Listing the dishes that took social media by storm in 2023.

Dragon fruit instant noodles

These days, while browsing social media, people are constantly encountering images of dragon fruit, dragon fruit instant noodles, and especially the song about this dish. Many jokingly say that just seeing the dragon fruit immediately brings to mind the melody of the viral song. It's safe to say that dragon fruit instant noodles are taking over social media, causing a stir everywhere.

The red dragon fruit instant noodles have a rich broth with a tangy and spicy flavor, and the noodles are quite chewy, making them pleasant to eat. As for the spaghetti, the sauce has a rich aroma, the noodles are delicious, and the sweet and sour taste creates an appealing flavor that many diners are curious to try.

Clay tea

Clay pot milk tea, or Yunnan baked milk tea, is a specialty drink from Yunnan province (China). Recently, this drink has quickly become a sensation and has been enthusiastically embraced by Vietnamese enthusiasts. The first impression of this clay pot milk tea is its incredibly eye-catching appearance. Instead of a simple cup like other drinks, the tea is served in a clay pot, which looks quite unique and charming.

With basic ingredients including tea, milk, red dates, goji berries, and rose petals, along with the roasting and brewing process in an earthenware pot, each shop has its own unique brewing method, resulting in a distinct flavor. When drinking, the tea is poured into a small cup and slowly savored. The teapot already has a built-in filter, so the tea is free of flower petals or herbs.

Hand-pounded lemon tea

If you're a food lover, you've probably tried the hand-pounded lime tea from Guangdong, which was a "hot trend" on the Chinese social media platform Douyin and quickly became popular in Vietnam. The recipe is quite simple, consisting of basic ingredients such as tea, fresh lime, sugar, and ice... Some shops may substitute sugar with honey for sweetness.

What's unique is that the lemons used for tea aren't squeezed for juice; instead, the vendors mix them with ice and then pound them by hand in a plastic mortar to extract the fragrant essential oil. According to the vendors, these lemons aren't Vietnamese lemons but rather lemons from Guangdong (China). Guangdong lemons are more fragrant and less juicy than Vietnamese lemons, and are also known as "perfume lemons."

Cheese coin-shaped cookies

Appearing since the end of September, the Korean-origin cheese coin cake quickly attracted many customers. These cakes, approximately 10 cm in diameter, have a golden-brown, fragrant vanilla crust... Inside, they are filled with stretchy, stringy mozzarella cheese. Besides being called the cheese coin cake, it's also known as the 10-won cake.

To enjoy the authentic taste and the stretchy cheese strings, diners should eat the pastry while it's still hot. Each cheese coin pastry costs 35,000 VND. Many diners believe that the quality of this pastry is well worth the price and the wait.

Soursop tea

Soursop tea isn't exactly a new drink, especially among young people. However, in mid-2023, this beverage suddenly became incredibly popular. People from far away rushed to make it at home or eagerly searched for it in various shops, making this tea a huge hit on social media.

Soursop tea is a simple beverage combining teas such as oolong tea, green tea, black tea, jasmine tea, etc., with candied soursop cut into small pieces, a squeeze of kumquat, and rock sugar. This drink has taken social media by storm because it's a favorite among all ages, with its sweet and sour taste that's easy to drink. Soursop tea not only has a delicious and unique flavor but is also extremely effective at cooling you down.

Chicken salad with mangosteen

Chicken salad with mangosteen has been known as a specialty of Binh Duong province for many years; every summer when mangosteens begin to be in season, you'll hear people mentioning it. However, in the middle of this year, social media suddenly turned this dish into a trend that everyone embraced, at the same time as soursop tea.

Essentially, at first glance, chicken salad with mangosteen looks similar to regular chicken salad. The ingredients include chicken meat, shredded carrots, thinly sliced ​​onions, various herbs, mixed with sweet and sour fish sauce, and topped with fried shallots and roasted peanuts. Taking a bite, you'll find the carrots crunchy, the chicken skin chewy, though the onion flavor is a bit strong. Then, adding a piece of mangosteen, all the flavors in your mouth suddenly become harmonious – sour, sweet, salty, and very refreshing.

Phuong Mai is a reporter for Travellive Magazine in Hanoi.

Phuong Mai