One
of these delicacies is rice served with salt. There are up to a dozen kinds of
salt, such as muoi tieu (pepper
salt), muoi vung (sesame salt), muoi sa (lemongrass salt), muoi rieng (galingale salt), muoi tom (shrimp salt) and muoi thit heo (pork salt). The dish is
imbued with the culinary art of Hue and is a favourite of both the poor and the
rich.
Rice served with nine kinds of salt.
People
are finicky about processing the different kinds of salt by frying, steaming
and braising. It depends on the processing methods to create the distinctive
colours and tastes of each kind of salt.
Previously,
only special guests were given a feast of rice with different kinds of salt and
the dishes were placed on small, antique plates or bowls that looked
eye-catching and smart. The rice was cooked from fragrant Nang Huong rice in a
small earthen pot.
When
enjoying the dish, it is necessary to chew slowly to enhance the fragrance of
the rice and the salty, peppery, sweet, greasy taste of different kinds of
salt.
At
present, some cooks make the effort to search and preserve recipes to make the
dish with the hope of preserving a culinary feature of Hue. For this reason,
visitors to Hue will have a chance to enjoy this delicacy.
Story: Vinh Hung
Photo: Cong Dat
By VNP