If you can, try to take your time when discovering Hue. Hue is as gentle as the famous Perfume River that runs through the city. There are not many vehicles here. In green streets around the walls, locals will neither drive too fast nor abuse their horns. To discover the essence of the ancient citadel of Hue it is essential that you sample the local delicacy: mouthwatering Hue cakes.
Floating fern-shaped cake
Floating fern-shaped cake looks like little water-ferns by using small moulds. Rice flour is mixed with water and spooned into the moulds. It is quite difficult to make the rice flour mixture stay neatly and evenly to create the fern shapes. The moulds are steamed for about 5 minutes and placed on a small tray. Cooked shrimp and a crispy piece of fried pork’s skin are placed on the cake. Floating fern-shaped cake is served with a special sauce. Diners can often eat many of these cakes at once and it’s not unusual to see empty plates piling up around them.
“Nậm” cake
“Nậm” cake is white with an embellishment of pink shrimps. The cake is wrapped in phrynium leaves and served with shrimp pie. “Nậm” cake is soft and not greasy.
Plain rice flan
Plain rice flan requires more skill to make. It uses the same ingredients as the folded rice pancake with rice flour mixed with saffron powder, egg, water and spices. Others ingredients include bean sprouts, pork pie and shrimp. Plain rice flan is served with raw vegetables such as fig, green banana, sliced star-fruit and broth.
Cassava flour cake
Cassava flour cake is sometimes wrapped in banana leaves. The cake is chewy with the sweet and fragrant flavor of shrimp. The dish is served with sweet and sour sauce.
“Ram ít” cake
“Ít” cake is made of glutinous rice flour with a meat flavored stuffing of shrimp. The cake is carefully wrapped in banana leaves. Guests can enjoy white or black “ít” cakes.
There are hundreds of scrumptious cakes each with their own unique cooking methods and meanings. Most of these cakes are sold in Hue. You should taste a few different types of cake. Because cakes are made of rice flour, they will fill you up quickly. So if you would like to enjoy a wide selection, you should order a mixed dish with different cakes. After trying, you can order more of the ones you like. You can drop by Dong Ba market to sample a variety these cakes.
Cake restaurants in the market serve guests from the morning to the afternoon. Wandering around the streets of Hue in the evening, you can feel the passion of local people for their cuisine. You really can enjoy Hue’s cake using all your senses: listen to the cooking and conversation, feel the texture, see the decoration, smell the flavor and taste these quintessential delicacies.