If you had to choose one noodle soup to have in Ho Chi Minh City, this is Hu Tieu. Origins of this soup can be traced back to Chinese-Cambodian who brought this soup to Ho Chi Minh City when it was a fishing village known as Prey Nokor.
Hu Tieu has developed very fast in South Vietnam since the 1950s, especially in Saigon (HCMC). It is easy to find a Hu Tieu store on the street or a Hu Tieu cart at an alley. It is possible to say that Hu Tieu is an especial dish here, similar to Pho in Hanoi. Hu Tieu is usually eaten in the morning or in the evening.
The main ingredients of Hu Tieu Noodle Soup are Hu Tieu noodle, pork bone, bean sprouts, green onions, deep-fried onion and others. The noodle is made from rice flour and tapioca flour. The noodle is dry because people cut sun-dried Hu Tieu rice paper into noodle. Before being served, the dried noodle is soft boiled. The broth is very clear, smelling and flavorful. To serve, the noodle is put into the bowl before the broth is poured onto it. Lime slices, chopped chili, herbs and bean sprouts and saute are served with the bowl of Hu Tieu.
The variety of toppings is staggering and can range from pork slices, pork ribs (suon) to wontons (hoanh thanh) and shrimp to quail eggs and Chinese style (xa xiu). You can usually tell what the food stall sells by seeing what protein the place after the words 'hu tieu' (ie: hu tieu suon, hu tieu hoanh thanh). The soup is usually finished with a leaf of lettuce, fried garlic or shallots, scallions and some chopped coriander. Garnish usually includes boiled bean sprouts, lime, and chopped chillis.
There are two main variations of 'hu tieu' you find in Ho Chi Minh City: Hu Tieu Nam Vang and Hu Tieu My Tho. Hu Tieu Nam Vang hails from Phnom Penh, Cambodia and is served with sliced pork, pork liver and if that isn’t enough porkiness for you, some congealed pork blood in the form of a cake. The broth for Hu Tieu My Tho tends to be a bit sweeter than normal hu tieu and the protein steers into the range of offal as well as the other proteins.
Hu Tieu My Tho is very famous in Mekong Delta so that if you have chance to visit this region, do not miss trying a bowl of Hu Tieu My Tho. The toppings are peeled boiled shrimp, hard-boiled quail egg, pork slices and liver slices, deep-fried cubed pork fat and chives. There’s no need to comment about its flavor. Just have a taste and it’s your turn to tell me how it tastes.
Hu Tieu Nam Vang originated in Cambodia, but when it comes to Vietnam, it has been changed a little to meet the Vietnamese taste. The highlight of this Hu Tieu is that the broth is cooked from pork bone and ground pork. Toppings are like My Tho Hu Tieu and could be pork organs.
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