A long with famed ancient citadel, the World Heritage Sites, and the romantic Perfume River, Hue is known for its exquisite cuisine. Thanks to its bio-diversity with numerous mountains and beaches, Hue has a source of a variety of fresh vegetables, meats and even seafood. Fresh and diverse ingredients are the key element that forms Hue’s cuisine, which is regarded as the best in the country.
Hue has a variety of dishes that are popular to the locals and now are known by many visitors in the country and in the world. Hue people now still maintain their unique culinary culture which dates back for more than 200 years ago. Among the foods that visitors should try is banh Hue (Hue cakes - kinds of snack) which all made from the same, simple ingredients: regular rice, sticky rice, or cassava flour, plus shrimp or pork. The secret is in the way those ingredients are put together.
In Hue snacks are beautifully presented. There are many snacks that are made with a meticulous preparation, they are favorite dishes of the locals and are very popular in their daily meal. To experience Hue cuisine there is no need to go to a luxurious restaurant, you can enjoy the food everywhere, in street corners, in small shop, or even with a street vendor that you do not know. Hue people are always willing to serve you the best food with a reasonable price. The most popular snacks are Banh Beo, Banh Nam, Banh Loc.
Banh Beo are steamed rice flour cake that is served in a small sallow dish. The delicate cakes are topped with scallion oil, mung bean paste, minced shrimp, and crispy rendered pork fat and served with a sweetened fish sauce that is tempting to sip once the cakes have disappeared.
Banh Nam are flat and rectangular rice cakes embedded with minced shrimp and scallions and steamed in banana leaves. The outer leaf wrapper serves as a makeshift plate while eating the cake, which dramatically cuts down on the number of dishes to wash! A few squirts of salty fish sauce, usually found tableside, offset the cake’s mildness.
Banh Loc are translucent, gelatinous cakes made by tapioca flour and filled with sautéed shrimp and sliced pork belly.
In order to create a perfect dish, Hue people also pay much attention to the preparation steps, cooking utensils as well as decoration style. It is not only the good ingredients that make a perfect dish, but it also depend on people who make the dish, the way they prepare, the way they cook, and the way the decorate the dish as well.