Specialty only in Hue but often forgotten, eat once just hope to try it sooner

Hue ancient capital is famous for its simple, rustic but rich and rich dishes. From hot bowls of Hue beef vermicelli to cakes such as filter cake, Nam cake, banh beo, etc. to eat forever and not to get bored, or dozens of different royal tea dishes… Yet there is one specialty that is not many. Paying attention to visitors can cause memories after just one taste, which is Nam Pho soup cake.

Unlike other types of banh chung, Hue’s Nam Pho banh cuon has a unique characteristic, whether it’s the first or the second time coming to Hue, you have to find the right place to enjoy it. It is called so because it originates from Nam Pho village and is a traditional delicacy of this village.

Nam Pho soup cake is a famous heirloom dish of Nam Pho village, in Phu Thuong commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue province. Not only special in the name, but this delicious dish of Hue cuisine also has a special processing step, a meticulous and meticulous way of cooking, different from the soup cakes in other localities.

First, the cakes must be cooked from rice flour mixed with filtered flour in a ratio of 3:1. The rice for making banh chung must be a delicious type of rice, grind it until smooth and mix with cold water, mix well to get a paste. Then bring the powder to the water bath several times. Note at this step that the water should not boil, because boiling will damage the pot of flour.

This stage must be done very carefully so that the cake fibers do not break, then continue to drag into smaller fibers to produce beautiful and even cakes. The last step is to take out the cake, soak it in warm water. At this time, the dough will be a little bigger, but thanks to that, when eating, diners will feel the cake is softer.

After this step, the people of Hue will proceed to create a paste for the dough by taking shrimp broth and seasoning to taste, then add a little filter powder with a little color, mix it with flour to form a cake. soup. That completed the process of creating cake flour for the Hue cake soup pot.

The cake part of banh chung does not use fish to cook, but uses shrimp and meat. The shrimp and pork belly are only cleaned, brought to a puree, usually by hand, rolled into small balls and cooked into a smooth mixture to create brick red rolls, which look very eye-catching and stimulate the taste. Some are boiled, peeled, squeezed dry, then pounded with pork rolls, caught in small balls, about the size of a finger. Many locals also call it the stigma.

The broth of Nam Pho soup cake is cooked from fresh shrimp and crab broth, so it has a natural sweetness. Hue people will add spices to taste, put the pistil in a pot of water, in some places add filter powder and natural color so that the water has a bright pink color. The cook will wait until the dough in the pot is just cooked, add shrimp and meatballs, at the same time, the bottom of the pot of banh chung is also thick because it has been cooked with fire to keep the food hot enough for the dish.

Finally, they will put the cake in, add some laksa leaves, onions, cilantro, and chili fruit and scoop it out into a bowl for guests to enjoy. Another special feature that diners should not miss when eating Nam Pho soup cake is adding spicy fish sauce to the bowl. That alone is enough to stimulate the taste buds of diners.

A bowl of Nam Pho soup with the right style is not only attractive by taste, but also attractive with harmonious colors presented beautifully. It’s hard to resist a delicious, hot, smoky dish with the white color of the cake mixed with shrimp and meat fillings and the green color of scallions. When eating, diners will mix a little green chili fish sauce, add a few stalks of cilantro. The bowl of Nam Pho soup cake has the rich flavor of shrimp meat and rice cake soup mixed with sweet and salty broth.

Eating traditional Nam Pho soup while it’s still hot, scooping each piece into your mouth, diners will clearly feel the sweetness of shrimp and crab, the spicy taste of chili mixed with the aroma of cilantro, leaving behind the scent. the soft taste of each cake from rice flour.