How to eat delicious Hue beef noodle soup and the reason why this dish is popular in Hanoi

- The first time I ate Bun Bo Hue was around 1980, when I went on a business trip to the South through Hue station. The dish was so greasy, so spicy it made my eyes water, I'm still afraid of it...

- The original Hue beef noodle flavor comes with crab cakes and crispy fat. Some people do not like to eat authentic Hue beef noodle because of its sweetness, but they like Hue beef noodle cooked in Hanoi which has a very light taste and is not too salty...

- In the year 2000, at the corner of Nguyen Hong - Huynh Thuc Khang, there was a Hue beef noodle shop, selling banh loc, mussels with rice paper, boiled pork rice with sour shrimp, pig's blood with spicy bamboo shoots... The whole family spoke with a Hue accent. The shop hung many pictures of Hue, played Trinh music... Thanks to that shop, I love Hue to this day, every year I go to Hue for a whole week. But now I don't know where that shop has gone...

That is the regretful comment of women who have eaten authentic Hue beef noodle soup and Hue beef noodle soup in Hanoi.

Culinary expert Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung (Admin of Hanoi Old Flavors) also sadly remembers the Hue beef noodle shop from more than 30 years ago on the corner of Lang Ha - Lang street named Ngu Binh.

At that time, the owner of the restaurant was a very beautiful, charming Hue woman with gentle, deep black eyes. She was one of the first Hue beef noodle restaurant owners to open a business in Hanoi, bringing a new flavor to the people of the capital. After the rent became too high, the Ngu Binh restaurant, which had been established for nearly 20 years, had to move to an unknown location.

Also about 30 years ago at the intersection of Huynh Thuc Khang and Nguyen Hong streets, there was a pretty good Hue beef noodle shop. The owner's daughter was disabled in one leg, but her chubby face and smiling face were very lovable.

The pot used to cook the broth there was quite special. It was a huge hand-carved aluminum pot shaped like a grapefruit - like the aluminum pots of the ladies who sold snakehead fish noodle soup on the streets of Hanoi in the old days. The Hue beef noodle soup tasted quite good, sweet and spicy enough. The accompanying vegetables were fresh and flavorful. While there were a lot of customers, the owner raised the rent so high that the restaurant had to move, leaving behind regrets for many Hanoians.

Bun bo Hue entered the Hanoi market as lightly as the voice of Hue girls, gradually conquering the stomachs of customers who are picky about food. Bun bo Hue is now on par with dozens of famous long-standing noodle dishes such as bun thang, bun moc, bun bung, bun mang, bun dau, bun long, bun cha, bun nem... of Hanoi.

Now Hanoi has about fifty Hue beef noodle shops scattered throughout the old and new inner city districts. Quite famous is the Hue beef noodle shop o Xuan with two points of sale, one is the old one on Tue Tinh street and the new one is on Trung Hoa. Hue beef noodle shop o Hien also has two stores on To Hieu street and Trung Kinh street. Hue beef noodle shop o Uong has two restaurants on Lac Long Quan street on this side of the Red River and Co Linh street on the other side of the Red River. Another Hue beef noodle shop on Nguyen Huu Huan street is also quite famous and delicious.

Hue women are skillful, capable and very good at developing their business careers in the capital. They have skillfully turned Hue beef noodle soup into a breakfast dish that suits the taste of many sophisticated diners in Hanoi. Whenever Hanoi has a long, drizzling rain like the endless rains in Hue, lying down listening to Trinh's music album, surfing through the songs Hue Thuong, Hue Buon... I just want to brave the rain and rush to a Hue beef noodle shop to order a hot, spicy bowl to dispel the sadness.

Hue beef noodle soup cooked in Hue has thick noodles, rich and spicy broth. Photo from the internet.

Cook Hue beef noodle soup at home

Ms. Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung once went to the field, experienced Hue beef noodle soup and introduced Hue beef noodle soup in the "Ha Thanh specialties" column of Hanoi Television, and was told by the owner of Ngu Binh restaurant with a sweet, melodious Hue accent about the special broth for Hue beef noodle soup.

Accordingly, the Hue beef noodle soup is made from bone broth, lemongrass, sugar, shrimp paste, annatto seeds, and chili. When simmering the bones, you must be careful, skim off the foam frequently, and keep an eye on the pot of broth to keep it at a simmer; if it boils too much, the broth will be cloudy. The shrimp paste must be filtered carefully to remove all the sand.

The bowl of vermicelli noodles is thick, the broth is sweet and spicy, with the aroma of shrimp paste and lemongrass. The pig's trotters are crispy. The beef is fragrant. The pig's blood is spongy. The salad plate has bright red banana flowers, clear white banana stems, pure white bean sprouts, Vietnamese mint, and green mint, all with very attractive colors and flavors.

Bun bo Hue is now cooked at home by many Hanoi housewives. Photo: Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung

How to cook Hue beef noodle soup was known to Hanoi women through the pages of cookbooks by famous female teachers from the Central and Southern regions such as Hoang Thi Cuc, Trieu Thi Choi... but at that time the country was in difficulty so it could not be practiced. The ingredients for cooking Hue beef noodle soup are easy to find in Hanoi, but the shrimp paste dish was not available in the North due to the war that divided the two regions.

Housewives from the Central region replaced shrimp paste with shrimp paste – but the smell of shrimp paste was rancid and could not compare to the smooth, fragrant, sweet shrimp paste of Hue. It was not until the South was liberated and transportation was restored that shrimp paste was available to cook Hue beef noodle soup in Hanoi.

There are some successful Hue beef noodle shops owned by Hanoians, such as Ms. Huong's Hue beef noodle shop on Lang Street, Ms. Trinh's shop on Nghia Tan Street... They learned the craft from Hue women and built their own brand. Any specialty brought to Hanoi is adjusted to suit the tastes and preferences of Hanoians. Hue beef noodle dishes cooked in Hanoi therefore have less sugar and fish sauce, so the flavor is lighter and less salty - and that is also one of the reasons why Hue beef noodle dishes stand firm among dozens of famous noodle dishes in the heart of Hanoi.

Hue beef noodle soup with thick noodles, sweet and spicy broth, fragrant with shrimp paste and lemongrass. Photo from internet.

Bun bo Hue cooked by Hanoians is seasoned to suit their taste, so it has less sugar and fish sauce, a light flavor, and is less salty. Photo: Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung.

How is authentic Hue beef noodle soup different from Hue beef noodle soup cooked in Hanoi?

Once, Ms. Vu Thi Tuyet Nhung talked with Ms. Thanh - the owner of a Hue beef noodle shop because she found the dish here a bit sweet, but the meat was fragrant, especially the thinly sliced ​​pig's feet that still had the meat and bones intact, neat and skillful. Ms. Thanh honestly said that it was a cutting and slicing machine. Before, even though it was sharp, the pieces of meat were still soft and broken. Cutting about ten kilos of pig's feet a day was already too much for the hands. Now that there are machines, women have a lot more free time.

Ms. Thanh shares the differences between Bun Bo Hue and Bun Bo Hue cooked in Hanoi. They are:

- In Hue, the water in a pot of beef noodle soup is just simmering. In Hanoi, the water in a pot of noodle soup must be boiling.

- Hue people eat sweeter and blander food. Hanoi people eat richer and less sweet food.

- The bowl of noodles in Hue is smaller, the pieces of meat and sausage are also smaller. The bowl of noodles in Hanoi is bigger, the pieces of meat and sausage are also bigger .

But wherever we sell, we have to cater to the tastes of the customers there. When my sister Thanh's relatives in Hue came to visit, they said, "Cooking like this is not the right Hue style"!

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/cach-an-bun-bo-hue-ngon-va-ly-do-giup-dac-san-xu-hue-nay-dung-vung-giua-hang-chuc-mon-bun-ngon-noi-tieng-cua-ha-noi-172240530190753129.htm