Le Nguyen
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Local fare: Visitors sample banh cuon, one of the Vietnamese specialties presented at the Hanoian Food Festival at West Lake Water Park. — VNS Photo Le Nguyen |
HA NOI — We eat to live, not live to eat, said French playwright Moliere, but given cultural and historical value associated with food, it could be argued we also eat to learn.
In the case of Ha Noi, which this week celebrates its 1,000th birthday, the city's rich history is reflected in its culinary traditions and wealth of dishes and delicacies.
For those who are hungry to learn more about Ha Noi, the city is holding a food fair at West Lake Park to mark its millennium.
There are more than 130 stalls featuring mainly Hanoian fare that will be open for the hungry until next Monday.
But foodies will face the perennial problem of how to sample as much as they want with the limited capacity of their inner chambers.
Walking from stall to stall just to have a look, I found a wide range from familiar bun (rice vermicelli) to strange dishes like fried crickets.
I had to be very selective so I would not regret the choices I made.
I first sampled banh duc (plain rice flan). For me, the white pasty pastry served with fried pork mixed with peziza, pepper and nuoc mam (fish sauce) looked a bit different and strange so I thought it was worth a try.
And I was right. The hot pastry, which was scooped into a small bowl, was so soft and fine it easily melted in my mouth.
"Making the pastry is a painstaking process," said chef Tran Van Khanh from the Holiday Ha Noi Hotel.
"It takes two hours of constantly stirring the rice flour at a steady pace in a thick pot on top of a small fire to ensure the pastry doesn't burn and curdle," he added.
Difficult as it is to make, the pastry is no more than a small snack that satiates hunger for only a short while.
"In the past, Hanoians made banh duc for their main meals to save rice in times of hunger," said the chef, "It became very common during the great starvation in 1945."
"It is best when served hot in the mornings during cold seasons," he added.
However, it's not easy for visitors to find the pastry in Ha Noi because it is only available in certain locations, said Nguyen Manh Cuong, 29, who lives on Dong Ngac Street.
The easy-to-eat snack afforded enough energy for me to continue my tour of the stalls.
For the main course, I stopped at a bun cha stall because the smell of the cha, (minced pork grilled) was so enticing.
"You can smell the aroma of the grilled pork from a great distance," said Doan Thi Thu, an octogenarian native of Ha Noi who lives on Bach Mai Street.
"Cooks have to fan the charcoal continuously to create a lot of smoke that consumes the pork," she said, "When it is served, the pork looks tender with melted fat marbled through the meat."
Although a big fan of bun chaû and having eaten it many times, Thu did not want to miss the chance to relive her childhood with bun cha served on a flat winnowing basket covered with la dong (phrynium leaves).
Bun (rice vermicelli), rau song (fresh vegetables), pork and fish sauce which make up bun cha are all staple ingredients of Vietnamese food.
"The fish sauce, after being mixed with vinegar, sugar, garlic and pepper, becomes a perfect sweet and sour accompaniment for bun cha," Thu said.
A cup of tao phoù, a popular Hanoian streetside drink which is made of tofu served with syrup and ice, is perfect for refreshment. It is cool and sweet.
"I hope Ha Noi will continue to serve lots of yummy food," said Australian John Kis, who has lived in Ha Noi for more than a year, noting that Hanoian food is pleasantly spicy and involves many fresh ingredients. — VNS