Hue and Its Specialties
Wednesday, June 09, 2010 (GMT+7)
Nestling against the famous Huong (fragrant) River, the old capital of Hue is internationally renowned for its architecture built under the Nguyen dynasty.
North of the river are the imperial city (Kinh Thanh), the royal citadel (Hoang Thanh) and the purple forbidden city (Tu Cam Thanh), while kings' tombs and the Nam Giao shrine (Dan Nam Giao) where kings prayed to God are south of the Huong River. Hue is an ideal combination of splendid architecture and nature.
Hue imperial city was constructed as a fortress that consists of many defensive projects. The harmony of old architecture and its graphic depiction of the Nguyen dynasty promote the beauty and vitality of Hue and preserves Hue's significance in terms of culture.
Hue people are renowned for their hospitality and politeness. Hue is the place where national celebrities including Nguyen Hue, Phan Boi Chau, Nguyen Tat Thanh and To Huu tempered themselves. With its long, rich history and culture, Hue has become a major cultural center in Vietnam.
Hue people love nature and their houses characteristically reflect their closeness to nature.
Hue's special foods
Hue has a diverse range of sophisticatedly prepared traditional foods.
Hue people can prepare 300 different dishes. Com hen (rice with mussels), a notable Hue dish, is renowned for its special taste. Good com hen can be found in Con Hen, restaurants on Truong Dinh Road and famous restaurants of Nam Giao Hoai Co and Vi Da Xua.
Another good dish of Hue is goby braised with fragrant knotweed (rau ram) and coconut milk. This and other good, simple dishes, including soup prepared with Tap Tang vegetable, soup prepared with pork, sweet Bong leaves, basella alba (mong toi) leaves, pumpkin flowers, and raw vegetables (mostly mints and lettuce) are part of a daily meal of a Hue family. Other notable Hue foods include bun bo gio heo (noodles with beef and pork), tens of kinds of dumplings (bank khoai, banh canh, banh beo, banh uot and many more), and 36 kinds of sweet soup (che).
Hue people can prepare about 125 vegetarian dishes that attract food aficionados./
Some pictures of Huong River:
Source: ven