What to eat when Hanoi turns cold?

From the night of October 22, when the Northeast monsoon arrived, the temperature in Hanoi immediately dropped to about 18-22°C. In that cold air, many people chose to go out to find delicious food as a way to enjoy the new season.

Not only familiar dishes of Hanoi, many young people take advantage of hunting for trendy dishes. Below are 10 dishes that Tri Thuc - Znews suggests you should try when the weather in Hanoi starts to get cold.

Cheese-filled sticky rice dumplings

Point of sale: Healing Tea, No. 41 Huyen Alley, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.
Open: Afternoon - evening.
Price: 20,000-30,000 VND/bowl.

Every time the first monsoon winds blow, Hanoians have the habit of going to banh troi tau shops to warm up with the aroma of ginger, the taste of sticky rice and a little bit of sweetness in the steaming bowl of banh troi tau.

In addition to the traditional flavor, this familiar dish is renewed with a cheese filling version. The chewy sticky rice balls hug the fragrant black sesame and shredded coconut filling, with soft melted cheese in the middle. When poured with hot ginger water and then coconut milk, the overall taste is sweet, spicy, warm and moderately fatty.

If you prefer traditional flavors, you can visit Pham Bang floating cake (30 Hang Giay) or Ba Thin floating cake (1 Bat Dan)... These are all long-standing addresses of Hanoians. There, the bowl of floating cake still retains the original ingredients of black sesame, green beans, shredded coconut, golden ginger juice and the sweet, spicy, warm taste, easy to eat and not too greasy.

Grilled corn with cheese

Points of sale: Sidewalks of Ta Hien and Hang Ma streets, the Great Church area, West Lake...
Open: From afternoon to late night.
Price: 10,000-20,000 VND/corn.

Compared to traditional charcoal grilled corn that is only spread with butter or sprinkled with salt, grilled corn with cheese is a new version that is popular this cold season, meeting the fatty and fragrant preferences of young people.

Also sticky corn grilled directly on charcoal, the kernels are soft and smoky, but as soon as they are removed from the stove, the seller spreads cheese sauce or covers each corn kernel with shredded cheese so that the cheese melts evenly. The salty and fatty taste mixed with the natural sweetness of the corn creates a more "delicious" feeling than the old version.

Walking around the streets in the early cold of the season, holding a hot corn cob warms your hands; taking a bite, you can hear the corn kernels crackle slightly, the layer of shredded cheese mixed with the smell of charcoal smoke becomes more obvious. If you want more flavor, you can ask for more butter, salt, chili, and ground pepper.

Ta Hien - Hang Bac area often has many grilled cheese carts that make "blistering" cheese. Eating it right there will fully feel the difference between the new version and the traditional style.

Grilled sticky rice banana

Point of sale: Hang Duong - Hang Chieu intersection, Hoan Kiem ward, Hanoi.
Open: From afternoon to late night.
Price: 20,000-25,000 VND/piece.

If grilled corn or grilled sweet potatoes are the “symbols” of Hanoi’s cold season, grilled sticky rice bananas are a new name, sought after by many people. This dish, which is familiar in the South, now appears more and more in Hanoi’s street corners, bringing a strange experience that is suitable for the cold weather.

Fresh bananas are wrapped in sticky rice and grilled directly on charcoal until the outer skin is slightly charred, giving off an attractive aroma. When cooked, the cake is drizzled with rich coconut milk, sprinkled with roasted peanuts, shredded coconut and sometimes sesame seeds to enhance the rich flavor.

To refresh the old dish, many creative shops add a layer of cake crust with many outstanding colors such as green of pandan leaves, red of gac fruit, purple of butterfly pea flowers, turmeric yellow...

Steam hotpot

Points of sale: Steam House (15–17 Hang Cot, Hoan Kiem), King Pot (171 Nguyen Tuan, Thanh Xuan), or HaHa Steam Hotpot (11A Phung Hung Nho, Hoan Kiem ward).
Open: Lunch and dinner.
Price: 250,000-350,000 VND/person (depending on set and ingredients).

Compared to the familiar hot pot style, steam hot pot brings a lighter experience, just warm enough without being greasy. Especially in the cold weather, sitting around the table, waiting for each layer of food to be cooked, picking it up to enjoy while it is still steaming hot, is the typical feeling of Hanoi in the warm, slow and flavorful winter.

Because hot pot is steamed with steam instead of using rich broth, the dish retains the original flavor of the food but lacks "richness". Those who are used to spicy, salty, and flavorful foods (like Thai hot pot, crab hot pot, beef hot pot) often feel that hot pot is a bit "too mild", and will quickly get bored after a few bites if there is no delicious dipping sauce to go with it.

Hot snails

Sales locations: Famous snail restaurants in the old quarter such as Dinh Liet, Tong Duy Tan, Hoe Nhai, Kim Nguu, Pham Ngoc Thach...
Open: Usually from 3pm to late.
Price: 50,000-80,000 VND/portion (depending on the type of snail and accompanying dish).

Not a new dish or a social media “trend”, a bowl of steaming boiled snails with the fragrant smell of ginger and lemongrass is always associated with the cold season in Hanoi as a long-standing culinary habit.

The snails are selected to be small, with crispy meat, boiled until cooked with lemongrass, lemon leaves and sometimes a few slices of ginger to cover the fishy smell, keeping the natural aroma. When served, the bowl of snails is hot, steam is rising, just need a small needle to pick each snail, dip it in the bowl of ginger fish sauce mixed with chili, the spicy, salty and sweet flavors blend throughout the mouth. Eating in the dry cold of the beginning of the season, that spicy and warm taste seems to run down the neck, making people "warm up all over".

Green rice

Sales locations: Lang Vong (lane 157 Xuan Thuy), Hang Than street (Nguyen Ninh green rice cake, 11 Hang Than), or green rice vendors around Hoan Kiem Lake and the old town.
Open: Seasonal, from around August to late November.
Price: 300,000-400,000 VND/kg (fresh green rice), 50,000 VND/package of green rice sticky rice.

Green rice flakes is not a new dish, but it is a dish associated with the chilly feeling of late autumn and the cool air of early winter days - a flavor that only Hanoi has.

The best green rice flakes are those from Vong village. The grains are young, green, and fragrant, and are wrapped in lotus leaves to preserve their aroma. Hanoians often eat green rice flakes with ripe bananas and quail eggs, or use them as an ingredient in more elaborate dishes such as green rice sausage and green rice cakes.

Noodle soup

Sales locations: Pho Gia Truyen (49 Bat Dan, Hoan Kiem), Pho Thin (13 Lo Duc), Pho 10 (Ly Quoc Su), or long-standing family pho restaurants around the old quarter.
Opening hours : Early morning to noon, some shops open in the evening.
Price: 45,000-80,000 VND/bowl (depending on meat type and restaurant).

No other dish is as deeply associated with the cold season in Hanoi as pho. A bowl of authentic Hanoi pho has thin, soft rice noodles, slices of rare beef or brisket blanched just right, and a clear, naturally sweet broth from well-simmered beef bones. When eating, add a few slices of fresh chili, garlic vinegar, and a little green onion to round out the flavor.

Hanoians still maintain the habit of eating pho in the cold mornings, sometimes even late at night when the city is less crowded. Some people like to sit in small shops in Bat Dan, waiting for each hot bowl of pho to be ladled out, others choose Pho Thin Lo Duc with its rich, fatty broth and the characteristic aroma of burnt ginger. No matter where you are, a hot bowl of pho in 20-degree weather still brings a familiar feeling, like a warm greeting of Hanoi's winter.

Fried shrimp rolls

Sales locations: Traditional shops in the old quarter such as Hang Chieu, Hoe Nhai, Gia Ngu; especially when the earthworms are in season (late fall - early winter), they will appear more often.
Open: Mostly only available during the worm season from October to December.
Price: 70,000-150,000 VND/portion depending on the restaurant and ingredients.

Fried worm cake - one of the seasonal specialties in Hanoi, only available for a few cold weeks each year. After being caught, the worm is cleaned, mixed with minced pork, dill, dried onions and spices, then fried until golden brown, making the smell of dill, fat and worm spread throughout the restaurant.

The golden-yellow rươi cake, when placed on the plate, is still steaming, when biting into it you will feel the slightly crispy crust, inside is a mixture of soft cake with the fragrant smell of rươi and dill, finely minced meat. Dip it in sweet and sour fish sauce or eat it with vermicelli, raw vegetables and a little shredded papaya to create an overall fatty, fragrant, warm taste.

Hot cassava dessert

Points of sale: 54 Bach Mai, 4 Hang Can or hot tea carts around Nha Tho, Tong Duy Tan, Hang Dieu.
Open: Afternoon to late evening.
Price: 10,000-20,000 VND/bowl.

In the chilly weather, a bowl of steaming hot tapioca sweet soup always has its own special comforting power. The tapioca is boiled until soft, cut into bite-sized pieces and then cooked with light brown sugar water. When scooped into a bowl, the seller often pours fragrant ginger juice, sometimes adding a little coconut milk to soften the fatty taste. Eaten while still hot, the tapioca pieces are soft, slightly sweet, and spicy in the throat, making the body feel noticeably warmer.

Each shop has a different “golden ratio”. Some shops focus on ginger flavor, which will give a quick warming feeling, suitable for cold days. Some shops focus on the thickness, creating a smooth, easy-to-eat bowl of dessert. Some places add coconut milk for a mild, fatty aftertaste, making it less monotonous. Customers can request less sweetness if they don’t like the strong brown sugar flavor, or ask for more ginger for a “warmer stomach”.

Source: https://lifestyle.znews.vn/an-gi-khi-ha-noi-chuyen-lanh-post1596403.html