Gifts that 'warm' people's hearts when winter begins in Hanoi

A characteristic of Hanoi cuisine is that each season has its own special dishes. When the weather gets cold, diners tend to look for familiar, simple flavors. Not far away, those are hot dishes that can be found in a small corner of a restaurant or a familiar street stall, enough to warm people's hearts in the early winter morning or in the afternoon after work.

It is not surprising that at the beginning of winter, the porridge shops on the old quarter are always bustling with people coming and going. Looking at the steaming pot of porridge, wafting the aroma of sweet bone broth, we cannot help but turn to the familiar Thang rib porridge shop of many young people when passing Phung Hung street.

A bowl of hot rib porridge on Phung Hung street (1)

A bowl of hot rib porridge on Phung Hung street.

What makes the "soul" of rib porridge is the soft, smooth white porridge layer, mixed with the rich flavor of meat floss, mushroom floss, and crispy fried dough sticks to get the right taste, and definitely needs a little chili powder and fragrant pepper. The feeling of each spoonful of porridge melting in your mouth, feeling the sweetness of the porridge, the crunchiness of the cartilage, the warm spiciness of the chili pepper spreading, it seems like all the coldness is pushed back. People can find this flavor anywhere, from street vendors, in the small alleys of Dong Xuan market or on Phung Hung street.

It was interesting to see the vendor peeling the banh gio with the distinctive aroma of green banana leaves still steaming hot, wafting in the early winter breeze. Inside the cake was minced meat mixed with wood ear mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms, seasoned just right, rich in flavor without making you feel full when eating.

Hot and fragrant rice cake (1) — Hot rice cake smells so good.

Banh gio carries a familiar flavor everywhere, and nowadays people often eat it with a few pieces of pork roll to enjoy together, making the hot cake more filling and flavorful. Simple enough to be found on many street corners, this gift has unintentionally become a small slice of urban life, a part of the flavor of childhood, of a warm and loving Hanoi .

Only those who grew up in the heart of the old town can fully understand the pleasure of enjoying a bowl of sticky rice and sweet soup during the monsoon days. In a small corner at the beginning of Dao Duy Tu alley, the Sticky Rice and Sweet Soup Shop of Mrs. Thin seems to have only the name mentioned enough to make us imagine the fragrant aroma from her hot sweet soup stall.

Mrs. Thin's sticky rice and sweet soup is one of the "sweet tastes" of Hanoi winter.

A bowl of sticky rice with the golden color of green beans, the grains are loose but still fragrant, is filled with a ladle of hot sweet soup with a little spicy taste of ginger. The warm sweetness of the soup blends with the sticky, fatty taste of sticky rice, and the warmth spreads wherever you eat. The famous sticky rice and sweet soup stalls in the old town, such as Hang Bo and Bat Dan areas, are always crowded with visitors when the monsoon season comes.

With nearly 4 decades of history, Dinh Coffee is located in a prime location right in the heart of Hanoi, witnessing the capital's many reincarnations from the past to the present. Because it still retains the simplest and most rustic things to attract customers with a creative drink, requiring slow but immediate enjoyment in cozy spaces with only a small space on the lower floor and a dark side of the second floor: Egg Coffee.

Egg coffee not to be missed — Egg coffee is a must have on a winter day.

For food connoisseurs, two places that preserve the almost original flavor of this drink are Cafe Giang (on Nguyen Huu Huan Street) and Cafe Dinh (on Dinh Tien Hoang Street). Enjoy the rich egg cream layer mixed with the fragrant, mildly bitter coffee flavor below. Like gifts not for those who eat in a hurry, sitting in a corner of the shop, watching people passing by, sipping a cup of egg coffee is like creating an invisible bridge for stories, also a way to enjoy the very "slow" of Hanoi when winter comes.

Winter in Hanoi is not only present in the misty fog on the streets, but also presents gifts of warmth and a place filled with dear memories. For Hanoians, no matter where they are, just a cold wind blowing in makes their hearts flutter with nostalgia for the streets, for the steaming bowl of rib porridge, hot banh gio, warm sweet sticky rice and sweet soup, and for the sweet taste of egg coffee in a familiar small shop. An ideal early winter weekend is when you can watch Hanoi begin to change, walk on a familiar street and reward yourself with a ticket back to your childhood.