Quang noodles Quang style

In my memory, Quang noodles only appeared at big parties, death anniversaries or weddings. Because, to have a full noodle meal with meat, chicken, fish, and eggs was a luxury for many families in the past.

My house is in the midland and mountainous region of Dai Loc, Quang Nam province. The way to cook Quang noodles here always has the main spices of fresh turmeric and lemongrass. The way to prepare meat or marinate it also has its own characteristics. Chicken is often chopped into small pieces because in the past, families had many children so they had to chop them into small pieces so that each person could eat more slices.

To marinate the chicken, you have to add a lot of scallions and crushed fresh turmeric, a few lemongrass stalks, seasoning powder, fish sauce, and let it sit for 30 minutes before my mother cooks it. To make the noodle broth more fragrant, my mother also crushed scallions, turmeric, and shallots, then sautéed them before adding the chicken. After stir-frying the chicken until it was firm, my mother added boiling water to keep the meat chewy.

Quang noodles of Quang people

My mother soaked rice and made the noodles herself instead of buying them from the market. After making them, she cut them into small noodles. She said the smaller the noodles, the better. Nowadays, they cut the noodles by machine, so the noodles are big and feel full when you eat them.

Quang noodles can be called a popular specialty or a luxury because the way of cooking and eating depends on the gourmet level of each person. My father is picky, to make the Quang noodles more sumptuous, he always requests chili sauce, fresh chili, a few slices of lemon and grilled rice paper.

The steps of cutting noodles, cooking broth, and making fish sauce are done, but if the raw vegetables are not the right style, the dish will lose its completeness. Raw vegetables eaten with Quang-style noodles, in addition to herbs, must have banana blossom. But it must be the real banana blossom; cut very thinly so that the strands roll up, when put into the bowl of noodles, it will look more attractive.

When eating, you have to arrange all the ingredients on a large tray, put the noodles in a bowl, scoop the boiling broth from the pot on top, add the raw vegetables; squeeze in a slice of lemon, scoop a spoonful of chili sauce, then use chopsticks to stir the bowl of noodles evenly. Then break the rice paper and put it in the bowl. That way, you will have a bowl of noodles with full flavor. The sweet, fragrant taste of the chicken; the noodles are crispy but also soft and chewy; the rich broth with the spicy chili sauce. Just one bite and you will be hooked.

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