Controversial rule

 Vietnam family holiday - A controversy has erupted over the government of Thua Thien-Hue’s new rule that requires organizations and individuals to register for using the “Bun Bo Hue” (Hue-style beef noodle soup) brand name and selling the authentic noodle soup of the province no matter where they are located in the country.

The requirements for ingredients, cooking recipe, and food safety and hygiene are provided in a document signed by provincial vice chairman Phan Ngoc Tho on issuance of recognition certificates, management and use of brand name bun bo Hue, a specialty that originated in the central province. The Thua Thien-Hue Tourism Association has been assigned to manage the brand name and relevant issues.

Unsurprisingly the province’s regulation has drawn a lot of criticism. Particularly, the owners of eateries that sell the soup outside the province have voiced outcries over the rule, saying it is a kind of sub-license, so it is against the central Government’s effort to do away with business conditions. Some have argued that it will prevent the spicy beef noodle soup from being cooked to the diverse tastes of diners.

Tho has quickly responded to the criticism by saying that the dish has been sold by signature restaurants and street vendors and that its true flavor and quality have changed, so the rule is aimed at ensuring authentic bun bo Hue, protecting consumer rights and preserving the brand name.

Eateries in and outside Vietnam are exempt from registration if they do not want to use the logo, Tho told Tuoi Tre newspaper.

A number of provincial specialties have become national dishes like pho (noodle soup served with beef or chicken) and goi cuon (fresh spring rolls), to name just a few. Brand name registration for these dishes is a must to facilitate better protection and promotion but national brands need to be managed by a national-level agency, instead of a local organization, as there are issues that the province’s tourism association cannot solve in other localities such as quality management and food safety.  

If Thua Thien-Hue Province wants to bring authentic bun bo Hue to more diners, it should team up with a national-level agency to prepare a campaign to do the branding for the dish at home and abroad.

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Creepy specialties from southern Vietnam

Vietnam package tours - Besides  a number of eye-catching dishes, Vietnam is also well-known for its scary culinary specialties that will make foreigners ‘creepy’.

However, if they pick up a piece into their mouth, they will want to enjoy more and more thanks to its delicious taste.

Coconut worms are a specialty of Vietnam’s southern region.The living worms are dropped into a bowl of alcohol. After the worms emit contaminants, they are washed and put into a bowl of chili fish sauce.  The living worms are fat and fleshy, which feel no different from egg yolk. Fried spider In the past, scorpion was usually soaked in wine and consumed as a traditional medicine.  Recently it has fallen into the frying pans of restaurants. It is usually deep fried or grilled.  Fried grasshoppers Fired scorpion Cicada can be soaked in a tempura-like batter and deep fried, or cooked with rice porridge. People usually catch cicadas during their moulting process when they are shedding their skins, as the cicadas taste the best then. Fired centipede, starfish, and seahorses Vole is considered specialty meat. However, not everyone is brave enough to enjoy this food.

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Bun and bread soup fake civet exotic crab for lunch in Hanoi

hanoi package tours - With prices ranging from 40,000 - 90,000 VND, you can enjoy a full meal quality, warm hearted and delicious.

Bun fake civet

An ideal dish for lunch in Hanoi is cold noodles taste smell fake civet with galangal, sour taste of bamboo shoots and cook greasy pork leg imitation of mongoose.

Raw materials are simple but delicious noodles to bowl is also both a sophisticated manufacturing process, decreasing the spices to taste. Pork leg meat often have to choose foundation, thui on the fire until it is yellow then bring cumbersome pieces tightly.

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Marinated pork leg with technology juice, galangal to create color and distinct aroma. Shortage of raw materials is not that cool, with very distinct sour taste and add a little shrimp paste for flavor. The spice must be processed for a new ingenious and bold make false distinctions of civet noodle bowl in each shop.

Authors attractive bowl with yellow mongoose foundation cumbersome rolls, green vegetables, yellow of technology ... Photo: Khanh Hoa

The soup is served with attractive colors, though not yet very stimulating appetite by odor, unmistakable. Putting a piece of pork leg to his mouth, feeling silky soft meat, fatty crust closely with the pig skin is yellow thui, mingles with the sour taste of bamboo shoots, fragrant with galangal just melted in the mouth.

The dish is accompanied with rice noodles leaf discs were cut into small pieces, add some herbs or slices of pungent chili makes an attractive lunch. A bowl of rice noodles are often sold fake civet 35,000 dong, can eat in town Tue Tinh, Thuy Khue, Kim Lien ...

Crab cake soup

Not a dish of Hanoi, famous crab cake soup in the southern provinces, but has become an attractive dishes diners capital.

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Interestingly while enjoying bread bowl soup with crab meat and fiber bread soup delicious hot, add fried fish, shrimp, pork leg meat, mushrooms, quail eggs ... depending on the processing of each shop.

Bread soup bowl at a diner on Quang Trung Street. Photo: Ut Whistle

Fiber bread soup usually made from rice flour, tapioca starch or flour to make a more delicious chewy, bigger fibers were made noodles. Bread soup broth is usually viscous regime, there is sweetness and security of meat flavor of the sea with crab meat, shrimp, fish ...

Depending on your calling, but the bartender will take to crab meat into pieces or whole fish. It is interesting to break each pincers, put into a bowl of fish sauce, sip sitting in cold weather.

A bowl of noodles is priced 55000-90000 contract. You can eat in the restaurant on Quang Trung Street, Phung Hung, Mai Hac De, Pham Ngoc Thach ...

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Muong ethnic people’s colorful cakes

hanoi travel agency - Sticky rice cakes are a popular finger food among Vietnamese people.  However, sticky rice cakes of Muong ethnic minority group in the mountainous district of Tan Son in the northern province of Phu Tho are special because they come with a variety of colors.

Colorful sticky rice cakes of Muong people in the northern province of Phu Tho – Photo: Nguyen The Luong

Muong people in Tan Son usually make those cakes after their glutinous rice harvest. Rice used for making the cakes comes from valleys where there is cool weather all year round while water for rice cooking is from a crystal clear stream in the forest. To color their cakes, Muong people use different types of forest leaves. See: hanoi tourist

Only Muong people know what leaves should be picked for coloring  their sticky rice cakes because different types of leave give different colors  including orange yellow, pink, red, light and dark purple.

After cleaning the leaves, people grind and squeeze them to get liquid which is mixed with the white sticky rice dough to make balls of different colors for steaming. They are stuffed with chicken or mung bean pudding. See: hanoi tourist attractions

In their traditional festivals and special occasions such as wedding, these colorful sticky rice cakes are a must.

The cakes are ready for serving after being steamed for 15 minutes.  According to Muong people, the round shape of the cake represents the sky and the earth while the colors are a harmony of the tree, the flower and the stream.

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HCM City develops street food into tourist attraction

hanoi tourist attractions - Ho Chi Minh City is developing street food as a unique culture to draw more domestic and foreign visitors.

The southern metropolis is known for various specialties from various regions such as Soc Trang fish noodle soup, southern crispy pancakes, Hue beef noodle soup, Quy Nhon rice noodles with fish paste, and Sa Dec noodle with seasoned and sautéed beef. See: hanoi airport to halong bay

The global Food and Wine Magazine selected Ho Chi Minh City as one of the 10 best street food destinations in the world.

“Saigon’s street foods range from the savory soup known as pho and the French colonial-influenced banh mi (pâté sandwiches on French bread) to regional southern specialties like banh xeo (stuffed pancakes) and canh chua (fish soup). A trip to the megasize Ben Thanh Market could yield spring rolls, spices and a knockoff handbag,” the magazine said on its website.

To fully tap the potential of street food, the tourism sector must improve price management, the attitude of street food providers, hygiene, safety and marketing strategies.

Tourism Division Head at HCM City University of Economics Nguyen Duc Tri said the management of street food in the city has yet to receive due attention.

The city is famous for delicious dishes, but the most important thing is to win customers’ confidence in food safety, he said. See: food and drink in hanoi

He suggested local authorities work with the tourism sector to open food safety training courses and support small-scale street sellers to produce clean food and avoid using food without clear origins.

The tourism sector should also coordinate with the Health Department to examine the level of food safety among street food businesses, he added.

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