As soon as I finished breakfast at the hotel in Hoi An, I moved to Hue, which is 2.5 hours north of Hoi An. The most famous dish in Hue is Bun Bo Hue. While there are so many regional noodle dishes in Vietnam, Bun Bo Hue is the nationally recognized soup noodle. Unlike the more well-known Pho, which doesn't contain chili in the broth, Bun Bo Hue is usually spicy and made with lemongrass and fermented shrimp paste. It's also served with blood curd.
However, I was disappointed when I saw this Bun Bo Hue. The broth wasn't spicy at all (though the optional spicy condiments were on the table). Also, although I'm not a big fan of blood curd (because I can't really detect any flavor), not including blood curd made it look less traditional. The restaurant looked pretty authentic but there were signs in different languages. They probably toned down the dish so as not to offend tourists. It tasted good but didn't pack enough punch...
After sightseeing in the city of Hue, I was wandering the night market area by the Perfume River. One of the street vendors was selling skewered foods. After ordering, these are all deep fried in oil. When I was picking the skewers, I asked what they were. Unfortunately, the communication didn't work out. Perhaps it's better not to know?? They all looked different but tasted almost the same, except for the green one on the left which, I was told, contained "vegetables."
The next stop was another of Hue's local foods, Banh Beo. On top of steamed rice cakes in a small shallow bowl, there are different toppings, such as pork rind, scallion and shredded dried shrimp. These are served with sweet and tangy fish sauce.
This stand also serves Banh Nam, which is almost same as Ban Beo, ingredients-wise. The biggest difference is that the ingredients are wrapped in bamboo leaves (kind of like a Vietnamese tamale). The bamboo aroma is transferred to the rice cake.
Two of Hue's famous must-have dishes are checked off the list! I'd like to try another Bun Bo Hue tomorrow, though.
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