Cao lầu

/kaːw˧ ləw˨˩/COW LOW

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Noodles & pasta
Hội An

When: Lunch & dinner
Taste: Savory
Made with: PorkWheat & flour

History

Cao lầu is the noodle dish of Hội An. Its noodles are made from rice soaked in lye water, which gives them a chewy, springy texture and a yellowish colour; local legend says the lye must come from the ash of plants from the Cham Islands and the water from the old Bá Lễ well, which is why the dish is rarely found outside Hội An. The noodles are served with very little broth over herbs and bean sprouts, topped with slices of char siu-style pork and crisp fried squares of the same dough. The Vietnamese source says cao lầu appeared in the seventeenth century, when Chinese and Japanese merchants traded at Hội An's port and brought their own food cultures.

Sources

Cao lầu (Wikipedia) read 2026-11-01
Cao lầu (vi Wikipedia) read 2026-11-01

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How to pronounce Cao lầu

In the International Phonetic Alphabet it is /kaːw˧ ləw˨˩/. In plain English letters that is COW LOW, with the stress on the syllable in capitals. There is no recording by a native speaker yet, so use the spelling and the IPA.

What is Cao lầu?

Cao lầu is a noodle dish of Vietnam. Where it comes from: Hội An. People usually eat it at lunch or dinner. Its main ingredients are pork and wheat & flour. It tastes savory.

Where Cao lầu comes from

Cao lầu is one of 36 signature dishes of Vietnam on this map.

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Bánh mì · Street food · Saigon
Bánh mì first meant simply "wheat bread", the baguette the French brought to Vietnam in the 19th century.
Bún chả · Noodles & pasta · Hanoi
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Bún thang · Noodles & pasta · Hanoi
Bún thang is one of Hanoi's most painstaking noodle soups; the Vietnamese source estimates that it needs about twenty ingredients.

Food of Vietnam

Dishes like Cao lầu in other countries

Same type of dish and similar main ingredients as Cao lầu:

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Wonton noodles are a noodle dish of Cantonese origin.
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Tuaran mee is a Sabah noodle dish from the town of Tuaran on the northwest coast of the state.
Lomi · Noodles & pasta · Batangas, Philippines
Lomi, or pancit lomi, is a Filipino noodle soup made with thick fresh egg noodles about a quarter of an inch across, soaked in lye water to give them more bite.
Danzai noodles 擔仔麵 · Noodles & pasta · Tainan, Taiwan
Danzai noodles, tàⁿ-á-mī in Taiwanese, are a small bowl of noodles in shrimp-flavoured broth, topped with bean sprouts, coriander, garlic, a shrimp and a spoon of minced pork sauce.