There are many street foods in Soc Trang for the locals, expats and tourists to give a try. Soc Trang is considered by food connoisseurs to be the “old capital” of Bun Nuoc Leo noodle soup of Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
By Thomas Vietnam at vemekong.com | All Best Foods & Restaurants in Soc Trang
1. Better to Know as a Tourist
Find them: In the center of Soc Trang City
Best time: After 2pm
Don’t miss: Bun nuoc leo and spring roll
Local’s pick: Bun Nuoc Leo Cay Me (search this name on Google maps)
Tourist’s pick: The visitors will see many Bún Nước Lèo Sóc Trăng local restaurants along the national road No 1A in Soc Trang city.
2. What is Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang?
Bun nuoc leo is a kind of rice noodle/ vermicelli with soup. People call Soc Trang noodle soup as a dish of solidarity, because the dish is the quintessential combination of Kinh – Khmer – Hoa ethnic groups, shown in each dish ingredient is typical of 3 ethnic groups. The “soul” of the broth is a blend of lemongrass, fish sauce and ngai bun – a turmeric-like tuber, slightly darker than turmeric. Accordingly, commonly used fish sauce is locally available such as: three-spot- gourami fish sauce (mắm cá sặc), especially Khmer people often cook with mắm bò hóc, ngải bún; lemongrass to eliminate fishy smell and create fragrance. Therefore, even if you are a poor eater, afraid of the fishy smell, you have to move your chopsticks to enjoy the steaming bowl of noodle soup with a distinctive scent. At Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang’s restaurants, there are 3 types of fish sauce combined: mắm bò hóc, mắm cá sặc and mắm nêm when cooking the broth.
The feat in the broth pot is like that, but it is not enough, but the vegetables and accompanying ingredients for the “perfect” bowl of noodle soup are also meticulously prepared. The usual accompanying vegetables include: bean sprouts, chives, grated morning glory, grated banana, with a little more herbs for flavor. As for the ingredients, there are 3 main things: boiled snakehead fish, separated meat and removed bones; peeled boiled shrimp and chopped roasted pork. To make the bowl of vermicelli soup delicious, the snakehead fish is chosen as a wild snakehead – cá đồng, the shrimp must be ground shrimp. Many noodle shops also add chả cá – fried fish cakes to serve.
3. How to Make Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang’s Noodle Soup
Ingredients for cooking Bun Nuoc Leo
250g snakehead fish (cleaned)
200g Linh Mam
200g choke Mam
300g fresh shrimp (cleaned)
300g roast pork
100g wormwood noodles
500g fresh vermicelli (big stem)
Minced chili, minced lemongrass, minced red onion
Grated morning glory, grated banana, bean sprouts, herbs
Tools: Blender
How to cook the best Soc Trang noodle soup
Step 1: Prepare ingredients
First, bring snakehead fish, shrimp and roasted pork cut into bite-sized pieces. Then, put a pot of water and 1 tablespoon of salt on the stove, cook until the water boils, then drop the snakehead fish and shrimp in turn for about 2 minutes.
Step 2: Mix seasoning for broth
Cut wormwood noodles into pieces about 3-4cm long, then smash them. Then, put in the bowl 5g minced chili, 40g minced lemongrass, 20g minced purple onion and 50g cooking oil, stir well. When done, put the pan on the stove, add this cup of ingredients, and fry until fragrant.
Next, put in another bowl 5g salt, 14g soup powder, 70g alum sugar, 5g cashew oil, 10g satay and 80g Mam, stir well. This will be the seasoning for the broth.
Step 3: Cook broth
First, put 200g of Linh Mam, 200g of choke Mam and 200ml of water into a blender, grind until the mixture is smooth. Then, put the Mam mixture and add 2 liters of water to the pot, cook until it boils, then turn off the heat and let it settle.
When the mixture has settled (the upper part is clear, the lower part is cloudy), we will skillfully pour the clear water into another pot, then add 1 liter of water, the mixture has just turned yellow, and the seasoning cup (salt, flour) and 100g of wormwood vermicelli in the same pot. Put the pot on the stove and cook until it boils. So it’s done.
Step 4: Finished Product
When eating, we will put vermicelli in a bowl, then arrange shrimp, squid, roasted pork, vegetables, and add the broth. The noodles are fresh and delicious with the sweet and chewy shrimp, the snakehead fish is soft and melted, the squid is crispy and crunchy, and the roasted pork is delicious. All immersed in a bowl of clear broth, creating the authentic taste of the dish.
4. Pro tips
Here are our tips for easing your mind (and stomach) around food-handling environments that you may not be used to.
Make sure the food is freshly cooked. If you’re eating hot street food, it’s always safest (not to mention more delicious) to eat food you can see being cooked to order.
Look for lines and busy stalls. Busy street food stalls are an indicator of popularity, and their high turnover rate means the food is never sitting out for hours and developing dreaded bacteria. Yes, long lines can be discouraging when you’re hungry after a full day of exploring, but it’s not worth the risk of grabbing precooked food from the empty spot next door.
Eat when the locals are eating. The last and most important element here is when to eat. You’re likely already on a weird eating schedule while you’re traveling, but it’s important to try and adjust to the eating times of where you are. A bowl of pho might be lunch for Americans, but it’s breakfast for the Vietnamese. This ensures that you’re eating freshly cooked food and that you can find the best and most popular places to eat.
If you can’t drink the water, then you can’t eat the salad. Most people get so hung up on not drinking the water or skipping ice in drinks that they don’t think about all of the other ways in which water is used in food service. Fruits and vegetables tend to be washed with tap water in most places, rather than the filtered water that locals drink—or sometimes it’s not washed at all. If you’re really craving some produce, try fruits you can peel or cooked veggies.
Trust your gut. If you’re unsure about the food or the way that it’s being prepared, then keep moving. Eating street food all over the world doesn’t make you an expert. Every stall and every country are different, and sometimes the rules can be harder to follow. When something doesn’t look, smell, or feel right, don’t eat it! Trust your judgment. Chances are that there’s another spot close by that’s making something more delicious.
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Can Tho: Co Ut’s Cong cake, Ut Dzach Fine Rice Vermicelli, Thanh Van Grilled Pork Sausage, Crab Noodle Soup At Floating Market, Scorched Rice with Caramelized Fish Sauce, 7-Toi’s Duck Meat Pancake, Banh Mi Thuy, Banana Blossom Salad, Fried Spring Rolls, Fresh Spring Rolls, Fetal duck egg (balut), Honeycomb Cake, Mini Sticky Rice Cake, Cassava Silkworm Cake, Grilled Banana Wrapped in Sticky Rice, Khmer-style Bun Goi Da Soup, Egg Coffee, Con Son Grilled Snakehead Fish, Bun Mam – Fermented Fish Noodle Soup, Lau Mam – Fermented Fish Hotpot, Grilled Snails with Pepper, Magenta Sticky Rice Cake, Duck cooked with Fermented Tofu, Rice Noodle Pizza, Vegetarian Noodle Soup, Snails Stuffed With Pork…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Chau Doc: Chau Doc Fish Noodle Soup, Sugar Palm Fruit, Basa Fish Hot Pot, Mam (Fermented fish), Phu Huong Beef Noodle Soup, Broken Rice with Pork Chop, Long Xuyen Broken Rice, Nui Cam Pancake, O Thum’s Chicken Grilled with Lime Leaves, Stir-fried Shrimp with Sesbania Flower, Sweet & Sour Soup with Siamese Mud Carp Soup & Sesbania Flower, Caramelized & Braised Catfish, Grilled Rice-field Rat with Salt and Chili…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Soc Trang: Pia Cake, Cong Cake (Banh Cong), Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang’s Noodle Soup, Soc Trang’s Bun Goi Da Soup, Duck Noodle Soup with black Pepper, Curry Noodle Soup, Grilled Beef on Tile, Khmer-style Tube Cake, Khmer-style Mung Bean Cake (Banh In), Dried Radish (Xa Bau), Stir-Fried Noodles with Seafood (Mi Sua), Soc Trang’s Green Rice Flakes…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ben Tre: Phu Le Rice Wine, Ben Tre’s Coconut Candy, Flat Banana, Coconut Rice, Snail Pancake, Sea Snail with Coconut Milk, Coconut Worm, Young Coconut Salad with Shrimp & Pork, Son Doc Puff Rice Paper…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Cai Be: Puffed Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Vinh Long: Elephant Ear Fish (fried giant gourami)…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in My Tho: Fried Sticky Rice, Snakehead Fish Rice Porridge, Hu Tieu My Tho (Noodle Soup), Coconut Banana Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Tra Vinh: Macapuno Coconut, Bun Nuoc Leo Tra Vinh’s Noodle Soup, Tra Cuon’s Sticky Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Sadec: Sa Dec Noodle Soup, Sadec Crab Hotpot, Lai Vung Spring Rolls, Sa Giang Shrimp Puff Pastry, Lai Vung Tangerine…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Bac Lieu: Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, Bac Lieu’s Three-striped Crab, White Radish Pies, Bac Lieu Thick Noodles & Creamy Coconut Milk, Bon Bon Pickles…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ca Mau: Banh tam ga cay (Silkworm rice cake with curried chicken), Grilled Vop clams with salt and pepper, Grilled Mudskipper Fish, Stone Crab Roast With Salt, Young Bee Salad, Nam Can’s Crab, U Minh Forest’s Honey, U Minh’s Fermented Fish Hotpot…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Hau Giang: Cau Duc Pineapple, Cai Tac’s Pork Organs Porridge, Hau Giang’s Bronze Featherback Fish Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ha Tien: Herring Fish Salad, Spider crab cake soup, Ken Noodle soup, Xoi Xiem (Siamese sticky rice), Steamed Noodle soup, Ha Tien Oyster porridge…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Rach Gia: Stir Noodle Soup, Kien Giang Fish Noodle Soup…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Con Dao: Bang nut jam, Vu Nang Snail, Roasted Pork Bread (Banh Mi), Coconut Ice Cream…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Phu Quoc: Phu Quoc Sim Wine, Phu Quoc Pepper, Phu Quoc fish sauce…
Hopefully, the above tips will help you to come up with a great plan for your adventure in Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. Have a safe trip!
“Sleep less, travel more, respect more” – Thomas Vietnam – Local travel expert.
Thank you
