5 golden standards in delicious Hanoi specialty salads

GĐXH – The Hanoians of old always considered salads as a "chef's test" in every meal. And Hanoians are famous for their refreshing salads with extremely delicious natural flavors that can only be found in Hanoi.

Hanoi has many famous traditional salads.

In the past, in every death anniversary or wedding, Hanoians could not lack salad - a sophisticated appetizer . The elderly women who took on the role of "head chef" mixing salad were respected as artisans. I still remember, Aunt Hai on my mother's side made a famous delicious salad "drained, crispy, not sticky, full of flavor" - an indispensable standard of a standard Hanoi salad dish.

Nowadays, Hanoi's Old Quarter still has some famous traditional salad shops that have been around for decades, most of them are sidewalk stalls but are very crowded. I once walked around Hoan Kiem Lake Street, the shortest street in Hanoi, where there were 3-4 famous traditional salad shops, such as Long Vi Dung (70 years passed down through many generations), with beef salad, dried beef, roasted bird...

Ham Long Alley, considered "Hanoi's culinary street", also has many delicious salad shops. Van Chuong Alley has a variety of dried beef salads, tapioca dumplings, spring rolls, jellyfish salads... Here, the salads include tapioca dumplings. The salad sauce is rich, flavorful, and delicious. The papaya is crispy and fresh, and there is also dried garlic, so it is quite fragrant.

Banana flower salad on Hoa Ma street is a wonderful combination of the slightly astringent taste of banana flower and the rich, delicious taste of peanuts and sesame, but the flavor is very attractive. Bo Gia salad has a variety of accompanying dishes. The salad is made from dried beef, beef organs, papaya and carrots, all of which are delicately marinated, with a balanced and delicious flavor. The "snack paradise" at Nghia Tan market (Cau Giay) has many dishes for students, including dried beef salad that is a variation of nem thinh, nem chua, banh bot loc...

Besides, on Hang Bun street, there is a salad of lim ta la - the owners of which are brothers and sisters, who have inherited the family tradition since the last century. The "lim" meat dish is a whole piece of dried beef, dark brown in color. The owner will cut it into small pieces or slice it very thinly. The salad dish is soft, sweet and not tough. In addition, the salad here combines nearly 10 ingredients from beef organs such as stomach, spleen, tendons, crunchy cartilage, liver marinated with spices... to create the name of the salad of lim ta la.

Ingredients for making traditional Hanoi papaya salad. Photo from internet

5 golden standards in traditional Hanoi salads

A standard Hanoi salad dish is not only "delicious" in taste but also beautiful in sight and harmonious in feeling. There are 5 core criteria:

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1. The salad must be fresh - crispy - dry.

A delicious salad must look fresh - crispy - dry - that is the first golden criterion. To do so, vegetables must be selected in season, cut properly (the "fragrant foot" fibers - bigger than toothpicks, smaller than skewers). After mixing with salt - vinegar, it must be squeezed dry but not too dry, to keep the natural crispness and sweetness.

2. The five-spice salad must be well-blended.

The ingredients that make up the salad are: Sourness of vinegar/lemon, spiciness of chili, saltiness of fish sauce, sweetness of sugar, and richness of sesame and peanuts. Each ingredient must "meet without overpowering", creating a harmonious flavor that touches the depth of the taste buds.

3. Dry but soft

Hanoi salad is not soggy like some modern salads. It is dry but not dry, each vegetable strand seems to be breathing, still retaining its natural softness.

4. Exquisite decoration

A sprig of coriander, a flower-shaped chili, a pink slice of tomato – every detail is taken care of like a culinary painting.

5. Do not use MSG

Natural spices are absolutely preferred. Most women and aunts "avoid" MSG, because it easily makes the salad taste harsh, bland, and loses the natural freshness of the dish.

Hanoi salads, whether simple or elaborate, all encapsulate the spirit of "sour - spicy - salty - sweet - rich". During the subsidy period, despite the shortage, all feasts and death anniversaries had salads to make the feast more sumptuous.

A delicious salad made from dried beef, beef offal, papaya and carrots marinated in a traditional Hanoi style. Photo from the internet

Delicious salads of Hanoi people

Nowadays, salads are served with shrimp crackers in restaurants. But only traditional salads without MSG can retain the "soul" of old Hanoi cuisine: crispy, light, and delicious for everyone. Here are some famous delicious salads of Hanoi people:

Fresh bamboo shoot and pork skin salad

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– Bamboo shoots or tamarind shoots are blanched in boiling water and sliced into strips.

– Thinly sliced pork skin, combined with bamboo shoots – mixed with garlic, chili, lemon, sesame, peanuts, shrimp paste.

– Summer meals become less greasy and more rustic.

Jellyfish salad + seaweed salad

– This dish is often found in hotel and restaurant parties today but has existed since ancient Hanoi wedding parties.

– Clean fresh jellyfish or dried seaweed, mix with papaya, carrots, herbs, sesame and peanuts.

Hanoi style dried beef salad

– Shredded beef jerky, mixed with shredded papaya, carrots, perilla, fried garlic, special dressing.

– Rich flavor, used to be a favorite snack of students at Nguyen Hue school, Hoan Kiem Lake street, causing endless nostalgia.

In addition, Hanoi also has many other delicious salads such as: Crispy, flavorful boneless chicken feet salad; Sweet, sour, and spicy green mango pig ear salad, combined with the crunchiness of pig ear and green mango; Kohlrabi - carrot sesame peanut salad for family parties; Stir-fried shrimp and water spinach salad... each dish creates a rich, refreshing flavor for the summer... very popular.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/5-tieu-chuan-vang-trong-cac-mon-nom-ngon-dac-san-ha-noi-172250724144801062.htm