What should you buy at a Vietnamese wet market or supermarket, and what is worth carrying home?

Fish sauce, and why the brand matters here

Nuoc mam is the backbone. Vietnamese fish sauce is generally lighter and sharper than the Thai style, and the first-press grades from Phu Quoc are the ones worth seeking out.

The label usually carries a nitrogen figure — a higher number means more protein and a stronger, better sauce.

Mam tom is fermented shrimp paste, much stronger, used in dips and in bun dau. Buy it sealed and double-bag it.

The dry goods that travel best

Rice paper (banh trang) for fresh rolls, and dried rice noodles in the widths used for pho and bun. Both are light and unbreakable.

Chilli sauce — Chin-su and Cholimex are the two brands you will see — is sweet-hot and used as a dipping sauce rather than as a cooking ingredient.

Coffee is the real souvenir. Vietnamese coffee is dark-roasted, often with robusta, and brewed in a metal phin filter. Trung Nguyen is the widely stocked brand.

Condensed milk is not optional if you want to make ca phe sua da at home — the drink is coffee, condensed milk and ice, and nothing else.

Cashews are excellent value, and dried mango and lotus seeds are the snacks worth bringing back.

Herbs are the thing supermarkets cannot do

A Vietnamese meal arrives with a plate of raw herbs: mint, coriander, Thai basil, perilla, fish mint, and sometimes banana flower. Supermarkets sell a sad subset. The market sells the whole plate for very little.

The same applies to morning glory (rau muong), water spinach, and the various leaves that go into bun and goi cuon.

Buy herbs in the morning. They are cut that morning and they wilt by evening.

Tet reshapes the shelves entirely

In the weeks before Tet, the lunar new year, supermarkets fill with gift hampers, candied fruit (mut), watermelon seeds and banh chung or banh tet — sticky rice cakes with pork and mung bean, wrapped in leaves.

Prices for some goods rise and certain fresh items disappear as markets close for several days. Stock up before, not during.

After Tet, prices settle and the gift displays come down quickly.

Practical notes

Prices are quoted in thousands of dong in speech. A spoken 20 means twenty thousand.

Cash dominates, especially at markets. Cards work in supermarkets, malls and convenience stores.

Bargaining is expected at markets, not in supermarkets. Markets also quote tourists differently, so ask more than one stall.

Motorbike markets — informal roadside stalls — are common and cheap, but do not buy pre-cut fruit that has been sitting in the sun.

Frequently asked questions