Sai Gon scrumptious fast foods are most typical for breakfasts. They cover quite a wide range, extending from crispy fragrant baguettes, pressed balls of steamed glutinous rice wrapped up in banana leaves to hot Vietnamese-type dumplings on hands.
If the vibes of Sai Gon during weekends might be slow and leisured as people tend to stay home and escape from the stresses and strains, then the weekdays brings about an opposite impression of busy and vibrant movements. On those days, the citizens of Sai Gon might refuse a hot bowl of noodles to press on with light and convenient breakfasts which are often known under the name of “Sai Gon Fast Foods.”
Here are the five most typical fast foods in Sai Gon:
1. Baguettes (Banh mi)
Often a baguette or sandwich takes the owner only five minutes to prepare. And the stuffing of breads are widely varied, even for vegetarians. Most popular kinds of baguettes for breakfasts are baguettes with the stuffing of grilled pork, salmon, pork bologna, cheese with sugar and sunny side-up eggs. Guest targets of baguette stalls might mostly be students and college students. A baguette’s price usually varies from 10,000 to 15,000 VND.
2. Miscellaneous glutinous rice kinds
Glutinous rice can be separated into two main kinds, sweet glutinous rice and seasoned glutinous rice. Sweet glutinous rice is usually wrapped up in banana leaves and worth from 5,000 to 7,000 VND while the latter kind is put in a paper pox and worth from 10,000 to 15,000 VND. Budget price it is generally; that is why many people choose to have glutinous rice for breakfasts. Sweet glutinous rice kinds are also often more varied than seasoned glutinous rice kinds, expanding from glutinous rice mixed with peanuts, green peas, gac fruits, corns and glutinous rice cooked with split peas. A good pack or box of glutinous rice must contains fragrant viscous rice, well-cooked peanuts or green peas, sweet sesame and salt and rice must be covered with a coconut layer.
3. Vietnamese dumplings
Dumplings should be eaten while still hot, since their covers which are made of wheat flour easily get hard and tough, making them not as much tasty as the hot ones. The stuffing kinds of dumplings are quite various, including chopped pork, shumai, quail eggs and salted duck eggs.
4. Meat pies (banh gio)
If a single dumpling should be enough for your scrumptious breakfast then you would need twice or three times of that number when it comes about meat pies. Meat pies, or more specifically, pyramidal rice dumplings are a kind of dumplings which are of smaller sizes, pyramidal shapes and the flavor that is closely attached to many Sai Gon locals’ childhoods.
5. Steamed rolled rice pancakes (banh uot, banh cuon)
Most rice pancake stores usually prepare the food early and put it in a paper box when guests come to order. You can eat the food anytime, just open the box, pour in the fish sauce and enjoy. A box of steamed rolled rice pancakes costs about 13,000 to 15,000 VND.
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