We can enjoy food in Hue, Vietnam's culinary capital in exclusive fine dining restaurants, busy family restaurants, humble side walk stalls, mobile street carts, and even in a Vietnamese family home as a guest. Every place offers their own unique foodie experience - you should try them all when you are in Hue.
Our guide Nguyen Ngoc An of Connect Travel brought us to the home of the Tu family in Hue. It's a typical single storey house with a wide airy verandah, spacious front porch and a small garden. Mr Tu's grandfather settled on this land over 50 years ago.
Many of the herbs, spices, vegetables and fruits used in the dishes are grown in the family's garden including this Vietnamese fig which is used in va tron Hue or Hue fig salad. This variety of fig is found only in central Vietnam.
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Mdm Tu personally made 3 iconic Hue dishes for us - banh beo, va tron Hue and bun bo Hue.
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Banh beo is like the Teochew chwee kueh - banh beo is made with rice flour gruel which is steam cooked in a small shallow saucer. Whereas chwee kueh is thicker, banh beo is much thiner, and is soft and floppy.
Banh beo is topped with chopped scallion and aromatic oil infused with fried shallot flavour. Then, smothered with a blanket of finely chopped boiled prawn meat.
The water from boiling the prawns, together with a bit of fish sauce is made into a savoury umami loaded sauce which is splashed onto the banh beo before eating.
Eat the rice cake with chili sauce or cut chili. Once you taste it, it is easy to appreciate why banh beo is so popular and well loved by locals and visitors alike.
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The second dish, va tron Hue is totally new to me - the first time I ate this.
The fig fruit came from the Tu family's own garden. They were boiled, sliced and diced, and stir fried with minced pork, chopped shrimp, crushed peanut, toasted sesame seed, etc.
The fried fig is eaten on a slice of crackly toasted rice crisp. It's a mix of crispy and soft textures. Layers of savoury flavours complemented by a bit of sweetness and a bit of heat from chili sauce and cut chili.
First time tasting this and I am in love with it already. Va tron Hue is a royal dish and is fairly common in Hue restaurants.
The second dish, va tron Hue is totally new to me - the first time I ate this.
The fig fruit came from the Tu family's own garden. They were boiled, sliced and diced, and stir fried with minced pork, chopped shrimp, crushed peanut, toasted sesame seed, etc.
The fried fig is eaten on a slice of crackly toasted rice crisp. It's a mix of crispy and soft textures. Layers of savoury flavours complemented by a bit of sweetness and a bit of heat from chili sauce and cut chili.
First time tasting this and I am in love with it already. Va tron Hue is a royal dish and is fairly common in Hue restaurants.
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Our third dish at the Tu residence - the legendary bun bo Hue. Not often seen outside of Hue, but in Hue itself, it is everywhere you turn.
Bun bo Hue means "beef noodles from Hue" but the soup is actually made with both beef and pork bones. One of the defining features of bun bo Hue is also these pork-crab meat balls.
Bun bo Hue soup has quite a bit of heat from lemongrass and chili paste.
In the bowl of savoury soup, there's thick round noodles made with rice and cassava. There's slices of beef and a pork-crab meat ball. The noodle soup is eaten with basil, mint, julienned banana blossom etc which add crunch and fragrances to the dish.
Bun bo Hue's signature pork-crab meat ball is tender, moist and savoury sweet. Nice.
In just one stop, we experienced and tasted good renditions of 3 iconic Hue dishes thanks to the Tu family.
If you like to have the same foodie experience, you can contact Nguyen Ngoc An who arranged our visit to the Tu family.
Date visited: 4 Mar 2020
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