the people of the imperial city through a natural fermentation process. Ingredients such as pig's ear, skin, and pork belly are meticulously shredded and seasoned with warm, spicy flavors like galangal, garlic, pepper, and roasted rice powder (thính). 

They are then tightly wrapped in banana leaves and incubated to ferment, creating a subtle sourness and a unique aroma. Tre offers a chewy and crunchy texture, with a harmonious balance of salty, spicy, and sour notes, making it an essential dish on the Tet holiday tray or a characteristic gift.

Banh Canh Nam Pho

When in Hue, you must try Banh Canh Nam Pho to appreciate the difference of this noodle soup from the former imperial capital. Unlike noodle soups with separate strands, Banh Canh Nam Pho has a unique, thick, and viscous broth, cooked from shrimp and crab roe, creating an eye-catching orange-red color and a natural, delicate sweetness. 

The noodles are made from a blend of rice flour and tapioca starch, making them both soft and chewy. This dish is not only comforting because of its warmth but is also appealing because of its "thick" consistency and finely ground shrimp and crab patties, providing a complete experience of flavor and texture.

Banh Khoai

Banh Khoai is one of Hue's famous traditional savory pancakes, often confused with bánh xèo (Southern savory pancake) but distinct with a thicker and crispier shell. 

The pancake has a golden color from turmeric, and a generous filling of shrimp, lean pork, bean sprouts, and sometimes pig liver. Banh Khoai is rolled with fresh raw vegetables and dipped in a special sauce (similar to the one for Nem Lui), offering a crispy, rich, and deeply flavorful culinary experience of Hue.

Savoring Hue cuisine is a wonderful way to experience the culture and history of this land. Be sure to save this list of Hue Food Specialties to make your trip more complete and memorable.

>> See more great food suggestions in the Dine & Drinks section.