Preserving the full flavor for over 30 years
Ban Bo Nam Bo - Hu Tieu" restaurant of Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuan has long become a familiar address for many generations of diners. For more than 30 years, the restaurant has always been crowded with customers from early morning to late at night, not only Hanoi people but also attracting a large number of international tourists.
The restaurant space is spacious and clean with neatly arranged tables and chairs. Right from the door, the aroma of stir-fried beef mixed with the characteristic aroma of roasted peanuts and sweet and sour dressing spreads, enough to hold back passersby.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuan, the restaurant is open from 6 am to 9 pm every day, with the most customers during lunchtime. On average, the restaurant consumes about 70kg of vermicelli per day, serving hundreds of meals with prices ranging from 45,000 - 50,000 VND/bowl.
Meticulous in each processing stage
Revealing the secret to having a full bowl of Southern beef noodle soup, the restaurant owner said that all ingredients are carefully prepared from early morning.
Beef is newly imported every day, only used during the day to maintain freshness, tenderness and natural sweetness. After preliminary processing, the meat is marinated to taste and then stir-fried quickly over high heat with bean sprouts, helping each slice of meat still retain its juicy and aroma without being tough.
Raw vegetables are carefully selected, washed and drained before serving. Roasted peanuts are roasted at medium heat to maintain crispness and butteriness. When customers order, the cook successively add vermicelli, vegetables, hot beef, sprinkle with roasted peanuts, fried onions and then pour in the mixed water that has been mixed according to a balanced ratio. In just a few minutes, a full bowl of vermicelli with all the green colors of vegetables, the yellow color of peanuts, the brown color of beef and the attractive aroma is brought to the table.
According to Ms. Tuan, the decisive factor in the attractiveness of the dish lies in the broth.
Mixed water has no special secrets. The most important thing is to always listen to customer feedback to gradually adjust, so that the sour, sweet, and salty tastes are harmonious and suitable for many people's tastes," Ms. Tuan shared.
When mixed evenly, the soft sweetness of beef blends with cool raw vegetables, buttery and fatty roasted peanuts and sweet and sour broth to create a rich but not greasy flavor, especially suitable for summer days.
In addition to traditional beef noodle soup, the restaurant also serves crispy char siu meat. Slices of meat with a balanced ratio of lean and fatty, cooked just right, soft, fragrant and flavorful, become a choice loved by many diners.
The flavor preserves the memories of many generations of diners
Over 3 decades of selling goods, Ms. Tuan has witnessed many customers attached to the shop from student days until they got married.
There are customers who just walk into the restaurant and I immediately remember whether they eat a lot of vegetables or a little vegetables, whether they have added peanuts or not. Some people have studied abroad for many years, just returned to the country and stopped by the restaurant just to eat a bowl of Southern beef noodle soup," she recounted.
Not only Hanoi people, the restaurant is also a familiar stop for many foreign tourists. Ms. Tuan always remembers a guest who used to work at the French Embassy. After many years of attachment, every Tet holiday, that guest returns to wish her Tet and give her lucky money like a family member.
Enjoying the dish for the first time, Ms. Charlotte, a tourist from France, said: "I have lived in Vietnam for more than 10 months and tried many dishes. Friends introduced me here. Southern beef noodle soup is very delicious, rich and even my favorite dish is more than pho".
Amidst the bustling pace of life in Hanoi, a bowl of Southern beef noodle soup with a harmonious, refreshing flavor still retains its appeal for many years. Not only is it a familiar dish, it is also a place to preserve memories of many generations of diners and add a unique mark to the culinary map of the Capital.
Although named Southern beef noodle soup, many people believe that this dish originated from Hanoi. According to the stories of many long-time shop owners, including Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuan, formerly on Nam Bo street, now Le Duan street, there used to be a very famous beef mixed noodle soup restaurant. Regular diners call the dish after the street name, from which the name "Southern beef noodle soup" has been passed down to this day. However, the origin of the dish still has many different opinions because there are no research documents confirming it. This is what makes Southern beef noodle soup a more interesting feature in the story of Hanoi cuisine.
