Hai Phong is a port city in the Northern Coastal Region with many famous scenic spots and delicious dishes. Although it is a big city, it always maintains a slow and peaceful pace of life. The streets in Hai Phong in the summer are always covered with rows of brilliant red phoenix trees, making anyone who visits exclaim.
The brilliant and prominent red phoenix tree canopy resembles the vitality of Hai Phong people (photo: Internet)
In addition to the beautiful scenery and delicious food, the people of this bustling port city are always loved for their characteristic generosity and number one hospitality. Hai Phong people “eat the wind and talk the wind” may be too familiar to many people.
Walk through the city
Along Hai Phong are countless large and small snack shops, the most popular of which are crab noodle shops with atoppingvery filling. A bowl of hot rice noodles is usually eaten with chopped raw vegetables, kumquats and chi chuong - a typical chili sauce of Hai Phong. The best rice noodles are the big red noodles, the sweet and fragrant crab broth and some tightly rolled grilled pork with lolot leaves, fried to a simmer, giving off a fragrant aroma that fills the whole street corner. If you get bored of eating, you can switch to small white noodles to eat with blanched meat.
A version of crab noodle soup with fillings on the famous Ky Dong street
Clay pot rice noodle soup at Ngo Quyen High School gate with very thick rice noodles
Besides crab noodles, shrimp noodles and fish noodles are the most popular dishes among the locals. Shrimp noodles with firm, thick shrimp, a bit of stir-fried meat with wood ear mushrooms and an attractive orange shrimp broth are an afternoon treat for those who love to eat out, or a breakfast dish on hot summer days.
Fish noodle soup is a little “spicier” than shrimp noodle soup. “Spicier” because this is a dish that combines two flavors: sour and spicy. A bowl of fish noodle soup without a spoonful of slightly strong tamarind sauce or a little bit of fresh chili that makes your tongue tingle is not complete. Crispy fried fish, thin fish cakes, elephant ear and dill fill the bowl, drizzle with a spoonful of tamarind sauce and a spoonful of chili, chili sauce on top of a handful of fresh noodles. Eating noodles is cool and healthy, but... you get hungry quickly.
Shrimp noodle soup right at the intersection of To Hieu and Hang Kenh with firm shrimp pieces.
When talking about Hai Phong, if you want to snack, there are snails. The best Hai Phong snails are boiled in fish sauce, no need to be fussy with sauces; the port city snails just need to be boiled thoroughly with good fish sauce, mixed with enough sour and spicy sauce and then served on a tray. Besides snails boiled in fish sauce, snails stir-fried with coconut or snails stir-fried with spicy sauce are also very delicious, especially on rainy days.
Boiled snails at 131 Mieu Hai Xa, a familiar snail address for Hai Phong people
If you have a weak stomach, you can switch to the paradise of afternoon cakes in Hai Phong. Banh beo, banh gio, banh day gio are rustic with soft, very rich dough and just enough filling. Notably, banh beo here does not come with sausage and banh gio does not come with sausage. These evening snacks are always the top choice of children, students or the elderly.
A small specialty - banh duc tau filled with dried shrimp, kohlrabi, pork rinds and a layer of spicy vinegar on top. After eating, run to the next stall to have a glass of cool mixed sweet soup. This famous address is on Cat Dai street, the vendor has a tray of banh duc selling from 2-4 pm, never once without customers.
Speaking of snacks, there is one dish that Hai Phong probably only has - bean sprout salad and stir-fried bean sprouts. This is not an easy dish to eat, but once you eat it, you will be addicted. Bean sprouts are cool, have high nutritional value, and have an impressive flavor, so you should try it once.
Bean sprouts dish at Do market with a bowl of typical sour, spicy, salty, sweet fish sauce
Hai Phong’s food paradise is not only that, seasonal dishes, according to the tide such as red jellyfish with vinegar, earthworms braised in a clay pot also leave a mark in the hearts of food lovers. On a hot summer afternoon, cook a pot of fragrant vinegar, slice a red jellyfish, add some young coconut and pineapple cut into small pieces, a package of rice paper and roll it like “spring rolls” and all the hot and annoying heat will fly away.
Or the special dish of braised earthworms, which is only available during the earthworm season around the 10th lunar month. This is considered a “heavenly gift” because every time the earthworms arrive, farmers have more income from this expensive specialty. The earthworms are braised with star fruit, ginger leaves, tangerine peel, and a little bit of the family secret. The pot of earthworms is kept in the rice husks, the kitchen smoke billows, and it takes a whole night to make the dish. It is so hard and laborious, but with just a pot of delicious rice, the pot of braised earthworms is completely gone.
Red dotted jellyfish is refreshing and delicious to eat.
A little murmur of the sea
If you are tired of wandering around the city, the next day, take a trip to the beach. Hai Phong has two famous beaches: Do Son and Cat Ba.
Lan Ha Bay - recognized by UNESCO as one of the natural wonders of the world, is located in the east of Cat Ba Island. From Hai Phong, traveling to Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay is a bit difficult and takes about half a day. In addition to taking a car, you also have to take a boat or ferry to get there. Details and specifics of the trip are always enthusiastically guided by tourist destinations.
Lan Ha Bay was once posted by the famous actor Leonardo DiCarpio on his personal Instagram. This place is blessed with a fairyland-like landscape. A cool green space and fresh air make you temporarily forget the stress in life.
Beaches such as Cat Dua, Cat Co, Ben Beo, Co Tien, Van Ha are both clear and safe for tourists to swim. With more than 400 large and small islands around, tourists can freely explore and relax.
Lan Ha Bay is always clean (photo: Internet)
See you again
Get lost in a bit of the feeling of the sea, invite readers to return to the bustling, bustling city with many delicious dishes to bring back as gifts and beautiful, modern restaurants to take pictures. See readers of Travellive in the near future, the writer will introduce other corners of the beautiful city of Hai Phong.
