Hue City has just added two more national intangible heritages, namely the Heritage of “Folk Knowledge of Bun Bo Hue” and the New Rice Festival of the Co Tu people. In which, Bun Bo Hue is truly an “emotional touch” of the special and sophisticated culinary culture of the ancient capital.
Unlike the Southern beef noodle soup served with bean sprouts and stir-fried beef, Hue beef noodle soup is a noodle soup with a broth that is often quite rich and strong in both smell and taste. Enjoying a bowl of “Hue-style” beef noodle soup, you can clearly feel the spicy taste and the characteristic smell of shrimp paste as soon as you sniff and taste the broth.
"Tips" for diners
Being the crystallization of hundreds of years of folk knowledge and passed down through many generations, Hue beef noodle soup is closely associated with the religious life and community activities of people in traditional craft villages such as Van Cu and O Sa noodle villages. Therefore, the dish deeply reflects the soul, lifestyle and local culinary culture.
That unique feature contributes to making Bun Bo Hue an attractive experience for many domestic and international tourists. Although this dish is not unfamiliar and is present in many provinces and cities across the country, if you want to fully enjoy the typical flavor and the very unique soul of the folk dish from the hands of the old ladies who cook and then add ingredients, spices, etc., you can only find it in Hue. In particular, delicious Bun Bo is often sold at simple sidewalk stalls, street vendors with a few chairs or hidden deep in small alleys.
In the memory of a foodie who has returned to Hue many times just because she misses... Hue beef noodle soup, Nha Phuong ( Hanoi ) said that she often visits Me Queo restaurant and Co Be restaurant on Bach Dang street. Her "Hue beef noodle tour" often lasts many days so that she can leisurely stop at Ong Vong restaurant on Nguyen Du street, Mrs. My restaurant on Nguyen Cong Tru street, Mrs. Hanh restaurant at the end of Nguyen Thai Hoc street, and of course, the bun bo alley restaurant at the end of lane 29 Hung Vuong that usually only sells from 7-9 am every day before it runs out...
Hue beef noodle shop at the end of Hung Vuong alley, Hue. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)
“The restaurants I visited had no signs, no fancy tables and chairs, just a few simple plastic chairs arranged around a pot of steaming broth. But there, I found the exact flavor of traditional Hue beef noodle soup in my memory,” Nha Phuong shared.
Rich Hue flavor in every bowl of beef noodle soup
Tourists like Nha Phuong are particularly impressed with the bowl of beef noodle soup with a naturally sweet and fragrant broth made from beef bones simmered for hours, combined with Hue shrimp paste, lemongrass and traditional spices. The dish is more attractive thanks to the combination of soft noodles with pig's feet, beef sausage, pig's blood, chopped onions and a bit of spicy chili sauce...
Among the traditional Hue beef noodle shops today, Ms. Be's or Ms. Queo's (now over 80 years old) still maintains the traditional cooking method using a wood stove every day with the same traditional flavor. The characteristic smoke smell is the way the ladies preserve their old profession and love for their hometown cuisine. In particular, Ms. Be's beef patties are completely hand-pounded with a stone mortar, so the patties are chewy, soft, juicy and fragrant.
Hidden deep in an alley on Hung Vuong Street is a beef noodle shop without a sign that has been bustling with customers for years. Locals often “whisper” to tourists that if they want to eat here, they have to wake up very early, because the shop only sells out by 9am, and because it is so crowded, it sometimes sells out earlier.
Hue beef noodle soup has a broth that is often quite rich and strong in both smell and taste. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)
The broth here is not only fragrant but also has a harmonious color, aroma and flavor with sliced beef, sausage, pig's blood, trotters or rare meat; the fresh, clean vegetables served with it help the dish to be more flavorful.
What most of these “Hue-style” beef noodle shops have in common is that they have no signboards, few waiters, and even no price lists, but they are always crowded with locals and gourmet tourists. According to locals, it will take you 5 days to enjoy all the delicious Hue beef noodle shops in the ancient capital.
Not only the mossy citadels, the architectural masterpieces of ancient mausoleums, historical relics, traditional craft villages... coming to Hue would be a mistake if you did not find and enjoy the famous Hue beef noodle soup, one of the culinary quintessence of Vietnam, and now officially become a national intangible heritage./.
In 2014, Bun Bo Hue was introduced by famous culinary expert Anthony Boudain on American television channel CNN as "the most wonderful soup I have ever tasted."
In 2016, Bun Bo Hue was listed by the Asia Record Organization as one of the Top 100 valuable Asian dishes.
In 2023, the international culinary website Taste Atlas ranked Hue 28th out of 100 cities with the best food in the world, in which Bun Bo Hue was considered "a must-try Hue delicacy when coming here."
(Vietnam+)
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/diem-cham-cam-xuc-dac-biet-tinh-te-cua-di-san-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-bun-bo-hue-post1048289.vnp
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