A familiar dish associated with many generations of Hai Phong people and often appearing in winter, tuber soup is considered a delicious specialty, attracting many tourists from all over.

According to locals, the main ingredient of the soup is the Chinese yam. This type of tuber is also known as the Chinese yam (large, round tuber), Chinese yam (long tuber) or Chinese yam.

Hai Phong people often cook the root soup with seafood such as shrimp, fish or pork, creating a mixture with a thick, porridge-like consistency called root soup.

This dish can be eaten alone, served with rice or transformed into some other unique versions such as hot pot.

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Root soup is considered a famous specialty in Hai Phong, best enjoyed in winter. Photo: Song Anh DC

Mr. Le Tuan Anh - owner of a restaurant on Trai Le Street (Le Chan District, Hai Phong City) said that there are two types of taro, including purple (commonly known as yam) and white. Of these, white taro is more popular.

To ensure the dish is authentic and delicious, Mr. Tuan Anh prioritizes using white cassava tubers grown in Do Son. He chooses tubers that are not too young, large in size, and round.

The meat used to cook the soup helps create a sweet and aromatic flavor that can be varied from different ingredients, but the most popular is to combine it with shrimp or snakehead fish (also known as snakehead fish or banana fish).

Depending on each person's taste, the Hai Phong root soup is varied with pork, shrimp or perch or snakehead fish. Photo: Song Anh DC

According to the restaurant owner, the preparation of the root soup is quite simple. Rinse the roots with water to remove the sand on the outside, then peel and wash again.

Next, people use a spoon to scrape the cassava or use a knife to chop it finely so that when cooked, the dish has a characteristic sweet and delicious taste and a thick, viscous consistency.

The broth for the root soup does not need to be seasoned elaborately. You can use bone broth (pork or fish bones as desired) or ground shrimp broth (shrimp or shrimp is best), ensuring a natural sweetness.

“The shrimp used must be fresh, bought and soaked in ice water, which makes it easier to peel and helps the shrimp retain its freshness.

"The shrimp head is ground and filtered to get the juice, the body is chopped, stir-fried until firm, then seasoned to taste," added Mr. Tuan Anh.

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The root soup is delicious hot or cold, and can be enjoyed by both the elderly and children. Photo: Tam Sac Tam

The next step is to boil the shrimp water, then add the spices and taro, keep the heat at medium, then stir constantly to avoid lumps in the soup.

When the root soup is almost cooked, add the stir-fried shrimp and wait for it to boil for a few minutes.

In addition to the two main ingredients of water celery and meat (or seafood), Hai Phong's water celery soup also has chopped celery.

Vegetables are added last, when the soup is done, to ensure they are cooked through, crispy and delicious, and not mushy.

Watercress is a popular ingredient in Hai Phong dishes because it is delicious and quite cheap, about 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg. Photo: Binh Duong

Ms. Dang Thao (in Hanoi) said she had the opportunity to enjoy root soup in Hai Phong. She was impressed with the dish with its unique flavor, thick like porridge, just eating it alone makes you feel full.

"The taro root has a sticky, slightly crumbly texture, quite similar to potatoes, but is more delicious and has a unique flavor, even my children love it. After the first time trying it, I was attracted to this dish. In addition to eating it directly in Hai Phong, I also buy taro root, learn how to make it to cook for my whole family to enjoy.

"The root soup is available all year round but is most popular in winter. It's also simple to eat, just scoop it into a bowl and slurp it up, no need to use chopsticks or a spoon," Thao said.

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Hotpot with root soup and grilled snakehead fish. Photo: Le Tuan Anh

In the port city, people also transform the root soup into a hot hot pot to refresh the taste, served with a variety of ingredients such as pork offal, cartilage ribs, snakehead fish, sweet potato fish, etc.

“The hotpot dish of our restaurant uses snakehead fish marinated with a secret recipe, which reduces the fishy smell and keeps the fish firm and sweet.

When customers order, the restaurant will serve the hot pot in a thick cast iron pot to avoid burning and affecting the quality of the dish.

Diners can dip side dishes according to their preferences or enjoy them alone with pepper and fried onions, both are delicious," the restaurant owner shared.

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