In an attempt to make raw meat consumable, Vietnamese came up with a sour fermented minced pork dish called ‘nem chua’. Although a little creative dish of American fried chicken is a popular choice of many youngsters, once coming to Vietnam, you should not miss a chance to enjoy cooked ‘nem chua’ in these places in Hanoi that have helped to take it to the street food constellation. Indochina travel Vietnam
Fried ‘nem chua’ by Ms Hanh in Hanoi
Having earned itself a cult with a bunch of followers to keep the fire burning, fried ‘nem chua’ by Ms Hanh is one of the best street food places in Hanoi. Having been around for more than 13 years, fried ‘nem chua’ here serves tens of thousands of local students from nearby schools, who, even as they enter the real world, insist on eating at Hanh’s. Shunned most of the time by careful parents, featured on the most important day of their life, some even go as far as having this very junk food. The place selling ‘nem chua’, both unfried and fried, often in bulk, has gone from a small pavement stall to many’s regular, is nowadays thriving on a unique kind of mildly sweet ‘nem chua’. Amongst many nem chua combinations you can find on this very pavement on Linh Lang Street, ‘nem chua’ at Hanh’s, which is served whole, in a plastic cup with a secret home-made chilli sauce, is still very distinct.
Fried ‘nem chua’ in Tam Thuong Alley
Having its name attached the same dish as at Hanh’s, fried ‘nem chua’ in small Tam Thuong Alley on Hang Dao Street in Hanoi Old Quarter is a popular place among nem chua lovers. Served in a more professional and “Vietnamese” way, ‘nem chua’ here is served with the rolls cut into pieces and put on banana leaves, doing an impression of the way food is served whenever the chefs want to make it look like taken straight from the garden. Like all mastery in food pairing in the alley, in this ‘nem chua’ stall, you can find no plate of ‘nem chua’ sold free from a side dish, be it any juicy fruit or fresh slices of cucumber or crispy sweet and salty French fries. Plan Vietnam travel tours
Grilled ‘nem chua’ in Au Trieu Alley
Besides being lined with clothing stores, restaurants, hotels and all sorts of services for its foreigner-based local economy, Au Trieu is also an ideal place for gastronomers, especially nem chua lovers. On one end, the alley features a stunning dish to keep it animated all day long at any time of a year. A bit different from nem chua in everywhere else, which is usually served fried and satisfy the sweet taste, grilled ‘nem chua’ here brings eaters authentic taste of nem chua. Partly explaining the lines of customers that fill the narrow alley every night is the acquirement of sticky texture from the burned pig skin in the minced pork of the dish. It is highly recommended this dish with lemon tea and juicy fruit like pineapple, jicama and cucumber.
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