Vietnam – Hue Tieu

by Fauzan Anandika

The outdoor activity becomes one of the tourist attractions in Southeast Asia. Hiking, mount climbing, or enjoying beautiful beach panoramic can become the best choice when visiting Southeast Asia. Not only on the surface, but countries in Southeast Asia also have amazing underground views. One of them is the Son Doong cave in Vietnam. Have 3,8 km long and 90 m wide, make Son Doong cave the second largest cave in the world. 

An underground chamber formed 2 – 5 million years ago after a river stream cracks into a limestone fracture and dissolved it. This stream creates a big hole inside the mountain, and erosion makes it bigger. Tectonic activity rises and hollows out the cave shape into what we see right now.  

In 1941 when the war era, thousands of Vietnamese people hide in the cave to avoid the American air force bomb. Its labyrinth shape and strong structure make American soldier hard to find the Vietnam citizen that hides in the cave. Not only strong, but Son Doong cave also has a beautiful panoramic, underground river, wall carving made by nature, and forest in the middle will accompany your underground journey.   

Talking about Vietnam won’t be complete without talking about their noodle soups: Pho noodle uses tender beef that reflects Hanoi purity tradition, Bun Bo that has a strong spice, and Hue as the progressive spirit of the Vietnam youth. Among those three, Hue Tieu is the less popular for the outsider. 

Hue Tieu is a noodle soup with many variances and can be found in the North and Middle region. Hue Tieu uses thin rice noodle and usually serve for breakfast dried or with soup. Even though there are dozens of kinds of Hue Tieu, they have the same broth made from pork meat, bone, dried squid, sugar, and vegetables that boiled for hours. Since it needs time to create a delicious broth, you need to spend at least 3 hours cooking Hue Tieu. 

Ingredient

Noodle

• 250 gram of pork tenderloin
• 225 gram of thin rice noodle
• 20 piece of peeled shrimp
• 1 piece of lime, cut into four-part
• 115 gram of bean sprout
• 2 piece of scallion
• 2 piece of Thai chili, remove the seed, and sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, thin sliced
• 50-gram coriander leaves, chopped
• 50 gram of bay leaf, chopped

Broth 

• 1 piece of onion, slice into 4 part
• 250 gram of carrot, peeled and sliced
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 15 ml of fish sauce
• 15 ml of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of pepper powder
• 25 gram of dried squid
• 700 gram of pork ribs

How to cook

Broth preparation

1. Soak dried squid in warm water for 30 minutes.
2. Prepare a big boiling pot.
3. Pour 2,5-liter water.
4. Add pork ribs and boil with medium fire.
5. After boiling, remove all the fat. 
6. Boil the broth for 2 hours. 
7. Add all the broth ingredients, cook until boiling.

Meat Preparation

1. Prepare a frying pan.
2. Pour the broth and heat with low fire.
3. Add pork tenderloin and cook for 25 minutes.
4. Pick the tenderloin and slice it into a thin shape.
5. Add shrimp and cook for 1 minute.

Noodle preparation

1. Prepare another boiling pan with some water.
2. Add rice noodle, cook until smooth. 
3. Split the noodle into 4 serving bowls.

Servings

1. Place pork tenderloin and shrimp in a noodle bowl.
2. Topped with scallion, garlic, beansprout, chili, lime, and herbs
3. Pour the broth into the serving bowl.
4. Serve with lime and fish sauce.