If pho is considered the quintessence of Ha Thanh cuisine, then vermicelli is the typical mark of the people of Nau.
In addition to pork buns, Cho Huyen spring rolls, Bau Da wine, and Quy Nhon fish vermicelli … the list of specialties of Nau is also extended by an extremely rustic dish that is full of country love, which is Phu My rice vermicelli.
For many tourists, the name “Bun Ram” sounds strange, but this is a familiar dish, imbued with the rural flavor of the martial land.
At first glance, many people easily mistake it for vermicelli, but the taste of vermicelli is completely different. People who cook rice noodles often do not add too many additives or side dishes to keep the sweet taste and characteristic aroma of rice.
At first glance, many people easily mistake vermicelli for vermicelli (Photo: My Hanh rice noodle soup)
If vermicelli noodles add pork, tofu, fish sauce, and spring rolls, then vermicelli only has rice bran, and broth, served with raw vegetables and crispy grilled rice paper.
Although the ingredients are not too picky, the highlight that creates the unique flavor for vermicelli is the meticulousness in processing. A good bowl of vermicelli noodles depends not only on the selection of “standard” ingredients, but the decisive factor is the skillful hands and the traditional secret of a long-time chef.
If Pho is considered the quintessence of Ha Thanh cuisine, then vermicelli noodles are the distinctive mark of the country of Nau. Bun ram is as familiar to the Phu My people as Quang noodles are to the Quang Nam people.
Rice noodles – a special mark of Nau cuisine (Photo: Dam Truc rice noodle soup)
1. Noodles
Most of the noodle shops in Phu My directly make vermicelli on the spot. This process is relatively elaborate and meticulous. Rice for making vermicelli must choose good rice, which is soaked in water for a day and a night before grinding so that the vermicelli stalks always reach the freshest and most supple. After being filled with water, the rice is pureed into a powder, knotted through a cloth bag, boiled and then left.
Vermicelli with rice bran, broth, raw vegetables and rice paper (Photo: ivivu)
When a guest comes to eat, the owner takes a block of rice flour and puts it in the press, below is a pot of boiling water. Each vermicelli slowly flows through the mold and presses into the pot of water, approximating the length of the vermicelli just enough, then take the chopsticks across the mold. Boiled vermicelli for 2-3 minutes, take it out and dip it into a bowl of cold water so that the noodles don’t stick together, then take out and drain.
Noodles are always fresh, hot, fragrant, soft, supple, especially without the usual smell or sour taste of overnight vermicelli. While waiting for the dish, watching the process of making vermicelli is also an interesting experience for diners every time they visit this place.
The noodle shops in Phu My all directly make vermicelli on the spot (Photo: Viet An)
2. Station
The main ingredients of this dish are fresh rice straw, round body, bigger, more bricks, firm meat, caught from Chau Truc lagoon (also known as Tra O lagoon). This is a natural brackish water lagoon, adjacent to three communes My Chau, My Thang and My Loi.
The water is viscous, with brick scum and golden iridescent fat (Photo: Thien An)
In the past, Chau Truc used to be a saltwater bay, but over time, the flow was filled, so the lagoon was only a small creek connected to the sea. Today, the water in Tra O lagoon is mainly from underground streams and veins, so it is not quite as sweet as the river but has a subtle salty taste of the sea, creating the typical delicious flavor of aquatic species. unforgettable taste.
Ham belongs to the crab family, soft shell, thin body, rough shell, yellow belly, bigger, hairy, habitat mainly in fields or salt marshes. The meat is sweet, greasy, the rice husk contains a lot of calcium, especially soft, so when you eat it, you can chew the whole shell.
Ram belongs to the crab family, the meat is sweet and greasy (Photo: Thien An)
When caught, the mulch is still crawling, brought back to wash with lots of water to clean all the mud and then peel off the apricots, separate the eggs and bricks, puree, filter out the juice (picky, meticulous people like to pound with a wooden pestle. in a traditional stone mortar).
Then sauté onions, season with spices, cook on low heat until the water boils, then take it out. The water is viscous, with brick scum and golden grease, thickening the whole pot of water, bringing up the fragrant aroma of rice straw and bricks. The broth has a characteristic sweetness, just add a pinch of scallions, the smell of Chinese (coriander) is round.
Noodles with vermicelli cannot be without prong leaves and green mango (Photo: My Hanh rice noodle soup)
3. Enjoy
Bun ram – “the culinary quintessence of the martial land of Binh Dinh” – is traditionally enjoyed with raw vegetables, roasted whole-grain peanuts. It is indispensable to have prong leaves and green mangoes, but there must be salt and chili peppers to have the right flavor of vermicelli.
When eating, keep the broth separate, vermicelli separate. Diners will slowly make rice water into a bowl of vermicelli, bit by bit, little by little, making the broth wherever they go.
When eating, diners will slowly make rice water into a bowl of vermicelli (Photo: khodaiplus)
In addition, vermicelli can be eaten with crispy rice paper (baked rice paper). Depending on the taste and taste, people can break rice paper into small pieces, mix it with vermicelli or dip rice paper in greasy rice water.
With skillful hands and constant creativity, the chef here also transforms vermicelli into many attractive noodle dishes, served with fresh seafood such as sea fish, shrimp or jellyfish.
Bun ram is transformed into many attractive noodle dishes (Photo: rylpham)
The bowl of vermicelli is like a picture of a combination of colors but is also very idyllic, dear, and attached to the people of Nau. Each stalk of white vermicelli is hidden under a brown brick color, green cilantro is covered with fresh chili and golden roasted peanuts, looking extremely harmonious and eye-catching. The natural sweetness of rice vermicelli blends into each strand of vermicelli, creating an irresistible taste, making anyone who has only once tasted vermicelli noodles fall in love.