“Fresh noodle soup with fish” cooked by the heart of the chef

Hai Tam restaurant, located at Phan Boi Chau St, Number 6, Vinh Thanh Van ward in Rach Gia province, sells fresh rice noodle soup with fish is located in. Mrs. Hai Tam (her real name is Vien Thi Lien) sells it since she was 16 years old; she is now 76 years old. Every day she walks about 10 km with a hawker stall on her shoulders. Life in Rach Gia province was up and down during the war, but she continued selling the dish until she could open a shop. 60 years is a lifetime. Time has changed many things, but Mrs. Hai Tam still keeps the same recipe for the soup, even handing it down to her youngest daughter in law.

Her youngest daughter in law has inherited the recipe from Mrs. Hai Tam and continues to sell the famous fresh rice noodle soup.

Snakefish from U Minh Thuong area has a back black and a white belly, and is low in fat. When it weighs between 700 grams to 1 kilogram it is ideal for cooking because its meat is mature and sweet. They are kept live and bought from the market, then cooked immediately while still fresh. If it is kept on ice it loses its sweetness.

If the fish has two eggs in yellow then the bowl of soup will look more delicious. The chef should wake up about 3:00 am to clean the fish, boil it and de-bone. The water used to boil the fish becomes the broth.

Besides snakefish there is also white shrimp. Some places use salt water shrimp because they retain the saltiness when cooked together with the snakefish, as opposed to the more sweet taste of white shrimp. This combination depends on the decision of the chef, and each of them has its own taste and flavor. After seasoning the shrimp they are first stir-fried to firm the texture, then sauteed with fat to turn the shrimp pink and shiny.

Some places will sauté the shrimp with a curry or egg yolk until, or some restaurants also grind the shrimp and steam it, but Mrs. Hai Tam doesn’t do it this way because she thinks that the typical taste of the shrimp will be lost. It is also the most differential point of Mrs. Hai Tam’s shop compared with others. Besides that, her shop also sells special appetizers, such as the chopped Chinese onion, mixed with vinegar and sugar and “bánh cóng”- a deep fried rice powder cake with shrimp in the middle.

Kien Giang has a great, cool morning breeze. The purple lagerstroemia was blooming along Phan Boi Chau Street and made my heart flutter. In front of me was a hot bowl of fresh rice noodle soup with fish, still smoking and emanating the flavor of a rustic folk dish. Its color also attracts diners. Featured on the white background from the noodles is the red color of the shrimp, slices of white fish and the green of chopped scallions, with red dashes of chili and crispy “bánh cóng”. Served with this noodle soup is morning glory, bean sprouts, herbs, lettuce and fish sauce from Phu Quoc – the most famous brand.

Diners eat this to not only fill up their stomachs, but also to taste the sweet flavor from the snakefish, the smell of fried garlic, the heat of the chili; they come together to create a very special flavor, typical for Rach Gia province. It is very hard to forget.

The owner of Shop 352 makes a different style of the fresh rice noodle soup with fish.

Besides Mrs. Hai Tam’s shop you also can go to Shop 352 or others located on Mac Cuu Street. Each of them has its own recipe, but all of them make “Kien Giang fresh rice noodle soup with fish”. It has become one of the most popular and representative dishes for the southwest provinces. It has also become a reason for visitors to come to Kien Giang and sing from the song:

Who come to Rach Gia, Kien Giang

Try a bowl of fresh rice noodle soup with fish cooked by the heart of the chef

Acording to V.H
Dan Tri Newspaper

Extracted from articles written especially for 2014 Golden Spoon contest called “A journey of finding traditional rustic dishes.”