Com Hen

Com Hen (rice with mussel) is a very unique cuisine of Hue. Com Hen contains rice, boiled mussel, star fruit, fish sauce, cabbage, onion, pepper, peanut, chili, and a variety of herbs. The specialty is all of these elements are cold. When people eat Com Hen, they add all the above ingredients to a bowl, and slowly add boiled mussel broth with chili sauce into the bowl (the broth is the only hot thing in Com Hen). Com Hen has an extremely spicy flavor as such, so gastronomes remember it just after one time enjoying.

Bun Bo Hue

Bun bo Hue (Hue style beef vermicelli) or more detail, Bun bo gio heo (beef and pig’s knuckle vermicelli) is a popular Vietnamese soup vermicelli dish, and one of the most typical foods of Hue, Vietnam. Fine combination of ingredients make the food famous; the broth is prepared by simmering beef and bones for a long period of time, after that a large range of different spices containing lemon grass and chili are added in. Shrimp paste holds no less importance. Hue people usually add thin slices of beef shank, chunks of boiled oxtail, and pig’s knuckles or pork into the bowl. It can also contain cubes of maroon brown congealed pig blood, which are good for those suffering from high blood pressure. The specialty is commonly served with a plenty of herbs like sprouts, lime wedges, cilantro sprigs, onions, and sliced banana blossom. Thinly sliced purple cabbage or iceberg lettuces are used in case of lacking in banana blossom. It is highly recommended for tourists to add a few of shrimp paste directly into the soup.

Banh Beo

Banh beo (water fern cake) is a kind of small steamed rice pancake. The name is to refer from the shape of the cake (like a water fern-Beo in Vietnamese). It is white in color, sometimes nearly transparent and usually has a dimple in the center, which is covered with savory recipes including chopped dried or fresh shrimp, scallions, mung bean paste, crispy fried shallots, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and oil.

Banh khoai

Banh khoai (delicious pancake) is so much like Banh xeo (sizzling pancake) since they both are made from rice flour, water, turmeric powder, added slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and then pan fried. Banh khoai and Banh xeo also are wrapped in mustard leaf, lettuce leaves or rice paper, and stuffed with variety of herb, like mint leaves, basil and served with a sweet and sour mixed sauce. In Hue, Banh khoai is placed open-face instead of being folded in half like Banh xeo. Moreover, Banh khoai always goes with a fermented soy bean sauce, and people consider it a winter food owing to its greasiness and spicy taste of the sauce. Therefore, most Hue citizens only make them when winter coming.

Mam tom chua

The central of Vietnam is reputable for its Mam tom chua (sour shrimp sauce) and Hue is the best place for this unique sauce. Unlike normal shrimp sauce (has brown color and smooth surface), Sour shrimp sauce has orange color while shrimps still keep its original shape. It is quite simple to make this sauce. First, shrimps are clean by salt water (do not use normal water to avoid bad smells) and “cook” by strong rice wine. The shrimps will turn red. After that, carefully mix the shrimps with sticky rice, sliced lesser galangal, garlic and chili. Slowly put all the mixture into a jar covered by guava leaves. Just need to wait for 5-7 days and we have the mouthwatering sour shrimp sauce of our own making. This is the best sauce for boiled pork with vermicelli.

Source: vietnamonline.com

5 Must-try Foods When You Visit Hue
Nguyen Thanh Van

Not only the talented but the people whose footsteps have stamped many beautiful rivers world famous also said a lot about the Perfume River. Not only in words, but also in literature, poetry, music, and films. But perhaps, it is better to visit the place, to immerse in it, explore it, and … feel it yourselves on Vietnam vacation.

The Origin of Perfume River

The romantic river flows through Hue city, Thua Thien – Hue province. Perfume River has two sources. The left one originates from the Truong Son Mountains; it flows north-west through 55 majestic waterfalls, and then flows through the Bang Lang T-junction; the right source is shorter. After crossing over 14 waterfalls and through the wharf of Tuan, the right source reaches the Bang Lang T-junction and merges with the left source, forming the romantic Perfume River. Counted only from Bang Lang to Thuan An, the Huong River is 30 km long. The slope of the flow is not much higher than that of the sea; thus, the flow of the river is quite slow.

What Can Be Seen from a Perfume River Cruise

Perfume River is beautiful right from its source. It winds around the forests and mountains, carrying the aromas of tropical jungle herbs. The river slowly glides through the green, tree-shading villages including Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Vi Da, Dong Ba, Gia Hoi, Cho Dinh, Nam Pho, Bao Vinh, integrating with the fragrance of Hue flowers. The color of the water becomes greener after the flow crosses Ngoc Tran mountain – Hon Chen temple.

The greenish river twinkles just like sapphires under the sun. Traveling by boats to sightsee the dreamy Perfume River and listen to Hue’s folk songs at night is always a pleasure of tourists here.
The shades of the surrounding scenery such as streets, garden, pagodas, and temples are reflected on the river, making the beautiful river even more dreamy and romantic. It is said that it is Perfume River that makes Hue more peaceful, tranquil and harmonious with the long-lasting history and culture of the citadel.

Best Things to Do & See on a Perfume River Tour

Enjoy Hue Folk Song

Visit Hue, tourists will be immersed in local people’s folk songs when having a boat trip on Perfume River. One new feature of Hue folk song (Ca Hue) tour on Perfume River is that apart from utilizing traditional instruments to play traditional music, the instrumentalists can also play some familiar foreign songs for foreigners from different countries as well.

Hue folk songs tour is the combination of folk songs and royal court songs and is performed in two ways, North and South one. North music includes songs that are cheerful and formal. South music contains more than 60 sad songs. Orchestra performing Hue folk songs includes musicians wearing a turban, playing erhu, moon lute, flute, and monochord. The female singers wear traditional ao dai and play other instruments.

Get Closer to Local Life of Hue People

When the boat reaches Van Lau wharf, tourists will have chances to drop the floating lanterns on Perfume River under the instruction of the boat manager. This is an old custom of Hue people with the wish of being safe and sound. Each floating lantern represents its owner’s wishes.

Lighting the floating lanterns is considered an act to honor the spiritual and cultural values of Vietnamese people on big holidays and festivals.

Source: vietvisiontravel.com

Perfume River
Nguyen Thanh Van

Dong Ba Market is located along the northern bank of Perfume River, on Tran Hung Dao Street, 100 meters to the north away from Truong Tien bridge. Before the appearance of Dong Ba market, there was a market named Qui Gia which was established under Gia Long’s reign. In 1885, Nearly a century had passed when Hue capital was invaded and Qui Gia market was burned by the French. Not until 1887 was the market rebuilt by Dong Khanh Emperor and renamed Dong Ba.

Best Things to Do & See in Dong Ba Market

In Dong Ba Market, an eye-catchy old bell tower standing among the monument will surely attract visitors’ attention. Covering an area of up to 16,000-meter square, the market is constructed of nine buildings and four new sections selling all kinds of products from foods to facilities. Like other markets in Vietnam, each section sells a typical type of product only. The entire second floor is for clothes, for example.

What to Buy in Dong Ba Market

Tourists can find all of Hue’s specialties in Dong Ba Market from “Non la bai tho” (conical hats with a poem in them) from Phu Can village, “me xung” (candies) to “tom chua” (Hue sour shrimp). People say that Dong Ba Market is a haven for Hue’s traditional foods which is famous not only for its delicious taste but also for its budget-friendly cost. Therefore, it’s really a try-worthy place to visit in Dong Ba Market – the food court where myriad number of street vendors will provide you some of the best dishes that you have ever tried.

In fact, although people have set up a number of the market in Hue, Dong Ba Market is still of importance, as a wholesale market, to the economy of the city. Every day, thousands of traders visit the market to exchange their products. Thus, visiting Dong Ba Market, not only tourists can buy some traditional products to present your relatives and friend as souvenirs and try some special dishes in the food court, but you can also investigate the typical ways of trading of local people.

Best Time to Visit Dong Ba Market

The market opens from early morning at about 3.00 am to the evening at 8.30 pm. Very early in the morning, the sellers have to arrive at the market to arrange their products so as to buyers can purchase their needs at any time. Moreover, this is also the time for wholesalers to trade their goods with smaller retailers. Thus, if you want to discover the trading methods or to buy things at a lower price, early morning is the most appropriate time.

On a daily basis, the number of customers can be ranging from 5000 to 7000; this number can be doubled during peak time such as holidays. Visiting the market during holidays will be quite interesting as you can feel the hectic pace of life here, but it’s likely that you will have to hustle with a large number of consumers and, as a result, watch out for the pickpockets. Besides, you also shouldn’t visit the market on the first January according to Lunar Year because not many stalls open during this day. The market will probably operate normally on the fourth day of the year.

Source: vietvisiontravel.com

Dong Ba Market
Nguyen Thanh Van

Hue cuisine has more culture and history to it than any other region in Vietnam. As the land that has offered the kings many dishes, Hue has a philosophy in food tastes which has been playing a great role in making Hue food so unique and special. Praised by world renowned chef Anthony Bourdain, Hue cuisine won’t disappoint you.

1. Bun Bo Hue

This dish is already known world-wide, a big part of it was thanks to the effect of Anthony Bourdain, A bowl of Bun Bo Hue is steamy, spicy and full of flavors. The main ingredients of this dish are vermicelli, beef, pig leg and red colored broth which is added a special kind of shrimp sauce. This sauce is the reason why Bun Bo Hue is so addicting and unique than any other noodle soup. The soup is served with all kinds of herbs and vegetables.
Bun Bo Hue is a popular dish and you can find Bun Bo Hue restaurants everywhere in Hue. We suggest you to come to Dong Ba Market to for this dish and many other dishes.

2. Com Hen

The story of Com Hen is the story of Vietnamese working class and middle-class. Com Hen went all its way to the King’s dining table and then returned to the markets, sidewalks – where it originally belonged to.

Com Hen is composed of all the most simple and easiest-to-find ingredients which are cooked cooked rice, baby basket clams, herbs, mints, fish sauce, fried shallots, roasted peanuts…. All these ingredients create such a beautiful, unique symphony of tastes and flavors, showing how creative Vietnamese people are in making cheap food delicious.

A bowl of Com Hen costs between 10,000VND – 20,000VND.

*Where to eat Com Hen:

• Com Hen 26 Truong Dinh Street, Hue
• Con Hen Mussel Rice, Hương Lưu Commune, Vỹ Dạ Ward, Huế City, Thừa Thiên Huế Province

3. Banh Bot Loc Nhan Tom (Tapioca starches with shrimp)

This dish is popular and easy to eat, made totally from local ingredients. A small shrimp is put in the middle of tapioca starch then steamed until done. It’s best when eat this dish with a flavorful, spicy dipping sauce.

*Where to eat Bot Loc Nhan Tom:

• Ba Do shop – 71, Nguyen Binh Khiem, Hue

4. Banh Canh Nam Pho

This special dish originates from Nam Pho – the suburb of Hue city, is acknowledged for its special reddish broth mixed with noodles made from rice and cassava flour and small shrimp-and-pork cakes. A bowl of Banh Canh Nam Pho will make you warm and full, especially in chilly days.

A bowl of Banh Canh Nam Pho will costs you only 15,000VND. If you can, go to Nam Pho to try the original version of this dish.

Source: Asianwaytravel.com

Hue – where to eat ?
Nguyen Thanh Van