Traditional Nam Dinh sticky rice with pork belly is special in that it is not eaten with fried onions or pickles and uses pork belly instead of braised pork.
"If you want to eat sticky rice with pork, you have to go to Hang Sat," Ms. Phung, the owner of a tea shop on Luong The Vinh Street, Nam Dinh City, introduced to tourists. Some locals at the shop also agreed that the sticky rice shop at 61 Hang Sat is the place that sells the original sticky rice dish of Nam Dinh people.
The traditional Nam Dinh sticky rice dish does not use fried onions or braised meat, but instead uses braised pork.
Around the beginning of July 2023, the sticky rice shop of Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich (43 years old) moved to No. 33 Bac Ninh, about 200 m from the old address. The shop has a spacious frontage, has a parking space, an indoor area of about 20 m2, and can serve about 10 customers at a time. Right in front of the door is a counter with an electric sticky rice cooker made of stainless steel, a table with ingredients, spoons, bowls and spices.
Ms. Bich said that around the 1980s, her mother started selling sticky rice on the sidewalk in the central area of Nam Dinh City. Later, when she had the means, her mother opened a shop at 61 Hang Sat. Around 2005, when her mother's health was not good, she took over the business. During nearly 20 years of selling, she has kept her mother's sticky rice recipe. The shop is open in two time slots, from 5:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. On weekdays, the shop sells about 50 kg of sticky rice, and on weekends, it can sell up to 70 - 80 kg of sticky rice.
"Nam Dinh sticky rice with pork is not eaten with fried onions, pickled vegetables or braised meat and eggs like sticky rice in other provinces," said Ms. Bich about her hometown's traditional sticky rice with pork. "If you add fried onions, the pork flavor will be lost, and if you eat it with pickled vegetables, the sauce will be diluted, and the sweet and sour taste of the pickled vegetables will overwhelm the sweetness of the meat in the sauce."
A bowl of sticky rice with pork belly at Ms. Bich’s restaurant has 5 ingredients: sticky rice, pork belly, pate, pork floss, Chinese sausage and sauce made from pork belly juice. The restaurant does not have a specific price, customers can order any amount of sticky rice and request to add or subtract each ingredient according to their preferences. Ms. Bich takes the hot sticky rice in the pot, adds the dry ingredients to the bowl one by one, and the final step is to pour the sauce on top.
The bottom layer of white sticky rice sets the stage for the red color of Chinese sausage, the light yellow color of shredded pork, the golden brown color of braised pork and sauce. The sticky rice grains are plump and chewy, not crushed or mushy. Each slice of braised pork is mixed with the thick, soft sauce, with a balanced sweetness and saltiness. The shredded pork is slightly chewy and the pate is fatty and rich.
Ms. Bich, the owner, has been selling the shop for nearly 20 years.
To make the above bowls of sticky rice, Bich and her husband and staff have to prepare the steps from 2am every day at the family's workshop. The rice used to cook sticky rice is selected from yellow sticky rice, a type grown for 6 months, soaked in water for 6-8 hours depending on weather conditions and cooked in an electric pot. On average, 10kg of rice will produce 15kg of sticky rice. "The sticky rice must be steamed twice, over two fires, for it to be soft and delicious. Choosing yellow sticky rice grown for 6 months will produce round, plump, and plump sticky rice grains that are not easily broken like other types of rice," said Bich.
The pork is made from lean pork shoulder that still has fat so it is not dry, marinated with spices for at least 3 hours. The special part of the sticky rice with pork is the sauce that is secreted during the cooking process of the pork, only adding tapioca starch to create a smooth, thick texture, no coloring is used.
Nguyen Thuy Linh (25 years old, Thanh Hoa) currently working in Hanoi noticed many differences between Hanoi sticky rice and Nam Dinh sticky rice with pork belly. Because she is used to eating sticky rice with fried onions and braised pork in Hanoi's Old Quarter, when she saw Nam Dinh sticky rice with pork belly, Linh felt that there was a bit less topping. "But after eating it, I realized that Nam Dinh sticky rice with pork belly is not as 'little' as it looks and is a combination of stickiness, sweetness, toughness and richness. True to its name, sticky rice with pork belly is the most impressive ingredient, with a rich sweetness and fatness of the meat. Even just pouring pork belly sauce on top of the sticky rice is delicious," Linh shared.
Mr. Dang Duy Dong (78 years old), who was the head of the residential group in Hang Sat - Bac Ninh for 30 years, a regular customer of the restaurant, said that this is one of the few restaurants selling traditional Nam Dinh sticky rice with pork. Sticky rice with pork and soy milk is a breakfast dish loved by many locals and "tourists should try".
Ms. Bich's sticky rice shop is a favorite place for customers of all ages. On weekdays, the shop's customers are mainly students, office workers, and older customers, who come in large numbers from 6:30 to 8:30. On weekends, holidays, and Tet, many young tourists and some foreigners come to enjoy the shop from 8:00 to 10:00. In addition, she also accepts orders from primary and secondary schools for every picnic and outdoor activity.
Having opened a Nam Dinh sticky rice shop in Hang Luoc but business was not good, Ms. Bich returned to her family's sticky rice shop. Nowadays, in the center of Nam Dinh city, there are not many sticky rice shops that still retain the traditional flavor. She hopes that diners who enjoy sticky rice at the shop will feel the most original flavor of the specialty sticky rice, associated with the childhood of many people in Thanh Nam.
Article and photos: Quynh Mai
Source link
Comment (0)