A familiar dish associated with many generations of Hai Phong people and often appearing in winter, tuber soup is considered a delicious specialty, attracting many tourists from all over.

According to locals, the main ingredient of soup is water chestnut. This tuber is also known as water chestnut (big round tuber), water chestnut (long tuber) or yam.

Hai Phong people often cook cassava with seafood such as shrimp, fish or pork, creating a thick, porridge-like mixture called cassava soup.

This dish can be eaten alone, with rice or transformed into some other unique versions such as hot pot.

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Root soup is considered a famous specialty in Hai Phong, best enjoyed in winter. Photo: Song Anh DC

Mr. Le Tuan Anh - owner of a restaurant on Trai Le Street (Le Chan District, Hai Phong City) said that there are two types of taro, including purple (commonly called yam) and white. Of which, white taro is more popular.

To ensure the dish is authentic and delicious, Mr. Tuan Anh prioritizes using white cassava tubers grown in Do Son. He chooses tubers that are not too young, large in size, and round.

The meat used to cook the soup helps create a sweet and aromatic flavor that can be varied from different ingredients, but the most popular is to combine it with shrimp or snakehead fish (also known as snakehead fish or banana fish).

Depending on each person's taste, Hai Phong's root soup is varied with pork, shrimp, or perch or snakehead fish. Photo: Song Anh DC

According to the restaurant owner, the preparation of the root vegetable soup is quite simple. Rinse the roots with water to remove the sand on the outside, then peel and wash again.

Next, people use a spoon to scrape the cassava or use a knife to chop it finely so that when cooked, the dish has a characteristic sweet and delicious taste and a thick, viscous consistency.

The broth for the vegetable soup does not need to be seasoned elaborately. You can use bone broth (pork or fish bones as you like) or ground shrimp broth (shrimp or prawns are best), ensuring a natural sweetness.

“The shrimp used must be fresh, bought and soaked in ice water, which makes it easy to peel and helps the shrimp retain its freshness.

Grind the shrimp head, filter to get the juice, chop the body, stir-fry until firm, then season to taste," added Mr. Tuan Anh.

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This root soup is delicious hot or cold and can be enjoyed by both the elderly and children. Photo: Tam Sac Tam

The next step is to boil the shrimp water, then add the spices and taro, keep the heat on medium, then stir constantly to avoid lumps in the soup.

When the root vegetable soup is almost cooked, add the stir-fried shrimp and wait for it to boil for a few minutes.

In addition to the two main ingredients of water celery and meat (or seafood), Hai Phong's water celery soup also has chopped celery.

Vegetables are added last, when the soup is done, to ensure they are cooked through, crispy and delicious, and not mushy.

Watercress is a popular ingredient in Hai Phong dishes because it is delicious and quite cheap, about 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg. Photo: Binh Duong

Ms. Dang Thao (in Hanoi ) said she had the opportunity to enjoy root soup in Hai Phong. She was impressed with the dish with its unique flavor, thick like porridge, just eating it alone makes you feel full.

"The taro root has a sticky, slightly crumbly texture, quite similar to potatoes, but is more delicious and has a more distinctive flavor, even my children love it. After the first time trying it, I was attracted to this dish. In addition to eating it directly in Hai Phong, I also buy taro root, learn how to make it to cook for the whole family to enjoy.

"The root soup is available all year round but is most popular in winter. It's also simple to eat, just scoop it into a bowl and slurp it up, no need to use chopsticks or a spoon," Thao said.

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Hotpot with grilled snakehead fish. Photo: Le Tuan Anh

In the port city, people also transform the root soup into a hot hot pot to refresh the taste, served with a variety of ingredients such as pork offal, cartilage ribs, snakehead fish, sweet potato fish, etc.

“Our restaurant's hotpot uses snakehead fish marinated with a secret recipe, which reduces the fishy smell while keeping the fish firm and sweet.

When customers order, the restaurant will serve the hot pot in a thick cast iron pot to avoid burning, affecting the quality of the dish.

Diners can dip side dishes according to their preferences or enjoy them alone with pepper and fried onions, both are delicious," the restaurant owner shared.

With 200,000 VND, go on a food tour of Bac Ninh and eat 'unlimitedly' all the famous delicious dishes . In a day of experiencing a food tour of Bac Ninh, visitors can enjoy many delicious dishes at affordable prices such as burnt liver pho, Tich Nghi fish porridge, nem bui, vermicelli noodles...