Nearly
every Hanoian knows about the cháo trai,
or mother-of-pearl rice porridge, shop on the capital’s Trần Xuân Soạn Street.
The porridge has been delighting locals with its rich and aromatic flavour for
decades.
Super powers: River clams are not only nutritious but can also treat many ailments such as night sweats in children.
Owner
Lê Minh Hằng set up the shop more than 30 years ago. She learned the
traditional job from her grandmother.
Cháo trai is although easy to cook, she
said, but very few people know how to cook it well because doing so demands
choosing fresh and fatty clams and quality rice.
Hằng
said her parents raised clams in her native village in Thường Tín District,
about 30km from Hà Nội centre, to supply her and her five sisters, who also
sell the porridge.
“The
process of cleaning and frying the clam is also important. My grandmother
taught me that we have to carefully watch the boiled clam to prevent it from
becoming too tough. The clam should be fried with dried onions and then poured
into a bowl over the rice porridge,” said Hằng, noting that she often serves
extra to customers who want more claim meat.
Abundant: A big bowl of fried clams to be eaten with rice porridge.
When
Hằng sits at her post in the cháo trai
shop, she’s surrounded by a big basket of pieces of quẩy (youtiao) or bread
sticks, fresh onions cut into pieces, rau răm (fragrant knotweed or laksa
leaves), fried onions and fried clam, ready for customers.
Each
bowl of cháo trai costs about
VNĐ30,000—double that of many others in the city. “We cook the meal in the
traditional way and our porridge is of high quality because it’s made with
organic clams raised by my family.”
Despite
the price, Hằng’s cháo trai is a
best-seller in the capital city.
To
cook tasty porridge for legions of devoted customers, Hằng has to wake up early
every morning. “I only hire a few assistants to help me serve my customers.
I’ve worked very hard year round every day over the last 30 years, except the
three days of Tết each year. Winter is my busiest season because diners,
including foreign tourists, enjoy warming up over a bowl of the signature
dish.”
Great combination: Quẩy (youtiao)is much tastier when eaten with cháo trai.
Nguyễn
Thị Hạnh, 45, a regular porridge customer, told me that she has been addicted
to Hằng’s cháo trai since she was a
girl. “Although my house is rather far from the shop I still come to eat the
porridge every morning. If I don’t, I crave it very much.”
Hạnh
said the shop is always crowded, so she often has to stand in a long queue.
“Eating
the porridge with the breadsticks in winter is much more enjoyable because it
helps to warm up the body and it makes me feel healthy as I begin a new working
day.”
Health effects of cháo trai
Scientists
affirm Hạnh’s sense that the dish is good for health. Herbalist Nguyễn Hương
from the National Hospital of Traditional Medicines said clam is rich in
protein, calcium, phosphate and a number of vitamins such as B1, B2, Niacin, C
and zinc.
According
to traditional medicine practices, the clam meat helps to cool down heat inside
the body and reduce hypertension, liver inflammation and children’s night
sweats, Hương said.
“Those
people facing regular high cholesterol and headaches should eat cháo trai with wood ears and fragrant
mushroom. And the food is also very good for patients with benign prostatic
hyperplasia and diabetes,” he said.
Capital delight: Cháo trai is among the specialties of Hà Nội. Photos monngonhanoi.com
A
young mother named Triệu Thu Hương in Hà Nội’s Hai Bà Trưng District said her
6-year-old boy has recovered from night sweats, which made him damp all day and
night, particularly in summer. He looked pale and weak.
“My
son had faced the ailment since he was a little boy. Although I’ve heard about
the remedy for a long time, my son was still too small to eat clams until last
year. Then, every day I went to buy the porridge at Hằng’s shop and sometimes I
tried to cook the food at home and persuaded him to eat the food for almost six
months. Finally, my efforts paid off, and my son’s night sweats reduced
significantly,” Hương said.
Cháo trai shops in Hà
Nội:
-
26 Trần Xuân Soạn, Hai Bà Trưng District
-
321 Trần Khát Chân, of the same district
-
2 Thụy Khê of Tây Hồ District
-
A15 Nghĩa Tân of Cầu Giấy District
-
192 Quan Thánh, of Ba Đình District
-
39 Lý Quốc Sư of Hoàn Kiếm District.
By VNS