VietNamNet Bridge - Along with cuisines of various regions in Vietnam, Chinese cuisines with unique characteristics contribute to the multicolored culinary painting of Saigon.

1. Hu tieu ca (fish kuy teav)

“hu tieu ca” or fish kuy teav is a famous dish of Chinese. The fish used in this cuisine is snakehead fish, which is cut up into fillet slices and mixed with salt and seasoning powder.

The consommé is cooked from pork bones and is flavored with spices, particularly one named “tang xai”. Fish kuy teav is served with salad, beansprouts, chili, lemon and soy sauce.

2. Mi vit tiem (Duck noodles)

This dish of the Chinese is processed to suit the tastes of Vietnamese. The consommé is sweet but not fatty; duck meat is crispy but soft. Also, the cuisine is attractive with fresh noodles made from eggs. When you try this dish, you will feel the softness and sweetness of noodles besides the crunchy sweet cabbage.

3. Sa te noodles

This is the dish of the Chinese in District 5, 6 and 11. What made the taste of this cuisine is the broth, which is prepared from 20 kinds of flavors and spices.

A bowl of sa te noodles includes broth, noodles, beef or beef balls and various kinds of fresh vegetables such as cucumbers, beansprouts, carambola fruits, basil, coriander ....

4. Tieu porridge

This kind of porridge is similar to pig’s tripes porridge of Vietnamese with ingredients such as heart, liver, small intestine, kidney... in addition to mushrooms, fresh squid and a lot of onion leaves, ginger, etc. This dish is suitable for chilly days or for those with colds.

5. Pha lau

For gourmets in Saigon, pha lau is a special cuisine that they cannot ignore. Pha lau is processed from stomach and small intestine, lung, liver and heart of cows. These things are mixed with five spices, then fried and boiled again. Coconut milk is the main ingredient of the broth of pha lau, making the sweet and fatty tastes of the broth. Pha lau is served with bread.

6. Sui cao

Sui cao are processed similar with wonton but sui cao are much larger and with more filling. The filling is usually made from chopped shrimp, pork, vegetables ... and mixed with spices.

Sui cao are made by spreading a square wrapper (a dough skin made of flour, egg, water, and salt) flat in the palm of one's hand, placing a small amount of filling in the center, and sealing the sui cao into the semicircle shape by compressing the wrapper's edges together with the fingers. Sui cao can be boiled, steamed or fried.

7. Cade sticky rice

This cuisine is the mixture of sticky rice, egg yolk and very faint aroma of durian. The major ingredient is cade, which is the mix of eggs, sugar, coconut juice, durian according to a unique recipe to create a charming fragrance. Besides cade, there are coconut and crushed peanuts to make cade sticky rice delicious.

8. Quy phuc linh (Tortoise Jelly)

Quy phuc linh in Vietnamese of Guīlínggāo in Chinese is also known as Tortoise Jelly or Turtle Jelly. This is a jelly-like Chinese medicine, also sold as a dessert.

It was traditionally made from the powdered plastron (bottom shell) from the turtle Cuora trifasciata (commonly known as three-lined box turtle or golden coin turtle) and a variety of herbal products, in particular, Smilax glabra.

More often, commercially available guīlínggāo sold as a dessert does not contain turtle shell powder at all, despite the product name and the prominent turtle images on most brands' labels. They do, however, share the same herbal additives as the medicine and are similarly marketed as being good for skin complexion when ingested.

In addition to the aforementioned dishes, Chinese in Saigon have many other delicious dishes such as Yangzhou fried rice, Peking duck, Ho noodles, dim sims, mi chi ca, che hot ga….

T. Van