The people behind Supe Lam Thao culinary culture

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung - Manager of Supe Lam Thao guesthouse (standing) - interacts with guests. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

Surprisingly, many of these “homegrown” dishes are commented by customers to be even more delicious than restaurants outside the town or city of Viet Tri. A Supe Lam Thao culinary culture gradually took shape with classic dishes such as meat with holes (skewered meat patties), catfish, offal (pig intestines), stir-fried clams with squash, braised shrimp…

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung - Manager of Supe Lam Thao Guest House - confided: "When I took over the new position at the guest house in 2019, I also cherished the idea of ​​building a culinary brand for Supe Lam Thao, improving the level of customer service through reception and kitchen activities. From the traditional dishes in the past at Supe Lam Thao, we have researched and explored to add quality as well as create new and diverse dishes.

Like pork sausage, it is available everywhere, but I have applied my cooking experience with Mr. Pham Trung Dung - Head of the Kitchen Team, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai to create a dish of mang sausage (meat with holes) with the typical flavor of Supe Lam Thao.

Like the dish “inner part” which is pig intestine. Many people like to eat pig intestine but because there are food sources that are not guaranteed in quality, they are afraid. Therefore, we have carefully selected fresh food sources that are safe to clean and boil until just cooked, then put them in ice water to create a crispy, chewy texture. In particular, blood sausage has become a culinary brand of Supe Lam Thao.

Like the catfish dish, we had to choose live Da River fish to steam, grill, and cook, so many people praised it. Like the braised shrimp dish, we bought it, fried it, and then braised it in a cast iron pot with spices like soy sauce, ginger, and lemongrass for about 10 hours so that the fish was firm and chewy while still retaining its delicious flavor.

Many dishes reflect the personality of the person who prepares them. For example, when making the dish with holes, we “choose the right person to entrust the gold” to Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai. Normally, each piece of meat only needs one knife cut, but she had to do it three times. She is also very careful when marinating, especially when grilling the patties. Hot-tempered people often do things in a hurry, and a strong fire will not ensure the meat is well-absorbed, fresh, and sweet.

One must be calm to be able to adjust the fire from small to large… Every year we serve tens of thousands of company guests through seminars, conferences, cultural and sports exchange activities, and also serve local guests. I would like to have a few more training courses for receptionists and chefs to better meet the needs of guests…”

Phan Trung Dung with his specialty catfish dish. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

In the kitchen of Supe Lam Thao, Mr. Pham Trung Dung is nicknamed "Dung ca", Nguyen Thi Mai is nicknamed "Mai cha", Nguyen Thi Nga is nicknamed "Nga long", Phan Phuong Thuy is nicknamed "Thuy saute".

Anh Dung is the only one who has studied professional cooking at Hanoi College of Tourism, culinary arts department, the others are self-taught but all have one thing in common: passion for the profession. He is the third generation in this Supe Lam Thao, the previous generations have grandparents, parents:

“The happiness of a chef is to see the guests finish all the dishes on the table. Instead of compliments, just seeing the actions on the table like that makes us happy. Our kitchen team often tells each other that we must constantly study to change the dishes so that they do not become outdated. The company has created conditions for us to invite teachers from Hanoi College of Tourism to teach cooking as well as to go on field trips to some famous restaurants in and outside the province.”

Introducing his signature dish, fish, he said: “Viet Tri, Phu Tho is a city with a river junction and a specialty of catfish. To prepare catfish is very elaborate, first you have to make it numb and then use boiling water to “shave off” the hair and remove all the slime and mud from the skin so that the fish is white and then processed.

The fish is marinated with spices and steamed to the right degree to make the fish meat chewy and sweet; grilled fish is another version of La Vong fish cake marinated with galangal, fermented rice and shrimp paste; stir-fried fish is stir-fried with fermented rice and banana flowers to retain as much of the rustic flavor as possible; fish soup is cooked with fermented rice and turmeric and sour pineapple to get the aroma.

Nguyen Thi Mai with her specialty of meat with holes. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

With her face flushed by the red-hot charcoal stove, despite being very busy cooking for the 8 best volleyball teams in Vietnam from the Hung Vuong Cup who visited the company, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai still took a few minutes to share. She herself has worked at Supe Lam Thao for 18 years, but at first she was a receptionist, then she has been a chef for more than 5 years now, and has not attended any cooking school, but only worked as a kitchen assistant and gradually gained experience:

“First, I have to choose fresh and tender shoulder meat, cut it into pieces and roll it, marinate it with fish sauce, cooking oil, onion, garlic, MSG, sugar, seasoning powder, and pepper. When grilling, I have to pay attention to adjusting the temperature, at first, low heat to cook it, then increase the heat to get a golden color without drying out the meat. Since I started working in the kitchen, I have not only been in charge of grilled pork rolls but also other grilled dishes such as birds and fish. Many times, when he saw us busy, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung - Manager of Supe Lam Thao Guesthouse - even came into the kitchen to help. He is very skillful and dedicated to cooking.”

Phan Phuong Thuy with her specialty dish of stir-fried clams and squash. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

Phan Phuong Thuy, also known as “Fried Thuy,” still took the time to share her experience with me while her hands were nimble, peeling and chopping squash. When asked about her nickname, she smiled brightly and explained: “I have worked at Supe Lam Thao for 17 years and my family has two generations working here. I specialize in stir-frying, and my specialty is stir-fried squash with clams.

To prepare this dish, first I boil the clams, clean them, then set aside the water, peel the squash, chop the squash, saute onions with the clams, remove them and set aside, saute garlic with the squash, add spices, and pour in the sauteed clams. This is a dish I came up with myself. Before, I had sauteed mussels with squash, but I found the flavor was not as strong as with clams with two shells.

Nguyen Thi Nga with her specialty dish of offal. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

Holding a bowl of steaming offal because there was a small candle placed underneath, Nguyen Thi Nga explained that there were many types of offal, but the most impressive dish for everyone was Supe Lam Thao's sausage, because it was cool, soft, and smooth. Every time a guest from far away came, the company respectfully invited them.

The ingredients of this dish are not complicated, using fresh, cleaned large intestines, processed in the morning, blood and pork fat are put inside, especially no herbs are used. Besides sausage, the dish also has other ingredients such as intestines, intestines, heart, liver, etc. After processing, the intestines are soaked in ice water to make them hot and cold suddenly, making them crispier.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/nhung-nguoi-dung-sau-van-hoa-am-thuc-supe-lam-thao-d746013.html