Tasting Hue ~ Seafood cuisine ~ (Written by Ho)

The food in Vietnam is delicious! I love it so much that after moving here I overate and upset my stomach. My home base of Ho Chi Minh City has sweeter flavors, while Hanoi in the north has lighter, more subtle flavors — but just like the difference between Kanto and Kansai in Japan, delicious food is delicious no matter where you are. So what about Hue in central Vietnam? This time it's a company trip, so we're having banquet-style food, but even here I felt like I could catch a glimpse of the true essence of Hue cuisine.

Anyway, generous seafood dishes come out, and since the sea is right in front, seafood is plentiful. The first appetizer to arrive is crab steamed with lemongrass. The crab looks like a swimming crab, but its shell is soft and It's easy to eat. There's a faint aroma of lemongrass. It also had crab paste and egg in it. It comes piled high on the plate. My hand kept reaching for more, and I ended up eating two bowls... The service was so generous they even kept refilling the plate as it emptied, to the point I had to ask them to stop. The oysters were topped with red scallions and a scallion sauce, which is also a classic at seafood restaurants, but the seasoning wasn't overpowering. There's sauce on it, but it doesn't assert itself too strongly in your mouth. In Ho Chi Minh City, spicy sauces are generally preferred no matter what. It felt a little refreshing!

Next up is fried shrimp. You might think, "another crustacean?!" but they really do have plenty of seafood ingredients here. This one is also fried together with shredded lemongrass, giving it a refreshing aroma. It's the perfect companion for beer! Since the lemongrass really comes through, the saltiness is kept light. Overall, the seasoning is gentle and mild.

Yes, this is Hue beer. I'm not really sure what the difference is from Tiger beer or 333... Maybe a real beer connoisseur could explain it. It doesn't really feel dry, so it's a dangerous beer that you can just gulp down like water.

On the back of the beer can, there's a design of Bến Tre coconut and Huế houses. The green color scheme is so cute. I wish they had this in Ho Chi Minh City too. And then, something that really moved me among the seafood dishes was... this.

You're probably thinking, "clams again?" But this time it's mate clams (bamboo clams). Mate clam dishes are pretty common in Ho Chi Minh City too — the kind stir-fried in a lemongrass or red shallot sauce. But this one was different. This time there were white, thin, elongated pieces mixed in. Turns out they're coconut sprouts (young coconut shoots). A gentle coconut sweetness wraps around the mate clams — just a hint, just a hint of it. It's a very refined seasoning. Just from this appetizer alone, this seafood dish alone, you can tell how delicate and gentle the seasoning here is.

Even the clams steamed with ordinary lemongrass have a light, subtle seasoning. There's an elegance to it. It's the same Vietnamese cuisine, but clearly different. Maybe it's because of Hue's climate—hot, but somehow not humid. The seasoning is gentle and blends naturally with your body, so you just keep eating it... you have to be careful.

At a Vietnamese-style restaurant banquet, the rice is served heaped high right on the plate. It's piled up, mounded rice! Instead of a rice container or a fancy dish, it's just piled onto the same plate as the food. Scooping up mouthfuls of rice into their own bowls without holding back — that's the bold, hearty style of Vietnamese people. Just eating together, even without understanding the language, watching everyone's happy, delicious faces while eating makes the meal taste even more delicious. Thank you for the meal~! Overseas Life Ranking