The thrilling story of Hong Gia Trang's specialty food

There is a dish that has been passed down through many generations like that, although it is simple and rustic, it contains so many magical things that we cannot imagine. Just one dish but has more than 25 ingredients with full flavors of sour, spicy, salty, sweet, bitter, astringent, rich, fatty, fragrant, strong... converging the quintessence of heaven and earth in the most complete way.

According to the Hong Gia genealogy, in ancient times in Kim Bong village, Cam Kim commune, Hoi An town, Quang Nam province, there was an honest mandarin named Nguyen Kim, alias Chanh Don, who was the chief of My Khe commune. He had a son named Nguyen Hong, who was highly educated and talented but did not follow the path of mandarin exams but instead vowed to spend his life as an honest physician, wandering everywhere to treat and save people.

In search of precious medicine, all over the old forests of Quang Nam, there are his footprints. Once wandering on the mysterious Ngoc Linh mountain range, the highest mountain range in Southern Vietnam, in Tra My district, Quang Nam province, where there are many precious medicinal plants, especially the very famous Ngoc Linh ginseng. He got lost in the village of the Xe Dang people, staying for more than 3 months to treat their illnesses. Here, he was treated to wild meat marinated with special spices of the people, then wrapped in leaves and grilled. The dish had a strangely delicious flavor that he had never tasted since he was a child. He slowly asked for the recipe, out of gratitude for saving the lives of many people in the village, the village elder Xe Dang revealed the secret to him.

When he returned, using his knowledge of traditional medicine, he combined herbs from the mountains and plains to complement each other, the coolness of the plains combined with the spiciness of the mountains and forests, cold foods combined with hot foods. There were a total of 9 spices to marinate the meat and 9 types of green vegetables to eat with, creating a unique dish that has the effect of restoring health, stimulating digestion, clearing heat and detoxifying, enhancing vitality and increasing resistance.

Before he died, he left his last will and testament to his descendants: "This is a dish that brings together all the quintessence of heaven and earth. It is not only a dish but also a precious medicine. Descendants must preserve and promote it, not let it fade away and be guilty of committing a sin against their ancestors. Remember that!"

The dish became a family secret, because it was very elaborate and complicated to prepare, it was only used in parties, holidays, death anniversaries, and horse racing. Later, a member of the family combined it with Dai Loc rice paper and anchovy fish sauce from Hoi An sea, from which it officially became a dish with strong influence that everyone loved, and after eating it once, they would never forget it.

Characteristics of Hong Gia Trang specialty dish "Beef grilled in banana leaves, rolled in rice paper, wild vegetables and fish sauce":

- Beef is selected from the best part of the pork belly, lean and soft with a little tendon, marinated with 9 secret spices of Hong Gia Trang, wrapped in banana leaves and grilled in foil, with a unique and delicious flavor.

- There are 9 types of wild vegetables + herbs combined according to traditional medicine, both as food and as medicine.

- Anchovy fish sauce, a specialty of Hoi An sea, is mixed according to a "secret recipe, you will be addicted once you eat it".

Hong Gia's descendants would like to introduce this dish to you, respectfully invite you to enjoy.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/chuyen-ly-ky-ve-mon-an-dac-san-hong-gia-trang-185230515182807595.htm