Hanoi in the changing seasons is beautiful but can easily make us feel sick and bland. At this time, it is hard to swallow a piece of sticky rice and a bowl of pho is also hard to wash down. Wait until the pho is completely cold, it will be more delicious. A sweet and soft breakfast is sometimes the most pleasant choice. Besides the end-of-season sticky rice, sweet soup is a dish that is hard to ignore.
You want to find a place that sells delicious sweet soup, it is both difficult and not difficult. Sweet soup without an address can be like Bun Oc Gam Cau, Pho Ly Quoc Su or Xoi Che Bat Dan... Just go to the flea markets in the neighborhood, you will definitely find a street vendor selling sweet soup with all kinds of other sticky rice snacks. Near Tet, it is even easier, people spontaneously bring out tables full of sticky rice, sweet soup, boiled chicken, etc. Sweet soup, the kind of sweet soup eaten on a plate, has thus become a part of the life of Hanoi citizens.
Sweet potato pudding, an easy-to-eat breakfast treat
Delicious from simplicity
The sweet and smooth sweet and sour sweet soup is soft, smooth, cool and refreshing. People who often eat sweet and sour soup often have a favorite street vendor. In the morning, they stop their car to go to work, spending only 15,000 VND to hold a plate of sweet and sour soup, along with a small spoon to take to work. Those who rarely eat it often wait until Tet, when they are full of meat and fish, to take out the plate of sweet and sour soup to enjoy with a pot of tea, and feel the taste buds become new and exciting.
No one knows exactly when sweet soup originated or who created it. Some documents record that sweet soup originated during the time of King Ly Nam De who built a wall to defend against the enemy in the Dien Triet Lake area (Lo River, Vinh Phuc Province). Villagers brought sweet soup as a supply. The simple dish was made from green beans and sugar so it could be kept for a long time. Later, people built a temple to worship Ly Nam De and held parties on the 24th and 27th of May (lunar calendar) every year. Every meal must have sweet soup. Gradually, this dish was also included in the Tet meal tray, displayed on a plate.
The sweet and sour sweet soup is soft, smooth, cool and sweet.
Because of its simplicity and ease of enjoyment, sweet soup has become popular. However, to make a delicious sweet soup requires a lot of effort. The maker must choose green beans with shells and a beautiful yellow color. The beans must be of medium size and even, and firm to the touch, making the sweet soup more delicious.
Through many steps such as cooking green beans in a steamer until they are cooked and then pounded. Add cardamom water, boiled sugar water and then stir well. Beans and sugar easily stick together. If you rest for a while, the finished product will not be as expected. The cooked sweet soup must be smooth, not sticky when shaped, and have a light sweetness. Finally, scoop the sweet soup into a mold or banana leaf, then place it on a plate and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and it is done.
The ancient Hanoians often used sweet soup to entertain guests. Skillful homeowners could make it into flower-shaped molds, dividing it into petals. It looks pleasing to the eye.
Sweet potato stew is suitable to enjoy during the changing seasons.
Sweet soup made from sticky rice
If you don’t like mung beans, no problem, sweet soup is also made with sticky rice. Sweet soup made with sticky rice is often called bee sweet soup. Sticky rice combined with fresh ginger will warm your stomach in the cold weather at the end of the year.
Che con ong is more sticky, has a rich taste, strong sticky rice flavor, and fragrant ginger smell. The pot of sweet soup has a beautiful color made from molasses. The molasses mixes well with the sticky rice grains to make it soft, supple, and shiny. Sweet soup made this way is usually sweeter than sweet soup made from mung beans.
When cooked, the seeds are shiny and dark like a bee. So people often use that name for simplicity. This dish is not difficult to find. There are still street vendors selling all kinds of snacks every morning. The buyers and sellers do not know each other, but just seeing the vendors from afar makes their hearts flutter, knowing that this morning there is another delicious dish to enjoy, suitable for the weather in Hanoi at this time.
Honey tea is also a gift not to be missed.
