![]() ![]() I do, however, do thorough research and ask the opinion of locals whenever possible to find the best versions of each dish. I’m not Vietnamese so I don’t claim to be an expert on any of these dishes. Another difference is that banh xeo is served with fish sauce instead of a hoisin sauce. A fermented soybean (salty hoisin) dipping sauce is served on the side.īanh khoai is about the same size as a central Vietnamese banh xeo but it’s a whole lot crunchier, probably because of the addition of soda water to the batter. It’s rolled and eaten in rice paper with leafy fresh greens, herbs, and a few slices of star fruit or young banana. Like banh xeo, banh khoai is a rice flour and turmeric crepe typically filled with pork, shrimp, scallions, and beansprouts. It’s a very similar dish but much crunchier in texture. If you like banh xeo, then chances are, you’re going to enjoy banh khoai as well. If you like smokey grilled meat, then you’re going to love nem lui. It’s smokey, sweet, savory, nutty, crunchy, a little sour, and a whole lot of delicious. To eat, you wrap the grilled meat in the rice paper along with some lettuce, rice noodles, and other ingredients before dipping it into the peanut sauce. They’re served with thin rice paper, rice vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber slices, and fresh herbs along with a bowl of peanut sauce made with fermented beans, sesame seeds, shrimp paste, garlic, chili, and shallots. ![]() Nem lui refers to a charcoal-grilled dish of minced pork rolls wrapped around lemongrass stalks or bamboo skewers. Most are soft and silky in texture with an eye-opening punch of umami flavor. I believe many types of banh hue exist but the most popular you’ll find in Hue are banh beo, banh bot loc, banh nam, banh ram it, banh uot, and chao tom. They vary in shape and size but they’re all made with the same basic ingredients – rice flour and shrimp. The term “banh hue” refers to a family of small steamed rice cakes that originated in Hue. You can also try versions made with mie noodles (mie hen) or served in a rice porridge (chao hen). ![]() Depending on the cook, it can be made with other ingredients as well like fermented shrimp paste, fish sauce, fresh herbs, chopped fruit, pork crackling, banana flower salad, and roasted peanuts.Ĭom hen is the original version of the dish, which was typically made with leftover rice. It’s made with either rice (com) or rice noodles (bun) topped with stir-fried baby basket clams and vegetables. Com Hen / Bun HenĬom hen or bun hen refers to one of the most delicious signature dishes in Hue. Outside of the city, this delicious noodle soup is referred to as “bun bo hue” to designate its origin, but in Hue, many refer to it simply as “bun bo”. The soup is then garnished with additional ingredients like chopped green onion, slivers of raw onion, and cilantro. Based on those ingredients, you can already tell how flavorful the broth is going to be. The broth is prepared by simmering pork and beef bones with lemongrass then seasoning it with fermented shrimp paste, annatto, sugar, and chili oil. It’s a popular noodle soup made with rice vermicelli, thin slices of beef, hefty chunks of beef shank, beef balls, blood cake, and other ingredients. ![]() If you were to have just one dish in Hue, then it should definitely be bun bo. There are many delicious dishes to be had there but in my opinion, these five are the most important – bun bo hue, com/bun hen, banh hue, nem lui, and banh khoai. Hue is home to some of the best and most interesting regional food in Vietnam. If you enjoy local food as much as we do, then this list of the best Vietnamese dishes and restaurants in Hue will be very useful to you. I had two months to divvy up between multiple cities in Vietnam but I was happy to allocate two weeks to Hue, so I’d have enough time to really sink my teeth into its plethora of delicious regional dishes and dining experiences. On paper, Hue cuisine sounded like one of the most fascinating and unique in the country! We skipped it in 2017 and had been regretting it ever since, especially after hearing about interesting and delicious-sounding regional dishes like banh hue, com hen, and banh khoai. Of all the places I visited on my most recent trips to Vietnam (2019, 2023), Hue was the city I was most looking forward to. The combination of its rich, deeply flavorful broth with the soft and gelatinous beef shank and thin rice vermicelli was like an umami bomb dressed up as a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup. It was explosive with flavor.īun bo hue wasn’t the dish I was most excited to try in Hue but it turned out to be my favorite dish in central Vietnam. I’ll never forget that first spoonful in Hue. ![]()
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