Bowls of cháo trai delight Hà Nội

Mother-of-pearl porridge is among the specialties of Ha Noi

By Ha Nguyen

Nearly every Hanoian knows about the chao trai, or mother-of-pearl rice porridge, shop on the capital’s Tran Xuan Soan Street. The porridge has been delighting locals with its rich and aromatic flavour for decades.

Owner Le Minh Hang set up the shop more than 30 years ago. She learned the traditional job from her grandmother.

Chao trai is although easy to cook, she said, but very few people know how to cook it well because doing so demands choosing fresh and fatty clams and quality rice.

Hang said her parents raised clams in her native village in Thuong Tin District, about 30km from Ha Noi centre, to supply her and her five sisters, who also sell the porridge.

 “The process of cleaning and frying the clam is also important. My grandmother taught me that we have to carefully watch the boiled clam to prevent it from becoming too tough. The clam should be fried with dried onions and then poured into a bowl over the rice porridge,” said Hang, noting that she often serves extra to customers who want more claim meat.

Abundant: A big bowl of fried clams to be eaten with rice porridge.

When Hang sits at her post in the chao trai shop, she’s surrounded by a big basket of pieces of quay (youtiao) or bread sticks, fresh onions cut into pieces, rau ram (fragrant knotweed or laksa leaves), fried onions and fried clam, ready for customers.

Each bowl of chao trai costs about VND30,000—double that of many others in the city. “We cook the meal in the traditional way and our porridge is of high quality because it’s made with organic clams raised by my family.”

Despite the price, Hang’s chao trai is a best-seller in the capital city. 

To cook tasty porridge for legions of devoted customers, Hang has to wake up early every morning. “I only hire a few assistants to help me serve my customers. I’ve worked very hard year round every day over the last 30 years, except the three days of Tet each year. Winter is my busiest season because diners, including foreign tourists, enjoy warming up over a bowl of the signature dish.”

Great combination: Quay (youtiao)is much tastier when eaten with chao trai.

Nguyen Thi Hanh, 45, a regular porridge customer, told me that she has been addicted to Hang’s chao trai since she was a girl. “Although my house is rather far from the shop I still come to eat the porridge every morning. If I don’t, I crave it very much.”

Hanh said the shop is always crowded, so she often has to stand in a long queue.

“Eating the porridge with the breadsticks in winter is much more enjoyable because it helps to warm up the body and it makes me feel healthy as I begin a new working day.”

Health effects of chao trai

Scientists affirm Hanh’s sense that the dish is good for health. Herbalist Nguyen Huong from the National Hospital of Traditional Medicines said clam is rich in protein, calcium, phosphate and a number of vitamins such as B1, B2, Niacin, C and zinc.

According to traditional medicine practices, the clam meat helps to cool down heat inside the body and reduce hypertension, liver inflammation and children’s night sweats, Huong said.

“Those people facing regular high cholesterol and headaches should eat chao trai with wood ears and fragrant mushroom. And the food is also very good for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and diabetes,” he said.

Capital delight: Chao trai is among the specialties of Ha Noi. Photos monngonhanoi.com

A young mother named Trieu Thu Huong in Ha Noi’s Hai Ba Trung District said her 6-year-old boy has recovered from night sweats, which made him damp all day and night, particularly in summer. He looked pale and weak.

“My son had faced the ailment since he was a little boy. Although I’ve heard about the remedy for a long time, my son was still too small to eat clams until last year. Then, every day I went to buy the porridge at Hang’s shop and sometimes I tried to cook the food at home and persuaded him to eat the food for almost six months. Finally, my efforts paid off, and my son’s night sweats reduced significantly,” Huong said. — VNS