Quang noodles - a famous dish of the peaceful land of Quang Nam

Quang noodles have just been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Quang noodles are a famous delicacy of the peaceful Quang Nam region. Quang noodles have long been loved by many culinary connoisseurs for their delicious, rich flavor.

The perfect combination of golden noodles with soft, fragrant chicken, fatty peanuts and herbs mixed in a rich, creamy sauce is ready to conquer the taste of any picky diner.

The characteristic of Quang noodles is that it must be eaten with crispy grilled rice paper to fully enjoy its delicious taste. This rustic dish has the sophisticated culinary features of the Central region and has become a specialty of this peaceful land.

In recent times, many experts have researched and studied the origin of Quang noodles, but to date, no one has been able to determine when this famous dish originated. Some researchers believe that Quang noodles originated during the Nguyen Dynasty, since the establishment of Hoi An, the busiest trading port in the South; especially with the cultural exchange between Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Europeans.

An attractive bowl of Quang noodles with a combination of many ingredients. (Photo: VNA)

Although the way to prepare Quang noodles is not very complicated, to have a delicious bowl of noodles, Quang Nam people often soak rice in warm water for about 30 minutes to soften, then pour it into a stone mortar to grind into a liquid powder, then coat the flour and cut it into noodles.

According to the elders, to have a delicious bowl of Quang noodles, with the right Quang flavor, you need to prepare many different ingredients such as shrimp, pork, chicken, stewed bones... to make the filling (broth) and especially grilled rice paper, raw vegetables, green chili, lemon... to eat with.

The broth must always be kept hot, and the noodles must never be completely submerged (like vermicelli) so it looks very attractive, the aroma awakens the taste buds... making it difficult for locals and tourists to forget this dish.

The uniqueness of Quang noodles is the diversity in processing style, each season has its own ingredients, any product such as: shrimp, pork, chicken, snakehead fish, eel... can be processed into noodle filling.

Quang noodles contain all the characteristics of Quang cuisine, with a variety of ingredients and flexible, creative processing methods. Many Quang Nam people, due to circumstances, had to leave their homeland to settle in a new land, and Quang noodles followed them.

The Asian Record Organization has recognized Quang noodles as one of 12 Vietnamese dishes achieving “Asian culinary value.” Quang noodles were present at luxurious parties of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in 2006 and 2018; and at a reception for National Assembly delegates in 2016.

In addition, Quang noodles were also present in the Quang Nam Cultural Tourism Week in Hanoi in 2009, in the Quang Nam Heritage Festival, the Vietnam-Japan Cultural Exchange Festival, the Street Food Festival in Hoi An...

Unique variations of Hoi An Quang noodles

Due to different regional tastes and preferences, Quang noodles are varied in flavor.

Phu Chiem Quang Noodles

When mentioning Quang noodles in the Central region, it would be a mistake if we did not mention Phu Chiem Quang noodles. Using many ingredients from meat, shrimp, crab, quail eggs, ... this type of noodles will definitely make you remember.

Not only the ingredients, the fragrant crab broth also creates the special flavor of Phu Chiem Quang noodles. Each chewy noodle strand has a faint smell of onions, blanched in boiling water, accompanied by pork belly, shrimp, braised quail eggs, ... blending in the extremely eye-catching color of shrimp and crab.

Frog Quang Noodles

Instead of the familiar Quang noodles using meat, shrimp or eggs, frog Quang noodles is a unique variation from frog meat to create a strange flavor for diners. The frog meat is processed to be soft, fatty, and soaked in rich broth. There is nothing better than eating Quang noodles.

Thanks to the extremely delicate way of cooking noodles, the frog meat will not have a fishy smell. Normally, Hoi An frog Quang noodles will be accompanied by a plate of raw vegetables, fragrant peanuts or rice paper, ready to "capture" the hearts of many Vietnamese food lovers.

Quang noodles with snakehead fish

Hoi An Quang noodles are always considered a rustic dish that represents the unique "character" of the sunny and windy Central region. Previously, Hoi An Quang noodles were often cooked with fatty meat, served with raw vegetables, just that simple but loved by many people.

Later, Quang noodles were further modified to increase the attractiveness through the combination of many different ingredients. Among them, Quang noodles with snakehead fish is one of the Quang noodles dishes that is extremely loved by tourists from near and far.

The interesting point of this Quang noodle dish lies in the extremely rich broth, chewy snakehead fish meat, accompanied by a plate of fresh, cool green vegetables. You can eat it with Quang green chili to make the Quang noodle dish most authentic!

Chicken Quang Noodles

If you already know the famous Hoi An chicken rice, remember that the locals also put chicken in Quang noodles with an equally delicious flavor.

When eating, you just need to put noodles in a bowl, then chicken, broth on top, sprinkle some onions, cilantro, roasted peanuts, that's enough to create a delicious bowl of chicken Quang noodles with Hoi An flavor.

Dried Quang noodles

This is considered a rather bold but extremely attractive and interesting variation. It is this extremely unique dry Quang noodles dish that has attracted the curiosity of many tourists when coming to the ancient town. At the same time, this dish also adds to the already unique culinary scene in Hoi An./.

(Vietnam+)

Source