The Hanoitimes – Hanoi has always been famous for its traditional dishes, which, though often made from ordinary ingredients, are justly famous for their subtlety and delicious flavors.
In The Tale of Kieu, Nguyen Du called them thoi tran – the precious things and delicious dishes of each season, or more precisely, of every different weather pattern in each season.
Among the many tasty delicacies of the city are Vong’s young glutinous rice, Hàng Than banh com (young green sticky rice), cha ca (La Vong grilled fish), pho bo (flat rice noodle soup with beef), bun cha (round rice noodles with grilled pork), bún thang (hot round rice noodle soup with many ingredients), steamed sticky rice and sweet bean porridge. one must also mention the very simple round rice noodle soup with crab paste as well as banh duc (plain rice cake) with fresh water crab soup.
Some dishes and drinks are more often served at particular times of the year: glutinous rice liquor in the fifth month of the lunar calendar, troi (small round sticky rice cake), chay (round sticky rice cake eaten with sweet porridge) in the third month, banh nuong (baked pie), banh deo (sticky rice cake with filling) in the eighth month, and sugar-coated lotus seeds during the Tet holiday. Most of these foods cost very little and taste wonderful, making them popular with rich and poor alike.
During its 30-year war, Vietnam had to face more than one period of grave difficulty and hunger. Many people conserved food in an effort to supply the front. Many of Hanoi’s most famous dishes nearly fell into oblivion. This is also the time of the State subsidy system in North Vietnam. Under this system, food was strictly rationed to insure that everyone ad enough to survive. Wartime conditions also posed great difficulties for Vietnam’s agriculture and demand often outran supply. Cereal crops were especially hard hit and food like phở (soup with flat noodles) and bun (round rice noodles) and nem (spring rolls) sometimes disappeared from kitchens and markets.
Coffee was also in very short supply, domestic consumers having to make do with tiny amounts of broken and second-rate coffee beans. The best coffee, though also in short supply, had to be saved for export. When the war ended in 1975, some of the hardship was relieved, but conditions were still difficult and recovery from the effects of war slow. The year 1986 opened a new period known as đoi moi and during the past 15 years the Vietnamese economy has experienced strong growth and the living standard of the Vietnamese people has improved considerably. Tea shops and cafés are common in every street. Now, almost any kind of coffee or tea are available, from Arabian coffee, Trung Nguyen, Buon Ma Thuot to Thai Nguyen as well as both English and French tea.
Vietnam, barely able to feed itself during the war, has become the second largest exporter of rice in the world. Food and cereal are now abundant. Some 3.5-4 million tons of rice are exported annually. As a matter of course, many kinds of food and drinks from local specialties to popular snacks, have recovered their former places on Vietnamese menus. Vòng young sticky rice, for one, has made its way back after almost disappearing during the dark days of the war. Indeed, many of the popular old dishes are being updated and given a modern twist. Given the many exchanges within the Southeast Asia region and the world, the wealth of Vietnamese gastronomy is being further enriched by imported ingredients and experience with foreign dishes. Many restaurants and hotels now have Russian, Indian or French chefs, serving almost every kind of dishes, from common to luxurious. In the five-star Métropole Sofitel Hotel, there is a corner of street gastronomy called “SpicyGarden”, resembling a culinary Hanoi in miniature and serving many of the dishes available along Hanoi’s streets and in its alleys. In any event, one can now eat snails from a street vendor on one street, turn a corner and, entering a trendy café, sit down to a chicken Ceasar salad wrapped in pita bread!
But the real joys of Hanoi cookery are to be found in the little restaurants owned by natives of the city, many of which specialize in one or two specific foods. Hanoi’s pho and bun clearly show their vitality as well – from early in the morning till late at night, numerous kinds of bún, ranging from those served with bamboo shoots to those with ribs, crab paste or grilled meat can be easily found.
Some entire streets limit themselves to a particular specialty. These streets of food and drink such as Hang Bong, Le Van Huu, Mai Hac De, Nam Ngu, Tong Dan, Hang Giay and many others are becoming very common – people seem to enjoy eating amid the hustle and bustle of traffic and shopping. Hàng Than Street at present boasts over ten shops producing and selling banh com (young sticky rice cake).
Eating out is a good way to experience some of what is unique about Hanoi. on a rainy and cold afternoon, one may come to Cha Ca Restaurant in the old quarter to eat cha ca and sip a cup of rice liquor, immersing one’s soul in the atmosphere of old Hanoi. Or on a windy late summer afternoon, one may wish to go to Thanh Nien Road, the narrow causeway that divides Ho Tay (West Lake) from Truc Bach Lake, to watch the moon rise and taste West Lake shrimp cake, a delicacy combining many flavors – sour, sweet and hot – which make it easy on one’s stomach. Those who like fast food or traditional dishes come to Hàng Hành Alley or Dinh Liet Street. There, one has a wide range of choices, from bread with beef-steak, crisps to hot rice noodle soup. Hue Street and the far end of Mai Hac De Street are home to sui cao, a kind of pasta. To taste a bowl of pho bo (flat rice noodle soup with beef), go to Ly Quoc Su, Lo Duc, or Nguyen Du Street.
Now that economic renovation is progressing it can be said with confidence that Hanoi’s traditional foods have made a strong comeback, while being joined by new variations on old themes as well as completely new dishes imported from abroad. Though fancy and expensive dishes are again available in the capital city, many of the best and most characteristic foods remain downright cheap. Any time of the day, rich or poor, you can find a filling delicious meal in five hundred different places in Hanoi. The problem is no longer scarcity, but abundance – where to begin? What to taste first?
Hanoi Gastronomy in a time of change – Food – Travel Related image(s)
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