Hủ tiếu Nam Vang (Phnom Penh rice noodle soup) is a popular breakfast dish in Ho Chi Minh City, and is among the must-eat list for visitors who come by. Ho Chi Minh is also known for many other popular dishes like the world-acclaimed phở (beef noodle soup), bánh mì (Vietnamese sandwiches), xôi (sticky rice), and cơm tấm(broken rice). The dish is said to have originated from Cambodia and was brought into Saigon by Vietnamese-Cambodians during the 1970s. Locals added some Vietnamese touch to the borrowed dish and made it their own.

Yet they never failed to recognize the food’s origin by naming it after its origin. Nam Vang is the Vietnemese word for Phnom Penh. At its core, hu tieu (pronounced "hoo tee-u") refers to Chinese-Southeast Asian style noodle soup made with a pork bone broth and no fish sauce. When you're in Saigon or elsewhere in the Mekong Delta region, there's bound to be hu tieu noodle soup stall practically in every corner and alley. But a bowl of hu tieu in one stall can look and taste differently from the next as there are many varieties of this dish.

  Even in the ingredients used in each bowl can vary greatly. The noodles used to create a hu tieu dish can be chewy clear tapioca noodles, opaque white rice noodles like you'd use for pho noodle soup, or thin Chinese egg noodles (mi). The toppings used may be as confusing which can be a combination of all or some of  different meat and spices including boneless pork, pork ribs, pork offal, shrimp, squid, wonton dumplings, fried garlic, fried shallot, and/or scallion. The dish may be served khô (dry) where the noodles and the soup are placed in two separate bowls; or nước (wet) where everything is served altogether in a single bowl. As usual, the diner will pick and choose according to his preference. In a sense, Hu tieu is the extreme have-it-your-way Vietnamese food experience.

  But no matter what variety of Hu tieu you are served, the dish’s basic ingredients are the same: the pork broth, toppings of minced pork, pork slices, pieces of pork offal, prawns, and quail eggs garnished with lettuce leaves, bean sprouts, garlic chives, celery and Chrysanthemum greens. The most famous variants of hủ tiếu Nam Vang are in My Tho Town of Tien Giang Province, and Sa Dec Town of Dong Thap Province, both in the Mekong Delta. The two variants use the chewy and glassy type of noodles yet the My Tho variant uses more toppings and utilizes squid. The other is a simpler version, yet as sumptuous. If you are are to look for the most authentic version of the dish, you need not take a trip to Cambodia.

Though many places around Saigon serve Hu tieu, the Phu Quy Restaurant is said to prepare the dish just as close as the original Kuy Tiev, only with minor adjustments to make it suitable to local taste buds. Located at 84 Ho Thi Ky, Ward 14, District 10, known to be where many Vietnamese-Cambodian reside, the restaurant has been around for 40 years. At VND30,000 , you will have a hearty bowl of Hu tieu that has been perfected for decades. When asked, they would always recommend having it served dry. Phu Quy Restaurant is available daily between 5:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m.