The unprocessed mollusks and the mollusks in the patties are two completely different entities, one cool and fishy and the other with an extremely seductive taste.
“September twenties, October of the fifth month” – the catchphrase that is memorized by addicts. This is a saying to remind about the days with Ruoi, a very special dish of some northern provinces.
This year the northern winter comes early. In the 10th month of the lunar calendar, the scent of raisins has filled the hidden sidewalks of Hanoi. Walking slowly on the roads, it’s lucky to “hit” a seductive scent, suddenly appearing right in front of the nose. That scent is unmistakable because it rarely appears: the smell of fried rice.
Perhaps, there is hardly anything more fragrant than grilled pork rolls, including pork rolls sandwiched with bamboo sticks, grilled over hot coals, emitting a fragrant smoke that has flowed into the cuisine of Trang An people for hundreds of years, creating the identity ” Bun cha Hanoi”. It is true that the piece of cha is also fragrant, but the aroma is too often, not as memorable as the scent of rai. The scent is because “heaven was born”. Under the influence of heat and hot fat, the process of transforming the structure of the material in the baguette takes place, the molecular structures are broken, releasing a strong fragrance, but only the first scent of a fragrance. .
The unprocessed molluscs and the molluscs in the patty are two completely different entities. A cool thing, fishy with the smell of brackish mud, looks a bit disgusting to those who are sensitive. There is one thing that has been heat transformed into food with aroma and taste that can be summed up in 4 words “extremely seductive”. This transformation is comparable to that of a hideous hairy caterpillar into a colorful, beautiful, and absolutely symmetrical butterfly.
It must be like that, that rue has become a delicious dish very typical of Hanoi people, although it is not a product of this land. Hanoians’ craving for sophistication in life, in which eating plays a huge role, has turned the radish from an ordinary sea cucumber into a trendy fashion.
There’s no denying that the people in the lowland areas such as Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh… are all very fond of eating raisins and have typical processing methods. But through the brooding culinary eyes of Hanoi people, it has been concluded into the most popular and delicious recipe of ruoi dishes, especially cha ruoi.
The mark of the thinking process to make a delicate patty is the introduction of a strange, strong, passionate aroma that does not overwhelm the scent of rot, but only highlights the basic scent. . That is bare skin, the name of the tangerine peel, the tangerine is distorted, the peel is full of ugly melasma, the taste is sour and not as delicious as other sweet tangerines. But the value of tangerine is the medicinal property in the essential oil of the tangerine peel, which is traditionally used by Eastern medicine as medicine.
A hand-sized piece of bacon, just a few slices of tangerine peel (fresh or dried), sliced thin, is enough to create an aroma with brand positioning properties that make it impossible to confuse the bacon with any other. What kind of food, what flavor?
Why tangerine peels and not sweet tangerines, orange peels, lemon peels, or grapefruit peels? Subtlety lies in that choice. With a type of sea worm with too much protein, born in brackish water, the sea worm is cold. But in the tangerine peel, there are essential oils (oleum madanrin), hectozan, flavonoid pigments and vitamins A, B… Essential oils of tangerine peel has anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, and anti-cold properties. Flavonoid pigments also contribute to anti-inflammatory properties, an essence that makes tangerine peels a great ingredient for making gin, which has anti-flu effects.
In addition, rue is a very nutritious food, so it can lead to flatulence and bloating after eating. The protein quotient of the rattan can upset goute alcoholics. And it is the active ingredients in the tangerine peel that are present in the spring roll that will limit this. “Sickness comes from the mouth”, every bite is a risk, so putting stinky tangerine peels in cha Ruoi is a great way to prevent it.
It is the ceiling that adds a layer of incense to the cha Ruoi, not overwhelming but creating an incomparable harmony. So, if the tangerine peel is missing, the piece of fried rice will suddenly become defective, as if the chicken lacks a few lemon leaves.
The way to eat cha Ruoi can’t be sloppy either, a uom to avoid “indecent” with the high-end product that only has a couple of seasons a year, but every season is as short as “October day has not yet smiled”. This is when the habit of eating incense, eating flowers, playing games, eating boi, eating stilts, eating heels of Hanoians appeared.
Precious and rare turtles have high nutritional value. Therefore, it is not possible to eat snake-like eating roasted pupae and braised shrimp. That would be costly and harmful. Therefore, the piece of fried rice must be small and beautiful, poured out a lot with the palm of your hand, or as small as the bottom of a love bowl.
The bright pink stove puts a deep pan containing old hot fat, scoops each ladle into the beaten eggs, and a little minced lean shoulder meat (or if it’s more luxurious, then omits the meat, using only the bacon and eggs to make the patties). Thinly sliced dried tangerine peel, some scallions, pepper and spices, drop into the greased pan.
The fried rice rolls in the pan to let the heat accelerate the transformation and then shape into a round, golden brown patty. Looking at the color of the bacon, you have to know it’s cooked to take it out, if you don’t fry it too much, you’ll lose the freshness of the roe. The patty is cut into three, quartered, put in a bowl already arranged with lettuce, coriander, herbs, split onion, sprinkled with a little spicy chili fish sauce and then a mouthful to chew, swallow, and enjoy.
No matter where you eat, you can’t do it, but you don’t have to fry a plate to eat like spring rolls. The piece must be fresh, hot and still retain the full flavor of the Ruoi, to feel the special deliciousness of the rai and then eat it once, remember it for a lifetime.
The feeling of sitting around the fire in the cold of early winter, eagerly looking at the bowl of rai, the ladle, the piece of fried rice that has just been dropped into the greased pan, listening to the sound of sizzling sound, and then witnessing the piece of fried rice tumbling, reclining. from apricot yellow to loess yellow to golden brown, and longing to taste that delicious piece, it’s wonderful.
Just eat a few pieces of spring rolls to see a full season of rot. You don’t need much, you don’t need to be full, you don’t need to satisfy your eyes, which are bigger than your stomach, but you just need to sit and look at a piece of raisin, inhaling the scent of the radish, and sipping a piece of it. That’s enough.
Rui is present in every market in Hanoi. Enjoy the fresh spring rolls, not the frozen ones that are sold year-round. In the small corners of 36 streets, at the foot of O Quan Chuong, on the side of Thanh Ha market, at the top of Lo Duc, the fragrance is spreading. You may find that the patty is heavy on the meat and light on the crust. It is possible that the scent of radish in the street cake is now only “running through the street”, being overwhelmed by the scent of tangerine peel to deceive honest people. But no matter what, don’t miss a piece of the mollusk as the mollusk season is making its way through the city.
Photo: Phan Anh, Anmustang