The way to use spices makes the daily tray of rice much more delicious than that of Hanoians

Spices with fish sauce are also delicious to eat, no need for other delicious foods. Spices are mixed artfully by Hanoians, raising the bar for daily meals, creating a unique flavor for traditional dishes.

Hanoi dishes with spices in the eyes of foreigners

Once I met a famous French chef – Mr. Didie Cooclu – who has lived and worked in Vietnam for decades, he commented very sharply on the characteristics of Hanoi dishes – that is how to use and combine them. processing spices into… art.

Hanoi cuisine is characterized by using and mixing herbs and spices into an art form. Illustration.

The art of mixing herbs and spices to make a salad of Hanoians

There are many people who go to the market to buy a bunch of mixed vegetables prepared by the vegetable vendors to sell to easy-going people. Whatever you eat, whether it’s spring rolls, soup, or vermicelli, are all mixed vegetables. But with traditional housewives, it is rare to use that mixed vegetable, which is both less fresh and not in the right way.

The art of using and mixing leaves and spices in Hanoi’s dishes is sophisticated, sophisticated and can be said to be much more complicated than that. Just by looking at the plate of vegetables in the tray of rice, it is possible to judge the level of cooking of that housewife. For example:

– Eating mixed salad must use coriander, herbs, and Chinese flavor, but it is indispensable for marjoram spices.

But if it’s chicken salad, then leave the marjoram and instead have a little laksa leaves.

– Eating dog meat, goat meat, and vinegared duck is indispensable for a few three-leaf apricot leaves, or a few three-leaf clovers.

– Eating a bowl of fish vinegar must definitely use spices, dill, scallions and flowers.

– Even though the banh cuon dish is light, but with a few more coriander leaves, the taste will be different.

– The bowl of snail vermicelli, vermicelli is missing one of the chopped vegetables including lettuce, Chinese coriander, banana flower, banana stem, split water spinach – especially the lack of a few branches of coriander leaves, or perilla, Kinh world, mint, what else is delicious…

Vegetables eaten with vermicelli, vermicelli, shrimp cakes, melon soup cooked with fish are similar to vegetables eaten with vermicelli, vermicelli – but with less coriander, banana flowers, and banana stem – and the vegetables are not as finely chopped. vermicelli, snail vermicelli, but for large ships and large branches.

Eating a piece of spinach must swell, roll your cheeks, chew on your earphones, whoever asks and doesn’t answer – is the norm.

During the subsidy period, Hanoians had a special dish of vegetables dipped in tomato sauce.

There were mainly a few branches of chopped raw onions that were pungent (after eating, you had to brush your teeth carefully before going to bed lest your mouth and breath smell like onions) – but at that time there were spices and vegetables, no one asked. much.

Once when I went to Russia for a business trip, while traveling, I leisurely enjoyed a Vietnamese meal with branches of Lang herbs and coriander, brought from home by Hanoi sisters.

In the delegation was a colleague whose mother is from Uoc Le village – famous for making traditional sausage rolls and cooking delicious dishes in Hanoi for hundreds of years – while eating stalks of Lang herbs and coriander in a plate of herbs in the land. The customer nodded and praised: “The vegetables are so delicious, it’s delicious to eat with fish sauce, no need for other delicious foods”.

Mixed vegetables are very typical of Hanoi people. Illustration.

Each spice creates its own unique flavor of dishes, and is also a male medicine to prevent diseases for humans. For example, a bowl of porridge with onions, perilla, and eggs relieves colds; Bowl of soup with spring rolls, lean meat for insomniacs; Boiled lettuce leaves for mothers giving birth with little milk; Apricot leaf omelette plate for people with dysentery…

How to make lettuce

Picking up herbs and spices, I still follow Mother’s advice, be very careful, gentle, new vegetables do not break leaves, lose smell.

And must be washed thoroughly, before soaking in boiled water to cool, now soak in pure water a couple of times before draining, bring to a tray of rice.

Some people are more careful, soaking in diluted potassium permanganate or diluted vinegar is also good – just soaking in dilute salt water does not work, but also softens, boils vegetables and if you leave them too much, only the water will be thrown away because Eat no vitamins, taste not good at all.

If spices are served for your party, you must leave the leaves of the vegetables intact, only removing the roots, withered leaves and the old stem.

For example, young coriander leaves the whole white root is appropriate – drinkers like to drink wine while sipping, so pick up the sprig of herbs and admire, then pluck a few leaves, put them in their mouths, and enjoy until the end. the magical, delicate taste of delicious vegetables of heaven and earth – and consider that to be stylish.

In the past 3 days of Tet, there was no market, no refrigerator, so housewives paid great attention to preserving herbs and coriander.

Vegetables bought without washing, put out to dry in a light breeze to drain (but do not wilt), then roll into newspaper, then roll up banana leaves outside, place in the corner of the yard.

Each meal will take out some spices, onions, soak in water for a while to refresh, then pick and wash them to process the dish.

Unfortunately, herbs, onions – spices grown in the famous Lang village are now few. Vegetable growers in other places often use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, so the shape and taste of spices today is no longer the same as before.

Although the taste of Hanoians is quite stable, now there are some hybrids that are difficult to avoid.

For example, in the past, Hanoians did not eat raw bean sprouts and fish paste in vegetables – now these two vegetables are often present in the rice tray of Hanoians, are quite popular in restaurants, and are loved by young people. prefer.

I myself can eat both raw sprouts and vegetables, and grind the fish to drink every day to cool the intestines without feeling fishy.

Many Hanoians have also been able to eat fish paste, but many people still feel nauseous when they see this vegetable because they are not used to this spice.