Bread was first made popular in Vietnam by the French since 1859, but a source from the Ho Chi Minh City’s Tourism Department said it could have been present in the country earlier than that, through trade and commerce with Europeans.

Professional chef Pham Tuan Hai, who is an addict of banh my, said famous and popular Vietnamese banh my include banh my thit (bread with pork), banh my xiu mai (bread with pork and shrimp balls), banh my cha ca (bread with grilled chopped fish), banh my heo quay (bread with roasted pork), banh my ga nuong (bread with roasted chicken), banh my op la (bread with sunny-side up egg), banh my cha lua (bread with pork paste) and banh my que (breadstick).

“I like banh my xiu mai very much. Xiu mai is small minced pork and shrimp balls. It is eaten with special sauce and fresh herbs,” Hai said, adding that he also likes to enjoy a crispy bread with its filling of grilled chopped fish accompanied with fresh onion, coriander, cucumber, fried dried onion topped with aromatic flavour sauce.

Hải said that his wife is a fan of crispy bread with a filling of roasted chicken, fresh carrot threads, cucumber, lettuce and others herbs. She also likes banh my cha lua, a characteristic northern style. 

John Henry, from the US, who joined the first Bread Festival held in HCM City last year, said, “I enjoyed Vietnamese bread and its tasty fillings so much. I tried banh my with egg and traditional banh my with pork and roasted chicken.”

In 2020, Vietnamese bread was for the first time presented on the Google homepage of more than 10 world nations.

In 2018, CNN named Hoi An bread “king of sandwiches in the world”. Meanwhile, the renowned tourism magazine Fodor voted Vietnamese bread among the 30 tastiest sandwiches in the world that people should try.

In 2017, Rough Guides from the UK voted Vietnamese bread one of tastiest dishes in the world. In the same year Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull enjoyed his bread breakfast on a Da Nang street.

The World Records Union in 2016 recognised Vietnamese banh my and bun cha (grilled pork and rice noodle) among top 100 most famous dishes in the world and in 2014 the Vietnamese banh my created a fever when it was ranked in the top 20 best street foods in the world by Huffington Post, a prestigious website in the US.

The National Geographic in 2013 voted Vietnamese bread as one of best 11 street dishes in the world. The US Conde’ Nast Traveler also listed it among 12 best street food in the globe. The Guardian in 2012 praised Vietnamese banh my “the tastiest sandwich in the world.”/.VNS