FLAVOR OF HUE FOOD

For ages, in daily life, food has taken up a lot of time. People love to eat well not only because of hunger but also because of spiritual joy. For Hue people, eating is considered an art and a pleasure in life.

Hue was once the center of Dang Trong during the Nguyen Dynasty for several centuries, and by the 19th century, it was a prosperous and urban capital, with nearly a century and a half as the capital of Vietnam, the gathering place of a royal court with many mandarins and scholars. Therefore, in addition to the royal court, there were also noble and upper-class classes, intellectuals, and most of the literati gathered here. That requires Hue people to not only be good at preparing extremely sophisticated dishes that were only used in the royal palace. Today, although it no longer plays the role of a major economic and political center of the country, Hue is still a place that maintains the old shadows of a dynasty with all the lifestyles of a golden age. And of course, among the long-standing cultural characteristics of Hue, the culinary culture contributes a significant part in forming the culture and style of the people of Hue.

Hue is a land that was discovered late, most of the people from all over the country followed Lord Nguyen to the South to settle down. Therefore, the dishes are also rich, converging the quintessence of other places, turning into unique dishes with unique local identity.

Hue cuisine is both luxurious and delicious, and rustic, but thanks to skillful hands, knowledge of preparation and seasoning, it still becomes a delicious dish.

The noble dishes were clearly permitted by the Nguyen Dynasty in the book Kham dinh Dai Nam hoi dien su le, which prescribed each type of banquet: banquets for receiving ambassadors with three types of ancient dishes: type one had a tray of 50 dishes, type two had 7 trays of 40 dishes, type three had 25 trays of 30 dishes... Those dishes were displayed in 1080 precious bowls and plates used only in the royal palace.

Nowadays, although we no longer have to travel far and wide to find precious specialties to cook “Royal food” dishes for the king, such as peacock spring rolls, phoenix sausage, western skin, bear paws, deer liver, orangutan lips, elephant foot meat, etc., housewives can cook up to 300 dishes that are both rustic and luxurious from these local seasonal specialties.

The most rustic and unforgettable dish is mussel rice. It is a simple dish, full of the flavor of the countryside, made from a product located in the poetic river of Hue. The deliciousness of mussel rice comes from the skillful blending of many ingredients and spices: herbs, banana blossom, chopped mint, chili sauce, fish sauce, salt, sesame, crushed peanuts, garlic fish sauce, pork rinds and cold white rice. Especially with the presence of raw shrimp, the deliciousness of mussel rice is also thanks to this shrimp flavor.

Hue cuisine is simple, rich, with the delicious flavor and aroma of the products from the fields, lagoons, mountains and rivers of the Old Capital. Just from lemongrass and salt, housewives add a little minced shrimp and meat along with other spices such as garlic, sugar, shrimp paste, pepper. Through the soft and skillful hands of housewives, they can create a lemongrass salt dish that you will never forget when you eat it with rice in the winter of the North. A meal in Hue is often just a few simple dishes, such as goby fish braised with Vietnamese coriander and coconut water, a mixed vegetable soup that every home garden has, with a few sweet cotton leaves (malabar spinach leaves), Malabar spinach leaves, rough shoots, pumpkin buds, immense tree shoots, a little bamboo shoots... if you are a little more fancy, you can cook it with shrimp and meat, or you can take long hoi fish (small fish) with bones removed, add a little good fish sauce, a little shrimp paste, a little pepper, sauteed with onion and fat, stir-fry it and you will have a bowl of sweet mixed vegetable soup. Every meal of every Hue family has a plate of raw vegetables and a bowl of fish sauce to match the dish. Some people say that the plate of raw vegetables in Hue is a miniature universe with red tomatoes arranged around symbolizing the sun, star fruit slices in the shape of stars, purple crescent-shaped figs, round slices of green banana with seeds symbolizing the vast earth, a little green herbs and a few strands of water spinach, fresh chili twisted on top like patches of blue clouds, pink clouds floating on a sky of blue, red, purple, yellow...

In addition to the rustic yet sophisticated dishes of the common people, delicious dishes that were originally only for the nobility in the royal palaces gradually followed the housewives to serve to wealthy families on holidays, New Year, death anniversary, or to entertain friends. Everyone may know An Cuu sour sausage, Thanh Han pork roll and many other dishes.

It would be a mistake to talk much about Hue cuisine without remembering vegetarian dishes. Because everyone knows that Hue has existed for a long time. During the Nguyen Lords, Buddhism became the state religion. An entire class of nobles were vegetarians, so vegetarian dishes in Hue were very rich (about 125 dishes). Vegetarian dishes were elaborately prepared and as delicious as meat dishes. For Buddhist families in Hue, inviting friends to have a vegetarian meal was a way to express their love and respect for their friends.

Along with the dishes in family meals, Hue also has specialties such as beef noodle soup, pork leg, the most famous of which is Gia Hoi noodle soup, Tuan market. There are also dozens of types of salty and sweet cakes that anyone who has tried once will surely not forget the special gift of the Old Capital. These are famous cakes associated with places: Dong Ba pancakes, Ngu Binh rice cakes, Nam Pho rice noodles, Kim Long grilled meat rice paper rolls...

Hue sweet soup is as rich as the cakes and pastries. There are 36 different types of sweet soup, attractive enough to enjoy on a hot summer evening while strolling along the banks of the Perfume River: Tapioca starch sweet soup wrapped in roasted meat, lotus seed sweet soup wrapped in longan, broad bean sweet soup, green bean sweet soup, royal bean sweet soup, blood bean sweet soup... each dish brings us special enjoyment. Hue fruits are a collection of many types from the three regions, especially there are also local specialties such as Huong Can tangerines, Nguyet Bieu pomelos...