𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 3 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 25 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 8 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 2007 𝘵𝘰 2015, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 1,174 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘪 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘩 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘘𝘶á𝘯 𝘙𝘶ố𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 2015 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯. [𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 23, 2015]
My colleague from Hue insisted that I’ve not experienced true Vietnamese cuisine until I’ve had Imperial Hue cuisine, purportedly more refined than other regional cuisines in Vietnam, and whose finesse reflect the exacting demands of Tu Duc (1829-1883), the 4th Nguyen emperor and a die-hard gourmand in his time.
For lunch today, my Hue colleague brought me to Quán Ruốc, reputedly one of the top spots in Saigon to have a true taste of Imperial Hue cuisine. This very popular Hue restaurant is owned by the famous Saigon-based writer-poet-artist, Mường Mán, and is more than a decade-old.
The restaurant is named after the pungent, addictive shrimp paste from Hue: mắm ruốc. Westerners might be turned off by the salty, overwhelming fishy odour (fermented smell) of mắm ruốc, but for folks like me who love “belachan” (our own shrimp paste in Singapore), the aroma was irresistible.
Món khai vị (hors d’œuvres).
Each table has a tray of tasty banana leaf-wrapped món khai vị (hors d’œuvres). There were 3 types to choose from:
- Tré, unwrapped: it consisted of pig’s ears, galangal, sesame seeds, fermented pork, guava leaves and garlic, blended together to give tré its trademark flavour.
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Nem is pate-like fermented pork and sourish in taste.
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Chả bò: a very tasty, pale-coloured beef sausage.
Các món bánh (steamed cakes)
A selection of steamed rice cakes:
- Bánh ướt tôm cháy: steamed, flat rice rolls with grilled shrimp (similar to Chinese “cheung fun”).
- Bánh nậm: rice cake filled with grilled shrimps.
- Bánh bột lọc: steamed dumplings with pork and shrimp (almost similar to Singaporean “soon kueh”), tinged reddish-brown with annatto seeds.
- Bánh bèo: small, saucer-shaped steamed rice cakes, topped with dried shrimps and pork crackling (similar to Singaporean “chwee kway”).
Mép bò (Boiled cow’s lips)
This trademark Hue delicacy is absolutely unmissable: parts of the cow’s mouth, eaten with a salad of bittergourd, starfruit, mint leaves & Hue figs (smaller & sweeter than Saigon ones) - very tasty when dipped into mắm ruốc/shrimp paste.
Powdered chilli was provided to be mixed into the mắm ruốc and was super-spicy: Hue cuisine is perhaps a few hundred thousand rungs above Saigon on the Scoville range when it comes to spiciness.
Hến xúc bánh tráng (Baby clams with rice paper wrap)
Another signature Hue delicacy, though my colleague explained that the version here is a non-spicy one, an inexplicable departure from the usual Hue rendition where it’s very spicy.
Món bún giấm nuốc (Hue summer noodles with jelly-fish)
Món bún giấm nuốc - a staple Hue summer noodle dish of thick rice vermicelli (roughly the same as Singapore laksa noodles) topped with crunchy, thick jelly-fish slices (from Hue, and very difficult to procure in Saigon), pork, shrimps, rice crackers studded with black sesame seeds, groundnuts, finely-julienned curls of banana blossom, mint leaves and coriander.
Sour soup accompaniment to món bún giấm nuốc
Accompanying the noodles is a small bowl of sourish seafood soup with crabmeat quenelles, wafer-thin pineapple slices, cherry tomatoes, scallions and coriander. The “traditional” Hue way to consume this is to finish the noodles first, then proceed to the soup, although some Viet diners would pour the soup over the noodles. Either way, it’s absolutely scrumptious.
Bún đuôi bò - thick rice vermicelli with ox-tail broth and pig’s blood.
I’m a sucker for pig’s blood, so this dish is irresistible for me.
Chè đậu ngự - “ngự” bean dessert.
Hue cuisine does not favour the sweet flavours much loved by the Southerners and Saigonites. Conversely, its selection of dessert also pales in comparison, and seemed limited to sweet soups containing syrupy legumes and beans, called chè.
Address
Quán Ruốc
145A Nguyễn Đình Chính, Phường 11, Quận Phú Nhuận, TP. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: +84 838463614
