You found a recipe for phở or bún chả, and now you need the ingredients. This guide covers the Vietnamese pantry staples worth keeping at home, what to look for on the label, and where to buy them in Australia, from the supermarket aisle to the Vietnamese grocers in Cabramatta, Footscray and Inala. It’s a shopping guide, not a recipe site: for recipes we link out to the cooks who do that best.
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The short list: 12 staples that cover most dishes
| Staple | Vietnamese name | Used in | Supermarket? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish sauce | nước mắm | Almost everything: dipping sauce, marinades, broths | Yes |
| Rice paper | bánh tráng | Fresh rolls (gỏi cuốn), fried spring rolls | Yes |
| Rice vermicelli | bún | Bún chả, bún thịt nướng, rolls | Yes |
| Flat rice noodles | bánh phở | Phở | Sometimes (dried) |
| Hoisin sauce | tương đen | Phở table sauce, dipping sauce for rolls | Yes |
| Chilli sauce (sriracha-style) | tương ớt | Phở and noodle-soup table sauce | Yes |
| Phở spices | hồi, quế, đinh hương, thảo quả | Star anise, cassia cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom for broth | Partly |
| Rock sugar | đường phèn | Clear, rounded sweetness in phở broth | Rarely |
| Fermented shrimp paste | mắm tôm / mắm ruốc | Bún bò Huế, bún đậu mắm tôm | No |
| Fried shallots | hành phi | Topping for noodles, rice and bánh cuốn | Sometimes |
| Vietnamese coffee | cà phê | Phin-filter coffee, usually robusta-heavy | Rarely |
| Sweetened condensed milk | sữa đặc | Cà phê sữa đá (iced milk coffee) | Yes |
What to look for, staple by staple
Fish sauce (nước mắm)
The one bottle you can’t skip. Many labels show a protein rating in degrees (for example “40°N”): the higher the number, the more concentrated and savoury the sauce. Check the ingredients too. The simplest premium sauces list just anchovy and salt; cheaper everyday sauces add water, sugar and flavour enhancers, which is fine for dipping sauce (nước chấm) where you dilute it anyway. Phú Quốc, an island off southern Vietnam, is the best-known origin. Plenty of the fish sauce sold in Australia is made in Thailand in a Vietnamese style, and many Vietnamese-Australian households use it every day.
Rice paper (bánh tráng)
Most packs are round, about 22 cm across, which suits fresh rolls. Many popular brands blend rice flour with tapioca starch, which makes the sheets more pliable and less likely to tear. We cover brands, sizes and where to buy in Where to Buy Rice Paper in Australia.
Noodles: bún vs bánh phở
Bún is round rice vermicelli, often labelled “rice stick” or “rice vermicelli”. Medium thickness is the all-rounder for bún chả and rolls. Bánh phở is the flat rice noodle for phở: dried versions keep for months; fresh ones from a Vietnamese grocer’s fridge are softer and closer to what restaurants serve. Don’t confuse either with glass noodles (miến), which are made from mung bean or other starches.
Phở spices and rock sugar
Star anise, cassia cinnamon and cloves are in most supermarket spice aisles. Black cardamom (thảo quả) and rock sugar usually mean a trip to an Asian grocer. Many grocers also sell ready-made phở spice bags and broth bases, which are a sensible shortcut if you make phở once in a while.
Shrimp paste (mắm tôm and mắm ruốc)
Pungent, fermented and essential for some regional dishes: mắm ruốc is part of the flavour of bún bò Huế, and mắm tôm is the purple dipping sauce served with bún đậu. You’ll find them in jars at Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian grocers, not in supermarkets. Store in the fridge once opened, with the lid tight.
Coffee and condensed milk
Vietnamese coffee is usually robusta or a robusta-arabica blend, roasted dark, sometimes with butter or other flavourings, and brewed slowly through a small metal phin filter. Vietnamese grocers stock imported ground coffee and phin filters; sweetened condensed milk is in every supermarket.
Fresh herbs
Herbs matter as much as anything in the pantry. Supermarkets have mint, coriander and sometimes Thai basil. For Vietnamese mint (rau răm), perilla (tía tô), sawtooth coriander (ngò gai) and fish mint (diếp cá), go to a Vietnamese grocer or market, where they’re fresher and much cheaper by the bunch.
Where to buy in Australia
Supermarkets: the basics
Coles, Woolworths and Aldi carry fish sauce, rice paper, rice vermicelli, hoisin, chilli sauce, condensed milk and the common phở spices in their international or Asian aisles. Range is narrow and brands are limited, but it’s enough for fresh rolls or a weeknight noodle salad.
Vietnamese and Asian grocers: everything else
For shrimp paste, rock sugar, fresh bánh phở, Vietnamese herbs, imported coffee and a real choice of fish sauce, head to a suburb with a large Vietnamese community. The best-known shopping strips are:
- Sydney: Cabramatta, Canley Vale and Bankstown in the south-west, plus Marrickville in the inner west.
- Melbourne: Footscray, St Albans and Sunshine in the west, Springvale in the south-east, and Victoria Street in Richmond.
- Brisbane: Inala and Darra.
- Perth: Girrawheen and Mirrabooka.
Our Eat in Australia section starts with Cabramatta in November, covering dishes, regional styles and prices suburb by suburb.
Online
If you’re not near a Vietnamese shopping strip, online Asian grocers deliver most dry staples (fish sauce, noodles, rice paper, spices, coffee) Australia-wide. Fresh herbs and fresh noodles are the exception. Kitchen gear such as phin filters, large stock pots and mortar-and-pestle sets is easy to buy from general online retailers. We’re comparing online grocers next; that guide will be linked here.
Storage tips
- Fish sauce keeps for a long time in a cool, dark cupboard. Some darkening is normal; refrigerating after opening slows it.
- Rice paper and dried noodles keep for months sealed and dry. Reseal opened packs so they don’t absorb moisture.
- Whole spices keep their aroma far longer than ground ones; store them airtight.
- Fresh herbs last longest wrapped in a damp paper towel in a container in the fridge.
Last checked: October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll check and correct it.
