Selling bright red 'Vietnamese sashimi' with shrimp paste, the U70 owner in Hanoi sells out 500 servings/day

"As scheduled", in the changing days of April, Hanoi diners look forward to the crunchy red jellyfish dish, served with fatty grilled tofu, fragrant coconut meat, perilla, aromatic Vietnamese balm and dipped in shrimp paste. This dish is only sold for one or two months a year, so the number of delicious, long-standing restaurants in Hanoi can be "counted on the fingers" such as 70 Hang Chieu, No. 1 Le Van Huu, 16B Duong Thanh, 20 Goc De alley... and No. 1 Thanh Ha - near Dong Xuan market.

Red jellyfish originated in Hai Phong and was brought to Hanoi for sale several decades ago. Nowadays, young people often call red jellyfish "Vietnamese version of sashimi" or "sidewalk sashimi"...

Ms. Thu Tuyet (63 years old) in Thanh Ha alley has been selling red jellyfish for nearly 30 years. According to Ms. Tuyet, this year the red jellyfish arrived late and had a bad harvest, so the quantity was small and the price was high. Her family imported all the jellyfish from a long-time acquaintance in Hai Phong. Ms. Tuyet quickly cut the jellyfish for customers and shared: The jellyfish is red because it is cleaned by fishermen and soaked in water from guava leaves and mangrove bark.

This type of seafood must be "handled like an egg" when transported to keep it fresh, delicious, and not crushed. "Delicious jellyfish must have thick, hard legs and skin. When eaten, customers will find it crunchy and cool," said Ms. Tuyet. When the jellyfish is brought to Hanoi, she continues to soak, wash, and process it many times. When putting the jellyfish in an aluminum basin to prepare for sale, Ms. Tuyet often adds lemon peel to remove the fishy smell.

The jellyfish legs are crunchy and crunchy, while the jellyfish body is soft like jelly. It does not need to be refrigerated but still feels refreshing. Many diners often call this an effective "heat-reducing" dish in the summer.

When eating, diners place the jellyfish on perilla leaves, add thinly sliced ​​coconut meat, grilled tofu slices, and Vietnamese balm leaves, roll it up, and dip it in shrimp paste. The coconut meat must be chosen carefully, not too young or too old. The grilled tofu is fragrant and fatty. Because jellyfish is cold, diners combine it with perilla and Vietnamese balm - oriental medicines with warm properties, helping to neutralize the dish and not cause stomachache.

Mrs. Tuyet's family uses Thanh Hoa shrimp paste and then adds MSG, sugar, lemon, and chili. When enjoying, customers stir well until the fish sauce bubbles up and smells fragrant.

In the past, sellers often used thin bamboo sticks to cut jellyfish. However, nowadays, because bamboo is afraid of rotting easily, Ms. Tuyet uses very sharp stainless steel knives. According to Ms. Tuyet, every day, her shop sells 70-80kg of red jellyfish, about 500 servings. Most of the customers are small traders, customers at Dong Xuan market or people in the surrounding area.

Because she sells right next to the sidewalk and has limited seating, Ms. Tuyet mainly sells take-out from 9am to 12am. She only sells on-site from 12pm to 6pm to 7pm, and she closes when she runs out of stock. "Sometimes there are too many customers, there is no more parking space, and I'm afraid customers will have to wait too long, so I have to ask them to buy some to take home to eat. Because I have experience in choosing jellyfish, many customers come to buy 1-2kg to eat gradually over the next few days," Ms. Tuyet said.

This year, due to the increase in the price of red jellyfish, each serving of red jellyfish with shrimp paste at Ms. Tuyet's house increased from 30,000 to 35,000 VND/serving.

Photo: Quang Minh

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ban-sashimi-viet-do-au-cham-mam-tom-ba-chu-u70-o-ha-noi-het-veo-500-suat-ngay-2130330.html