THE ESSENCE OF HANOI CUISINE

It can be said that there is nowhere else in this S-shaped country but Hanoi that cuisine has become the topic of all time for well-known writers and journalists. It is also in Hanoi that cuisine is considered as an art from cooking to enjoying stages. Recently, the fact that Hanoi honored to receive Asian Cuisines Award for three dishes of Pho, Bun Thang (vermicelli with chicken soup) and Bun Cha (rice noodles with barbecued pork) has satisfied foodies of the capital.

Bun Cha

The most significant characteristics of Hanoi cuisine culture are the sophistication and deliciousness. Each food carries each special taste. Hanoi people have the habit of enjoying foods according to the season in a year and the time in a day. In autumn, Hanoi people are excited to celebrate the crop of Com (green rice flakes) in Vong village. Com is listed as a favorite specialty of Hanoi thanks to its subtle scent of young glutinous rice packed in gemstone-green lotus leaf. In cold winter, it is so great to enjoy the hot crunchy fried shrimp cakes (Banh Tom) by the West Lake (Ho Tay). Trying the sweet taste of shrimp and chatting about old stories is really a great joy in such cold days of winter.

Banh Tom

Talking about Hanoi cuisine means talking about Pho. This food of national spirit and national characteristics has consumed so much paper and ink of writers and journalists locally and internationally as well. Pho is served everywhere over Vietnam, but Hanoi is the only place where foodies can enjoy Pho of full and authentic taste.  

It is easy to find a Pho restaurant in Hanoi from restaurants equipped with air conditioners to stalls with only some chairs in alleys and on side streets. And it is really hard to describe the wonderful feeling of sitting in front of a hot bowl of Pho full of smoke. The tasty Pho consisting of cinnamon, anise and cardamom is cooked based on a family secret formula. The broth from stewed cow bones is sweet. The soft and not overcooked beef combines with flexible spotless white noodles and green spring onion and basil. All of those elements make up the amazing Pho that foodies want to eat up the last noodle. Therefore, although Hanoi people must queue in long lines and wait for Pho to be served, they are still happy since that habit by chance has become an unavoidable factor when eating Pho with secret cooking formula only handed down among generations in a family. 

Pho

Another dish of complicated culinary is Bun Thang (vermicelli with chicken soup), a traditional dish in the Tet Holiday of the ancient Hanoi people. The culinary of Bun Thang seems to be simple at the first look, but it is very complicated and scrupulous in fact. So there are not many restaurants that serve good Bun Thang in Hanoi. It is estimated to collect about 20 ingredients to make a bowl of Bun Thang with authentic taste: soft and small rice noodles, very thin sliced fried egg, torn chicken, sliced pork paste, mushroom, pickled beet, etc. The broth of sweet and tasty flavor is cooked from chicken bones and prawns. Bun Thang has typical taste when served with fermented shrimp sauce and some drops of belostomatid essence. 

Not complicated in cooking like Bun Thang and not time-consuming to wait to be served like Pho, Bun Cha (rice noodles with barbecued pork) itself has a special “charm” because of its simplicity and familiarity. A ration of Bun Cha consists of a dish of rice noodles, a dish of barbecued pork and grilled chopped pork, vegetables and a bowl of fish sauce with pickled papaya and carrot. 

The essential element that makes Bun Cha tasty is the fish sauce that is heated until it is just lukewarm and seasoned with garlic, chili and vinegar to make the fish sauce taste sweet and mild. The chopped pork in ball and flat shapes must be the tenderloin not so lean or so fatty as well. Chopped pork is mixed with traditional seasonings then grilled in coal stove until color of pork becomes golden brown. Bun Cha is so attracting that Thach Lam, a famous writer, in his book “Hanoi and 36 streets” described Bun Cha by 2 beautiful verses:

“Is Bun Cha itself 

  A treasure of Thang Long in thousands of years?”

Also, we must count Cha Ca La Vong (La Vong grilled fish pie) in the list of Hanoi food specialties. The most famous Cha Ca can be found at the restaurant belonged to the Doan family at 14 Cha Ca Street. Fish pie is made from hermibagrus fish, sheatfish or snakehead fish seasoned with galingale, fermented rice, pepper and fish sauce before grilled until golden brown.  

Cha Ca La Vong

When eating Bun Cha, foodies must use all five senses to feel its delicious flavor. Fish pies of golden yellow surface, spotless white noodles, green fennel and spring onion, appetizing smell of pork fat are put besides the warm stove. Such a dish seems to bring foodies the whole essence of nature. Bun Cha has its authentic flavor when served with fermented shrimp sauce, lemon, chili, some drops belostomatid essence, some fat and some sugar.

About the snack foods of Hanoi, Banh Cuon Thanh Tri (Thanh Tri steamed rolled rice pancake) must be mentioned on the top of the menu. Banh Cuon is a very thin and light piece of rolled pancake with sliced black mushroom and fried spring onion inside. When Banh Cuon is cooked, the tender smell of rice spreads out over. Thach Lam compared Banh Cuon to a piece of silk that made the tongue cool when eaten. Vu Bang, another famous writer, wrote that “I soaked a piece of white pancake to the bowl of fish sauce and moved it to my mouth. The pancake did not touch my lips and I did not chew it yet, but it seemed to drift in my throat”. It can be concluded that Banh Cuon is so attractive that foodies cannot stand trying it. 

(Source: Vietravel)