Bun suong - Tra Vinh specialty

Each piece of shrimp cake is long and slender, looking strangely like it is wrapped around pure white rice noodles, immersed in sweet and sour broth, making diners satisfied when enjoying it.

Tra Vinh is a province with a culinary blend of three ethnic groups: Kinh, Khmer and Chinese. In addition to bun nuoc leo, banh canh Ben Co or mam bo hoc, visitors to this land can easily fall in love with bun suong.

Bun suong is made from vermicelli, shrimp and pork belly. The soul of the dish lies in the shrimps which are shaped into long patties. To make the patties more delicious, people often have to choose fresh and plump shrimps. The shrimps are brought home, washed, the heads and tails are cut off and the shells are peeled.

Each bowl of vermicelli soup costs from 15,000 to 25,000 VND. Photo: xembao

Peeled and minced garlic and shallots will be put into the blender with the shrimp, until everything is blended together to form a smooth mixture. Take the shrimp above into a bowl, add pepper, salt, tapioca starch, seasoning powder and annatto oil to create an eye-catching yellow color.

To make the meatloaf soft and smooth, the cook must carefully knead it many times, and finally put everything in a clean plastic bag, cut off the top of the bag. The broth is simmered with pork bones for many hours to make it rich and sweet. After seasoning with spices including cashew oil, salt, pepper, seasoning powder... then slowly knead the shrimp mixture in.

The broth of Bun Suong is also quite special, it is not clear like other types of noodles but has a slightly brown color due to the addition of tamarind and soy sauce, creating a sour taste and a faint aroma.

The length of the shrimp patties depends on the cook’s preference. Once all the shrimp patties are in the pot, they will be boiled for another 5-10 minutes until they float on the surface of the water and turn golden brown, which means they are fully cooked.

To make the bowl of noodles more harmonious, Tra Vinh people can also add a few slices of boiled pork belly, blanched bean sprouts, lettuce and serve with shredded white cabbage. The dipping sauce is a mixture of ground soy sauce and ground chili.

When you come to Tra Vinh, you can find a bun suong restaurant that only sells in the evenings on Dien Bien Phu Street or a restaurant on Hung Vuong Street.

Orchid

Source