Cao Lau

The signature dish of Hoi An: thick chewy noodles (traditionally made with water from a specific local well and lye-water-treated rice flour, giving them a distinctive yellow colour and chew unlike any other Vietnamese noodle), topped with thinly sliced char-siu-style pork, fresh herbs, bean sprouts, crispy croutons of fried noodle dough, and a small amount of intensely savoury broth (not a soup, the dish is barely wet). Soy sauce and five-spice register from the pork; the noodles themselves carry an alkaline mineral note that no other Vietnamese dish has. Distinctly Chinese-influenced compared to pho or bun cha. The wine must handle char-siu pork, the alkaline noodles, and the dry-bowl style.