Autumn brings with it the cool ambiance, which reminds us of many delicious dishes. Vermicelli served with different ingredients is a wonderful choice for every diner in the exchange of the season.
1. Vermicelli and chicken soup
For gourmets, vermicelli and chicken soup is a combination of flavor, color and smell. It is a harmonious picture of colors, from the brown of meat, the pink of pork pie, the white of chicken, beet, the yellow of sliced fried egg and the green of spring onion and fragrant knotweed. A delicious bowl of vermicelli and chicken soup will include shrimp paste, a specific spice of the North to make the dish more aromatic and scrumptious.
More importantly, the vermicelli and chicken soup is also special with its broth or soup. Chicken bones, pork bones and dry shrimps are carefully simmered to create the sweetness of the dish. Each ingredient is skillfully prepared and set. Enjoy a bowl of vermicelli and chicken soup of Hanoi, you will fee the sweetness of the soup, the deep flavor of meat and the hot savor of fragrant knotweed.
2. Hot vermicelli and snails
If the cool vermicelli and snails is an indispensable dish in scorching summer days, the hot vermicelli is the first choice for cold days. This plain dish is skillfully prepared, especially cleaning and boiling snails. When boiling, the cook will add lemongrass in the bottom and pomelo leaves on the top of the pot and a little salt and cook at low heat. If being overcooked, snails will be leathery and crushed.
Vermicelli and snails is delicious due to its broth, which is cooked from pork bones. The hot bowl of vermicelli is served with fatty snails, fried tofu, tomato, fresh vegetables, vinegar, cooked hot chilli, salad, perilla, basil and marjoram. Enjoy a hot bowl of vermicelli with snails along with your friends to feel the flavor of autumn.
3. Vermicelli and sour crab soup
Along with vermicelli and snails, vermicelli and sour crab soup can be found at every corner of Hanoi, from peddlers’ in old streets to luxurious restaurants. A bowl of vermicelli and sour crab soup attracts guests with its yellow broth and white vermicelli, embellished with an aromatic piece of crab roe, a little red tomato and green spring onion. This dish must be cooked from fresh-water crabs for the sweet broth.
Vermicelli and sour crab soup is served with marjoram, basil, salad, perilla and bean sprouts. Before you have the dish, add a little shrimp paste and hot chilli to enjoy the whole flavor of it. The fragrance of fresh-water crabs, the sourness of tomato and vinegar and the specific taste of shrimp paste are mixed in the vermicelli and sour crab soup with a memorable taste.
4. Vermicelli and grilled chopped meat in bamboo sticks
After noodles, vermicelli and grilled chopped meat in bamboo sticks is a favorite dish of many international guests. Its ingredients are very simple but the way a cook prepares the dish is rather sophisticated. Each serving of vermicelli and grilled chopped meat includes two bamboo sticks of chopped and sliced meat. Under the skillful hands of the cook, the meat is sticked into the bamboo sticks, wrapped with silver paper and grilled on charcoal until it became cooked with the golden brown color. The bamboo sticks for grilling must be fresh to remain the lightly smells on the meat.
The chopped meat will be more scrumptious when being served with a special kind of fish sauce that is the mixture of four flavors: sour, hot, salty and sweet from red pepper, lemon and salt. An indispensable ingredient of the dish is fresh vegetables, including salad, marjoram, perilla, chopped spinach and bean sprouts. The blend of the main ingredients and spices create a special flavor for the vermicelli and grilled chopped meat in bamboo sticks.
5. Hue’s vermicelli and beef
Hue’s vermicelli and beef is a fine and specific dish of Hue. As many other special dishes of the ancient citadel, the vermicelli and beef is very skillfully cooked, especially its broth, which is made of pork and beef bones with some types of bulbs, added with shrimp paste. The clear broth mixed with the flavors of lemongrass, hot chilli and sugar candy is served with the big threads of vermicelli.
The ingredients of this dish may be popular but the way of cooking is different to manifest the skill of each cook. White vermicelli, beef, pig’s feet and pork bloods are added in the aromatic and tasty broth. This special savor of the dish is more appetizing with raw vegetables, banana flowers, bean sprouts, lemon, green hot chilli or Hue’s cooked chilli.
6. Vermicelli and salted fish
The vermicelli and salted fish is a special dish of Western Vietnam such as Can Tho, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Ca Mau or Bac Lieu. The dish attracts guests with white threads of vermicelli and its sauce, which is the mixture of lemongrass, mushroom and eggplant.
The vermicelli is served with original tamarind sauce with fresh chilli, added with lemon juice and raw vegetables such as banana flower, bean sprouts, keo neo (a special plant of Western Vietnam), water lily and bitter vegetable. The sauce with spices, shrimps, squids and grilled pork makes the dish distinctive in Saigon.
