Hue is one of the economic, cultural, and culinary centers in Vietnam. Hue food is really plentiful with several specialities which are famous throughout the country.
Com Hen (Rice with
mussels)
Com
Hen is a unique cuisine of Hue. Com Hen contains rice, boiled mussel, star
fruit, fish sauce, cabbage, onion, pepper, peanut, chili, and a variety of
herbs. The specialty is that all of these elements are cold.
When
people eat Com Hen, they add all the ingredients to a bowl, and slowly add
boiled mussel broth with chili sauce into the bowl.
Com
Hen has an extremely spicy flavor as such, so gastronomes remember it just
after one time.
Bun Bo Hue (Hue style
beef vermicelli)
Bun bo Hue or Bun bo gio heo (beef and pig's knuckle vermicelli) is a popular
Vietnamese vermicelli dish, and one of the most typical foods of Hue.
Fine
combination of ingredients makes the food famous; the broth is prepared by
simmering beef and bones for a long period of time, and after that a large
range of different spices containing lemongrass and chili are added. Shrimp
paste holds no less importance.
Hue
people usually add thin slices of beef shank, chunks of boiled oxtail, and
pig's knuckles or pork into the bowl. It can also contain cubes of congealed
pig blood, which are good for those suffering from high blood pressure.
The
specialty is commonly served with a plenty of herbs like sprouts, lime wedges,
cilantro sprigs, onions, and sliced banana blossoms. Thinly sliced purple
cabbage and iceberg lettuce are used as a substitute for banana blossom.
Banh Beo (Water fern
cake)
Banh
beo is a kind of small steamed rice pancake. The name refers to the shape of
the cake (like a water fern - beo in Vietnamese).
It
is white in color, sometimes nearly transparent and usually has a dimple in the
center, which is covered with savory recipes including chopped dried or fresh
shrimp, scallions, mung bean paste, crispy fried shallots, fish sauce, rice
vinegar, and oil.
Banh khoai (pancake)
Banh
khoai is like Banh xeo (sizzling pancake) since they both are made from rice
flour, water, turmeric powder, slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and
then pan fried.
Banh
khoai and Banh xeo also are wrapped in mustard leaf, lettuce leaves or rice
paper, and stuffed with variety of herbs like mint and basil and served with a
sweet and sour mixed sauce.
In
Hue, Banh khoai is placed open-face instead of being folded in half like Banh xeo.
Moreover, Banh khoai always goes with a fermented soy bean sauce, and people
consider it a winter food owing to its greasiness and spicy taste of the sauce.
Therefore,
most Hue citizens only make them during winter.
Mam tom chua (Sour
shrimp sauce)
The
central region of Vietnam is reputable for its Mam tom chua (sour shrimp sauce)
and Hue is the best place for this unique sauce.
Unlike
normal shrimp sauce (brown color and smooth surface), Sour shrimp sauce has
orange color while shrimp keeps its original shape.
It
is quite simple to make this sauce. First, shrimp are cleaned with salt water
and “cook” with strong rice wine. The shrimp will turn red.
After
that, carefully mix the shrimp with sticky rice, sliced galangal, garlic and
chili. Slowly put all the mixture into a jar covered by guava leaves. Just need
to wait for 5-7 days for the mouthwatering sour shrimp sauce of our own making.
This
is the best sauce for boiled pork with vermicelli.
By VNN