we're going deep into the street food scene of Saigon.

This Vietnamese street food video

is packed with delicacies you're gonna love,

and some you might not,

but you're definitely gonna want to see them,

like coconut worms, quill egg balut, and more.

Let's go.

Alright, so check it out.

It's Trevor James, I just got into Saigon, Vietnam.

I'm so pumped because today we're going

for a full-on street food tour.

Let's check it out.

(upbeat music)

This is it.

Saigon.

The home of southern Vietnamese street food delicacies.

As you travel from Hanoi down south to Saigon overland,

you can find different street foods in each city,

and we came to search for the best street food in Vietnam.

So, our final stop was in Saigon.

Sometimes, you just gotta hit the street,

and eat at the random hole-in-the-walls

to get a true feel for the local street food scene,

and that's exactly what we did.

So, make sure to watch all the way until the end,

because we found a ton of unique

southern Vietnamese street food delicacies

that you're not gonna wanna miss.

Let's eat.

Alright, so we just got in to Saigon

and the streets are packed.

There's so much food around and I'm hungry.

Bright and early.

We're gonna go see what we can find.

First up, we found a huge bustling alleyway morning market

offering everything you can imagine.

Here, we were searching for something delicious,

and after a quick walk,

found some back alley pho that blew our minds.

It is so busy in here.

This is the morning rush.

You can see everyone is going to work.

All these motorbikes.

It's like a sea of motorbikes.

Wow.

Look at this.

It's all here.

Now, this is usually where you find the good stuff.

All the action.

Whoa, look at those squid.

Oh, yeah.

Cleaning the fish.

This lady's got a nice of bowl of soup with her chicken.

Wow.

It is busy.

Let's go see if we can get anything to eat.

So, we're gonna go even deeper into an alleyway,

see what we can get back in the deep tunnels of Saigon.

Wow, here we go guys.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Pho?

- Pho.

- Pho.

(speaking Vietnamese)

- This is where you find the soul of street food,

deep in the alleyways.

And this is where you can find the real flavors

of the countries you visit.

And here, deep in the Saigon streets,

you can taste your first bowl of pho

and be blown away with the flavor.

The broth.

(Speaking Vietnamese)

Ooh, I think that's a little oyster sauce,

some chili.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Wow, look at this.

Deep in the back alleys of Saigon

we just found a random pho joint.

Oh yeah, she put in some hoisin,

a little chili,

lots of vermicelli rice noodles.

Oh, some pretty rare beef.

Oh, wow!

Look at that.

That is gonna start the day off right.

Wow.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Whoa.

(speaking Vietnamese)

That is just worth the trip here.

That broth is quite peppery

and really, really rich,

complex and nutritious.

Oh, that beef flavor.

Oh, pho.

Oh, that is real street pho, here.

This is what it's all about,

going deep into the street scene.

And after that incredibly flavorsome pho,

we continued back to the market

to see what else we can find

and couldn't help but stop for a durian,

the incredibly pungent and stinky fruit

that's banned from many places in Asia

for it's distinct stench.

Oh, look at these.

(laughing)

Oh.

Wow.

(speaking Vietnamese)

There it is.

My first Vietnamese durian.

(woman speaking Vietnamese)

Okay. Let's try it out.

Okay.

Wow.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Okay.

Vietnamese durian.

Wow.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Look at that.

Oh, that is a tender one.

That is soft.

I prefer soft durian,

so let's try it out.

Oh.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Oh, that is actually really good.

It is so soft,

creamy, custard-y,

and sweet.

So sweet.

I love it when it's this soft mushiness.

That is the best.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Bye.

Amazing.

After that potent, custard-y durian,

we continued exploring the market

and found another classic dish.

The bun rieu.

A super smooth tomato and crab broth

rice noodle soup that's absolutely to die for.

It's found over the street corners of Saigon

and you'll love it on your first sip.

She's just making one after the other of bun rieu.

There's the vermicelli.

There it is.

I think that's like a crab cake

or a pork cake with some herbs in it,

wrapped around a banana leaf.

And then, tofu puffs,

tomatoes, blood cubes,

and I think that broth is a pork broth.

Or sorry. I think that broth is a crab broth

with a little bit of ground pork

and freshwater crab.

Oh, blood cubes.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Nice.

Wow.

Oh, and then here's the herbs.

Nice.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Oh, yeah.

This--

I've been looking forward to trying this for so long.

We have the bun rieu.

Oh, wow.

This is a classic dish.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Fish sauce?

(speaking Vietnamese)

Okay.

Oh, that's like a fermented fish sauce.

Oh, just a little.

You gotta be careful with that.

And then, I'm gonna add some basil, mint,

I think there's banana blossom, bean sprouts.

Oh, wow.

And this is like a freshwater crab base broth.

Mix it up.

Oh, you can just smell the crab.

That crab broth is just infiltrating the nostrils.

Mmm.

That broth.

It's like a light crab broth

with a bit of tomato-infused flavor in there.

It's good.

- Really?

- Yeah. I like that.

Really nice. - Yes.

- Oh, the crab flavor is good.

Vietnam has blown my mind.

Dish after dish of pure joy.

This is what it's about.

After that delicious street food stall,

we made our way for another street food lunch.

Only one meal later,

we'll be meeting up with our friend, Sonny,

who took us to eat some of Saigon's craziest street snacks.

But first, we dine on the street

enjoying a classic Saigon dish,

the Com Tam broken rice specialty,

where broken rice grains are served alongside lemongrass

and garlic marinated pork and chicken.

You'll fall in love.

It's just dish after dish of joy here in Saigon.

And when there's smoke,

you know it's gonna be good.

Let's go see what we've got up here.

I think this is Com Tam,

south Vietnamese broken rice specialty.

Oh, yeah. Let's go try it out.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Com Tam.

- Com Tam?

- Com Tam.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Wow. Look at this.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Oh, yeah. Look at all this chicken on the grill.

Oh, wow.

Con Tam.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Wow.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Oh, yeah.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Okay.

Awesome.

Con Tam on the street in Saigon.

So, this is the broken rice.

We just stumbled on this one in the back streets, here.

I'm not sure if this is gonna be excellent or average,

but this is the broken rice.

The rice, actually, is like split in half.

It comes with this grilled chicken and pork

and some green onions,

a fried egg,

some pickled carrot,

radish, and cucumber.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Pour some nuoc cham.

(speaking Vietnamese)

Okay. Just a little.

Let's try it out.

Mmm.

The nuoc cham is quite sweet.

Oh, and you can see what they marinated in here.

It's like a really--

It's like a slightly sweet and garlicky marinade.

Mmm.

This pork is a little dry,

I gotta be honest,

but that flavor!

Oh, look at this with the egg.

That is a filling Saigon specialty.

Now, we're getting into the serious business.

I met up with my friend, Sonny,

who took me to try some of the craziest

street food that you can imagine in Saigon.

You won't believe what you're about to see.

- All right, my friend.

Welcome to the rainy season in Saigon.

- Rainy. It's wet.

I'm loving it.

So, we've got a bunch of food to try today?

- Absolutely.

The theme for today is

looks strange, tastes good.

- Okay.

- So, you've had a ton of food in Vietnam so far.

- Yeah.

- All of it looked really delicious.

- Yep.

- And you're gonna see a couple of unusual things today.

- I'm excited.

- Hopefully some stuff you haven't tried yet.

- Yes.

Let's check it out.

- Check it out.

- We're going for something live?

- Yes. It's gonna be alive until you chew it to death.