A Vietnamese proverb says “Eating as in the North; clothing as in the South”...
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| A customer is having Hanoi bun cha at Thai Thanh Shop. |
Many will think of pho, a kind of Vietnamese noodle soup, when saying about Northern food. However, pho is among many other specialties such as bun cha, bun moc, mien ngan, etc…These dishes are mentioned in Vietnamese literature as the specialties of Hanoi.
In Nha Trang, Quang Sang Shop, at 7 Han Thuyen, formerly at 51 Le Thanh Phuong Street, is the first place selling bun cha (grilled pork noodle soup) in Nha Trang.
The owner Dang Thi Kim Chi said, “My family used to live in Hai Phong where we had a small restaurant. Then we moved to Nha Trang. I soon found out that many Nha Trang residents were seeking for like northern food, so I decided to open Quang Sang Shop.” Besides bun cha, Quang Sang serves many other northern dishes, including bun moc, bun thang, etc.
Bun cha is thought to originate from Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The dish is served with a plate of white rice noodles and herbs in a steamy broth.
There are two kinds, one with chopped pork and the other with minced pork balls. A bowl of bun cha offers lots of colors, green with vegetables, red with chilli, yellow with fish sauce, etc.
Some years after the opening of Quang Sang Shop, Thai Thanh Shop came into being at 42 Dong Da, Nha Trang. The owner is a young couple from Hai Phong. The menu includes more dishes including bun cha, bun rieu, bun oc, mien ngan, da cua cake, grilled chopped meat and fermented pork rolls.
The owner Phan Thi Thanh said, “All the dishes are cooked and served followiing the northern traditional cuisine. Some materials are bought in the northern region such as banh da, mien and banh da. Many like mien ngan the most here.”
Tran Thanh Ha whose native place is Hai Phong says banh da cua (red noodles with crab) is delicious. The broth is cooked with spiced crab cakes and fish cakes. The noodles in this dish are flat, thick and brown in color. Many choose Thai Thanh shop also because it is spacious with reasonable prices.
In addition, bun oc (snail noodles) is among northern specialties available in Nha Trang. Bun oc is served hot. There are many shops selling snail noodle soup, but maybe the most popular are at 79 Hoang Dieu and 65A Yersin.
The specialties of the northern region have added to the local culinary variety in Nha Trang, a tourist city. Many visitors coming to Nha Trang can have a chance to enjoy not only seafood or Ninh Hoa fermented pork rolls but also specialties of northern Vietnam.
Nhu Thao
