Eating dessert from a plate

Hanoi during the changing seasons is beautiful, but it can also make you feel sluggish and lose your appetite. At this time, even sticky rice is hard to swallow, and a bowl of pho is difficult to digest. Pho tastes much better when it's completely cold. A sweet, soft breakfast dish is sometimes the most pleasant choice. Besides the late-season sticky rice with young rice flakes, sweet soup with stewed sweet potato is an irresistible treat.

Finding a place that sells delicious sweet rice porridge is both difficult and easy. Sweet rice porridge doesn't have a specific address, unlike snail noodle soup at Gầm Cầu, pho at Lý Quốc Sư, or sticky rice and sweet soup at Bát Đàn… Just go to the small markets in the city center, and you're sure to find a street vendor selling sweet rice porridge along with all sorts of other sticky rice-based treats. It's even easier near the Lunar New Year; people spontaneously set up tables full of sticky rice with gac fruit, sweet rice porridge, and boiled chicken. Sweet rice porridge, served on a plate, has thus become an integral part of life for Hanoi residents.

Deliciousness comes from simplicity.

The braised sweet soup is soft, smooth, cool, and subtly sweet. Those who frequently eat braised sweet soup often have a favorite street vendor. In the morning, they stop their bikes abruptly on their way to work, paying only 15,000 dong for a plate of braised sweet soup and a small spoon to take to work. Those who eat it less often wait until Tet (Lunar New Year), after a hearty meal of meat and fish, to enjoy a plate of braised sweet soup with a warm cup of tea, finding the taste buds refreshed and invigorated.

No one knows exactly when or who created "chè kho" (a type of sweet bean curd dessert). Some documents record that it originated during the time of King Lý Nam Đế, who built a fortress to defend against invaders in the Điền Triệt lake area (Lô River, Vĩnh Phúc province). The villagers brought "chè kho" as supplies. This simple dish, made from mung beans and sugar, can be preserved for a long time. Later, the people built a temple to worship Lý Nam Đế and held feasts on the 24th and 27th of May (lunar calendar) every year. The feast always included "chè kho." Gradually, this dish also appeared on the Tet (Lunar New Year) feast table, displayed on a plate.

Due to its simplicity and ease of enjoyment, mung bean sweet soup has become popular. However, making a delicious batch of mung bean sweet soup requires meticulous effort; the cook must select whole mung beans with an attractive yellow color. The beans should be of medium and uniform size, and feel firm to the touch for a better taste.

The process involves several steps, such as cooking mung beans in a pot until soft, then mashing them. Adding cardamom water and sugar syrup, boiling, and stirring well is crucial. The mung beans and sugar combine easily. If left unattended for too long, the finished product will not be satisfactory. The finished dessert should be smooth, form a shape that doesn't stick to your hands, and have a mild sweetness. Finally, spoon the dessert into molds or pre-shaped banana leaves, place on a plate, and sprinkle with sesame seeds – and it's complete.

In the past, people in Hanoi often served stewed tea to guests. Skilled hosts could arrange it in flower shapes, dividing it into individual petals. It was a delightful sight.

Sweet and sour soup made from glutinous rice

If you don't like mung beans, that's okay, sticky rice pudding is also made with glutinous rice. Sticky rice pudding is often called "bee pudding." Sticky rice combined with fresh ginger will warm your stomach during the cold weather at the end of the year.

Sticky rice porridge is more chewy, has a rich, nutty flavor of glutinous rice, and a fragrant ginger aroma. The pot of porridge has a beautiful color from molasses. The molasses must be evenly coated on the glutinous rice grains for it to be chewy, soft, and glossy. This type of porridge is usually sweeter than porridge made from mung beans.

When cooked, the seeds become plump and dark in color, like bees. That's why people often give it that simple name. This dish isn't hard to find either. You'll still find street vendors selling all kinds of snacks every morning. Buyers and sellers don't know each other, but just seeing the stall from afar fills the air with excitement, knowing that there's another delicious treat to enjoy that morning, perfect for the current Hanoi weather.

Phuong Thao is an editor at Travellive magazine. She is passionate about traveling and enjoys capturing moments with her camera in every place she visits. Travel, art, and lifestyle are Phuong Thao's favorite writing topics.

April - Photo: Collected