Local cuisine promotion has a long Hue to go: city residents
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Bun bo Hue, a favourite
breakfast dish of people around the country. - VNS Photo Phuoc Buu
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THUA THIEN - HUE (VNS) - Hue is best known for
elegant royal cuisine. But there is far more to the former imperial city's
food culture than what was served to the Nguyen dynasty in the 1800s.
Food plays a key
role in Hue
life. The first skill that a girl learns from her mother is cooking, which
allows recipes to be preserved for generations.
One distinctive
quality of Hue
food is the harmonisation of yin and yang in each dish. For example, molluscs
are always cooked with chilli, pepper, lemongrass and grapefruit leaves,
"hot" spices that balance the "cool" features of
molluscs.
Various snack-like
items, such as banh beo, banh nam, banh loc, banh canh and che, are a major
part of the cuisine. You can find these items at Hue
restaurants in Ha Noi and HCM
City. Bun bo Hue, a local breakfast
dish, is also popular around the country.
Recently, Viet
Nam's record book listed several Hue dishes on its list of the country's best
foods: bun bo (beef noodles), com hen (rice with mussels), banh beo (rice
cake with grilled shrimp), banh bot loc (dumplings with shrimp), banh khoai
(fried rice crepes), ruoc (shrimp paste), me xung (sesame candy), che hat sen
(sweet lotus seed pudding), mam tom (pickled shrimp) and thanh tra (a
grapefruit variety that was served to the king).
However, Hue residents paid little attention to the recognition,
objecting that the value of Hue
cuisine was greater than what the book listed. Che hat sen, for instance, is
not considered the most outstanding among the various kinds of che that Hue people cook. Many
blamed local authorities for failing to promote authentic food to the list
makers.
Introducing the
cuisine to tourists is also a problem. The city does not have many sit-down
restaurants selling quality Hue
food. Some dishes are best prepared by food vendors, but foreigners do not
always trust these vendors when it comes to hygiene. - VNS
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