mì tôm

Vietnamese edit

Etymology edit

From mì (“noodles”) +‎ tôm (“shrimp”), so called because early instant noodles were supposedly shrimp-flavored (the packages were also illustrated with shrimp patterns).

Pronunciation edit

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [mi˨˩ tom˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [mɪj˦˩ tom˧˧]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [mɪj˨˩ tom˧˧]

Noun edit

mì tôm

(literal) shrimp-flavored instant noodles
(by extension) Synonym of mì ăn liền (“instant noodles”)