Hue distinctive food

Hue food is processed in a sophisticated manner with colours more striking than northern and southern food. For example, according to Hanoian's conception, a standard bowl of noodle soup must have pure white broth. Meanwhile, according to Hue people's standards, a bowl of noodle soup must have not only opalescent broth but also an oily film on the surface, several green blades of onion and some scarlet slices of capsicum.

With popular spices like capsicum, onion, garlic, pepper, and saffron, Hue homemakers can create artistic dishes with special flavours. According to Hue people's criterion, a flavoursome course must be nourishing, delicious, and cheap. To reach these standards, the use of spices is very important. Hue people like sourness and bitterness so they do not use sugar and coconut milk as much as southerners. To create a harmony in flavour and taste, Hue homemakers attach importance to selecting spices rather than materials.

Historically, Hue was the capital of the last Vietnamese feudal regime and it was home to patricians and upper strata so the way of cooking of Hue people is meticulous. Till now, they still keep maintaining finicality in processing food. Hue food represents the art of seasoning, processing, and appreciation and is filled with deep philosophies. The followings are Hue special courses:

Banh beo (bloating fern-shaped cake) is made of rice flour. Firstly, rice flour is mixed with water, salt and fat and then it is cooked for several minutes. During this stage, the chef has to stir the rice flour all the time to prevent it from sticking together. After that, the rice flour is poured into round wood shapes or small round cups and steamed for 15 to 20 minutes. Finally, the chef strews stuffing (pounded shrimp fried with fat and dried onion and mixed with salt, pepper and mousoduim-glutamate) on the surface of pieces of steamed rice flour. Banh beo sauce is a mixture of garlic, capsicum, and fish sauce.

Banh khoai (plain rice flan) is also made from rice flour. Firstly, rice flour is mixed with cold water, salt, and sugar. When the shapes get hot enough, the chef coats them with fat, then pours rice flour into the shapes, strews stuffing (a combination of fried shrimp, lean meat and mushroom) and waits for the cakes cook. After that, the chef adds bean sprouts and covers a thin coat of egg yolk on the surface of the cakes and continues to steam. After several minutes, he folds the cakes in two and overturns them so that they are grilled crisply both two sides. Banh khoai is eaten with fresh vegetables such as fig, unripe bananas, mint, etc and dipped in sauce made of ground liver, soybean jam, peanuts, sesames and some spices like salt, capsicum, garlic and sugar.

Banh loc: The major material for making this kind of cake is kudzu powder. Firstly, the chef mixes kudzu power with boiled water and then squeezes and presses until the kudzu powder becomes well-kneaded. After that, he divides the dough into small balls and kneads the balls into thin and round powder pieces. The following stage is putting stuffing (shrimp and fat meat simmered with fish sauce, salt, pepper, onion, capsicum and sugar) on the kudzu powder pieces, folding them in two to have semicircular shaped cakes. These cakes are boiled for 15-20 minutes until they become transparent. Banh loc is dipped into a special kind of sauce including fish sauce, lemon, chilly, sugar, etc.

Hue vermicelli: Vermicelli is a popular course in Vietnam but Hue has long been known for its vermicelli with beef and grilled chopped meat. This course is a combination of white vermicelli, rare beef, grilled chopped crab, grilled chopped meat, well-done lean meat, etc. Gastronomes often think of Hue vermicelli, with the pungency of capsicum, the sweetness of broth, and the fattiness of beef.

Cooked rice with mussels comprises 21 materials such as mussel, capsicum, chutney, capsicum dipped into fish sauce, roasted salt, peanut, sesame, crumbed grilled girdle cake, fried pork skin, fat, scrap, vermicelli or cooked rice, fresh vegetables of various kinds, banana inflorescence, mint leaves, garlic, sugar, fried onion, ginger, etc. Notably, all components must be cold but mussel the liquor must be kept boiled during the meal.

Rump meat is ground, then mixed with sliced pork skin, sugar, sesame, salt, seasoning, and pepper. This mixture is bundled by banana leaves and left for two or three days for fermentation.

Hue vegetarian food: Hue is a major Buddhist centre of Vietnam so its vegetarian food is well-known. With vegetarian materials, Hue homemakers can create attractive and diverse dishes that look and taste like normal ones such as roasted pork cooked with fish sauce, chicken salad, beefsteak, grilled meat roll, pork bologna, chicken porridge, etc. Hue vegetarian food amazes many foreign visitors. Reputed restaurants for vegetarian food are located in Hue's Le Loi, Hung Vuong, Dinh Tien Hoang, Han Thuyen and Ba Trieu streets.

Royal food includes special courses that are processed in line with royal recipes of the Nguyen Dynasty such as hot crab soup, fried meat roll, chicken cooked with beans, Huong Giang cooked rice, etc.

By DO DINH SON