The Art of Cooking: Vietnamese Thick Noodle Soup

Viet Namese thick noodle soup Towards from Hans Gerlach and Susanna Bingemer, two journalists in The Art of Cooking column, thick noodle soup is their amazing discovery in their visit to Viet Nam. the two German authors mission given by the publisher of the cookbook G&U (Grafer and Unzer) is writing a book about the art of Vietnamese cooking and they spent most of time to find out the “Varieties” of this special dish in many different localities. Like rice noodle soup, thick noodle soup consisting the solid base is the same- shaped rice vermicelli like a chopstick and the liquid base is the broth. However, being different from rice noodle soup which fisrtly appered to the Noth, the thick noodle soup had its origin from the East and the South of Viet Nam. In Thua Thien, Hue, thick noodle soup is well – known in the Accient Capital Hue. The ingredients includes fish ball made from chili, black pepper, saffron and pork rind. In Quang Binh and Quang tri where there are so many barren lands, thick noodle soup is made from tapioca andwheat flour, other ingredients depend on the season may also have fish, meat, shrimp or crab. In Nha Trang, a coastal city, thick noodle soup is eaten with fried fish paste in a coin shape. The rice vermicelli here is made from rice flour or wheat flour. Anyway, the most famous thick noodle soup to the South of Viet Nam is Trang Bang Thick noodle soup in Tay Ninh. The noodle vermicelli is made from the particular region’s rice and the liquid base must be the water from the local well and must be cooked in the baked clay pot.