Vietnamese baguette ranked 7th in world’s top 50 best street foods: TasteAtlas

Banh mi is a popular Vietnamese variety of sandwiches. Photo: VNA

TasteAtlas, a website dedicated to discovering fresh ingredients, traditional dishes, and authentic restaurants around the world, has recognised Vietnamese baguette, known locally as banh mi, as the 7th best street food in the world.

According to the site, banh mi (pronounced 'bun mee') is a popular Vietnamese variety of sandwiches that shares the same core ingredient of a baguette.

The baguette was brought over to Vietnam during the colonial period, and nowadays it is one of the few remaining legacies from the time. In the beginning, most banh mi sandwiches consisted of bread, meat, and seasonings, with no added vegetables.

Guotie from China came in first place in the latest TasteAtlas ranking. The pan-fried variety of the Chinese jiaozi dumpling is a Northern Chinese dumpling typically filled with minced pork, Chinese cabbage, scallions, ginger, rice wine, and sesame seed oil.

Roti canai, the Malaysian breakfast of champions, placed second.

Meanwhile, Spain's espetos claimed third position, followed by tacos, the national dish of Mexico.

Another Mexican favourite, carnitas, a dish made from pork that is braised, roasted, or slow-cooked in its fat until it is fully tender and succulent ranked 5th.

Japanese kaarage ranked sixth. Karaage is a Japanese frying technique that is often used to prepare chicken. The chicken is marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sake, and sugar, then coated with arrowroot starch and deep-fried.

Other street foods that made the top 10 ranked by TasteAtlas including peirogi (8th), a stuffed dumpling from Poland, and esquites (9th), a Mexican street food that is typically consumed as a snack on the go. It is made with mature corn kernels, epazote, and salt.

Cochinita pibil, a Mexican pork dish originating from Yucatan, grabbed the 10th spot.

TasteAtlas is considered one of the world's most prestigious traditional culinary experience travel guide websites, with a catalog of more than 10,000 types of food and drink from around the world. The recipes posted on this website are appreciated by food critics and journalists.

VNA