Although it is not considered as ambrosia of Hue, turmeric rice vermicelli is actually a unique dish of the ancient capital.
Few years recently, turmeric rice vermicelli has become quite a popular dish of Hue. The outstanding point of turmeric rice vermicelli is the refined and greasy taste of the fresh turmeric.
In order to have a delicious plate of turmeric vermicelli, the ingredients must reach some standards: The rice vermicelli threads have to be soft, not too dry or too wet, the turmeric must be fragrant and have a fresh yellow, and the pig’s bowels have good quality.
The quantity of each ingredient used for the dish is all based on the experience of the makers, and of course, the main ingredient of this dish is turmeric.
Fresh turmeric is ones that have glossy and smooth peel. When clawing a piece from their tops, there would be no water leaking out.
Peel the fresh turmeric, and then soak them into water so that they will not lose their color. Grind or mince to make turmeric crushed steadily, not too big, and not too small.
Choosing pig’s bowels is also a crucial step. Wrong choice can make the bowels tough and bitter after being cooked. It would be best to pick ones that are white, quite pink, and have thick edge. The bowels that are quite yellow will be bitter while ones that have thin edge will be tough.
Use salt to rub the bowels for a few times. Then, rub again with lemon or vinegar. Also, turn the inside surface out and do the same. Parboil the bowels, rub them again with lemon and cut them into chunks of about 2 – 3 centimeters.
Other needed ingredients are solid pig’s blood, leaves of garlic chives, onion bulb and fragrant knotwed.
Parboil the solid pig’s blood, cut garlic chives’ leaves into chunks of about 3 – 4 centimeters.
Fry the onion bulb that has been cut into small pieces with oil, then put bowels and cooked solid blood into the frying pan. Next, add turmeric and some other spices such as fish sauce, salt and sugar.
When that mixture is done, put rice vermicelli, garlic chives’ leaves and stir them all quickly in about three more minutes. Finally, sprinkle some pepper on the surface.
Turmeric rice vermicelli is such an original dish of the ancient capital Hue. With its strange but very delicious taste, the dish has added a special new feature in Hue’s cuisine culture.
