Online Travel Vietnam: It is easy to find a Da Nang footpath stall that sells bun cha ca. The fish cake soup means the same in the city as the rice paddie crab soup does in Ha Noi. It's breakfast for everyone and lunch for those who can't afford a rice meal. Nguyen My Ha reports
The central coastline of Viet Nam is blessed with beautiful beaches. From Lang Co Bay near Hue down to Da Nang and further south to Phan Rang and Phan Thiet, the local cuisine stands out with lots of seafood and delicious varieties fish and shrimp dishes.
If you land on a street in Da Nang, chances that you'll see a sidewalk stall selling bun cha ca are high. The fish cake soup in Da Nang is like the rice paddie crab soup for Ha Noi. It is the breakfast for all and the lunch for some who can't afford a proper lunch with rice.
Of all the bun cha ca stalls in Da Nang, we tried several streetside stalls, yet the one named Ba Hon in an alley off Nguyen Chi Thanh Road really stood out. Food stalls in the big alleys always make you feel less stressful when you sit down to have soup for breakfast. The alley is wide enough for a lot of motorbikes parking, yet quiet enough not to make one feel agitated in the early hours of morning.
Starting at 5a.m, the children of Mrs. Ngo thi Hon, now 57, gets up to prepare for the daily work. From a modest stall, Mrs Hon, who has raised five children on her own, runs a bigger shop that sells up to 60 kilos of fish paste per day.
Opening at 6am to serve early workers with their morning shifts in the factories, and students on their way to class, the shop closes at 10pm to catch the night workers. Only one dish is sold: bun cha ca with fried fish cakes and slices of steamed fish cake at VND15,000 a bowl. With a side bowl for extra servings, the soup is served with a mixture of fresh lettuces, herbs and bean sprouts. Grown from mung beans like in Ha Noi, the sprouts in Da Nang are much thinner. The soup is eaten spicy with extra red and green fresh chili and chili sauce to add to the bowl. If you can't eat spicy food, you can tell the owner not to add the gravy.
I always wonder why people in the hot climate seem to have a habit of eating hot spicy food: India, Thailand, Mexico, you name it. And why people in the cooler mountainous regions seem not able to tolerate the hotness?
Studies have shown that the hot chili peppers contain capsaicin, a chemical that elevates your body temperature when consume in food and as a result it makes you sweat to make you feel cooler.
Viet Nam has not made its name on the world map of capsaicin levels, but the chili grown in the central part of the country is most known for its hotness. There's a popular question our cousin, who lived in the United States for more than 30 years, asked us when we invited her to dinner in Ha Noi. "Do you know what someone from the Centre picks first at a dining table?" "Chili," was the correct answer.
Bun cha ca Ba Hon Address: 113/3 Nguyen Chi Thanh, Hai Chau, Da Nang Tel: 0511-381-0307 Comment: Quick bite of healthy food |
Source: VNS
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