EDITORIAL NOTE

Many foreign tourists coming to Hanoi are not only impressed by the dishes imbued with traditional Vietnamese culture, but are also attracted by dishes that are considered "strange, strange, and not everyone dares to try".

VietNamNet introduces a series of articles "Foreign visitors try Vietnamese food in Hanoi" about the experiences of international visitors when enjoying Vietnamese food in this city.

Shiori is a content creator from Japan, owns a personal YouTube channel with nearly 370,000 followers.

In early 2024, Shiori traveled to Vietnam. After experiencing a cruise in Ha Long, she spent time exploring Hanoi, visiting some destinations and enjoying street food.

Among them, there is a dish that impressed the Japanese female tourist because of its unique flavor and affordable price. That is bean porridge.

Shiori tried the strange bean porridge for the first time in Hanoi.

The place where Shiori enjoyed the bean porridge was a famous restaurant on the sidewalk of Dao Duy Tu Street (Hoan Kiem District). This is also a familiar dining address for many Hanoians and tourists.

At the restaurant, Shiori ordered a bowl of traditional bean porridge for 15,000 VND.

The bowl of porridge is served generously with signature ingredients, including fried tofu with onions, pickled eggplant and ca la thau (pickled radish).

“The green bean porridge with pickled eggplant and pickled radish costs only 90 Yen (equivalent to 15,000 VND). I refused to order salted egg when the owner asked if I wanted that as an extra,” she said about the dish.

Porridge shop on the sidewalk of Dao Duy Tu street that the Japanese female tourist visited

When enjoying it, the female tourist was quite surprised because the porridge had a strange taste, especially the pickled eggplant served with it had a crunchy texture and a distinctive smell.

Wanting to understand more about the dish, she boldly asked the diner next to her about the special ingredients in the bowl of porridge.

Shiori admitted that bean porridge was quite a strange dish, so at first she was worried that she might have some digestive problems after eating it. However, she said that everything was fine afterwards and expressed her impression of the dish, which she experienced for the first time in the capital.

“That porridge was really delicious,” Shiori shared.

Japanese guest eats fried fish 0.gif
Young girl impressed with the taste of bean porridge, praised the affordable price

Sharing with reporters, Ms. Vo Thi Kim Oanh - the owner of the bean porridge shop that Shiori visited, said that before, the shop only had one location on Dao Duy Tu, located on the corner of the sidewalk, and had been open for nearly 20 years.

Currently, the restaurant has another location on Hang Voi Street, with a more spacious space. However, during peak hours at noon or on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, customers often have to wait 15-20 minutes, take away or "sit in".

The owner of the restaurant said that her mother-in-law taught her the recipe for bean and eggplant porridge.

Bean and eggplant porridge in Hanoi has a bland taste, served with fried beans marinated in fish sauce and onions, and salty pickled eggplant, very delicious. Photo: @tungboo0107

Initially, the main ingredients of the dish were green bean/black bean porridge and fried beans, pickled eggplant. Later, Ms. Oanh served it with salted eggs and pickled radish so that diners could freely choose according to their preferences.

According to Ms. Oanh, to cook delicious porridge requires many factors, from preparing ingredients to processing.

The porridge must be cooked from newly milled rice, balancing the ratio between regular rice and sticky rice, and paying attention to the heat so that the porridge is thin but still soft, smooth and sticky.

Porridge is made from rustic ingredients but requires meticulous preparation. Photo: Nguyen Trung Kien

She bought the fried tofu from a restaurant she has known for many years. The tofu must be fried in oil, kept at high heat so that the outside is crispy, the inside is soft, and it is not boring to eat. After frying, the tofu is seasoned with spices and green onions to give it a fragrant, salty taste.

The highlight of this porridge is pickled eggplant, also made by Mrs. Oanh herself. The eggplants must be large but not too old, dried, then pickled and pressed to ensure the eggplants are crispy, have the right amount of acidity and are beautifully golden.

The price of each serving of bean porridge here is from 15,000 VND, depending on the ingredients. If you order salted eggs or ca la thau, you will pay an additional 5,000-10,000 VND.

Photo: @Shiorimm_

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