Usually, many people in the South go to the rice shop in the morning. To start a new day, they eat broken rice to recharge their batteries.
This habit may be quite unfamiliar to people in the North, but for many people living in the South, this is a delicious, convenient and cheap breakfast dish.
During a trip to An Giang in 2018, Ms. Phuong Linh (30 years old, Hai Duong) and her companion were surprised by this habit of local people.
While driving to find breakfast, Ms. Linh saw many people sitting at popular rice stalls at 7am, even with full tables. Therefore, she also chose to eat breakfast like the people around her to understand more about the daily life here.
However, for Mr. Tran Thanh Nhan (31 years old, Ho Chi Minh City), after many years of being attached to this habit, some surprises occurred when he moved to Hanoi to live and work since 2018. At first, when he lived in the North, he really missed Southern dishes, especially broken rice.
He shared: "In Ho Chi Minh City, broken rice is a 'national' dish. I can eat anytime of the day, whenever there is a shop open for sale. Therefore, I think the North is no different. When I looked for a broken rice shop for breakfast, my colleagues in Hanoi were very surprised and curious about this habit of Southern people. At that time, I learned that outside of Hanoi, people often eat bun pho and banh mi in the morning. If they have rice in the morning, they often eat homemade fried rice."
In addition to broken rice, at the beginning of his life in Hanoi, Mr. Thanh Nhan also searched for typical Southern dishes such as hu tieu, Quang noodles... However, when trying these dishes in the North, he did not feel happy because the flavor was different from the one he had eaten in Ho Chi Minh City every day.
"At that time, I was very disappointed, the Hu tieu, Quang noodles, and broken rice dishes were only about 4-5 points on a scale of 10. Later, when I researched, I learned that if the dishes still retain the original flavor like in the South without changing to local tastes, business will not be easy. Having lived in Hanoi and traveled through many provinces and cities in the North for nearly 8 years, my taste has gradually gotten used to it. In the South, people like to eat rich food, but in the North, the taste will be cheaper," said Mr. Nhan.
Having encountered the same experience as Mr. Nhan, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Linh (33 years old, Hanoi) was looking for another popular breakfast dish.
She shared that she could not find street vendors selling balut for breakfast when she first moved to the South to live in 2019. Her friends in Ho Chi Minh City were very surprised by this habit, because they often eat balut in the evening.
In addition, Ms. Linh noted that in Ho Chi Minh City, there is no such thing as selling stewed duck eggs like at a Northern restaurant.
While traveling to Ho Chi Minh City in the first month of 2023, Ms. Khanh Hoa (33 years old, Quang Ninh) could not find balut in the morning.
"Suddenly one morning, I craved to eat balut but I went all over the streets and could not find any restaurant to sell. When I went looking, I still clearly remember these shops that sell balut but could not find it in the morning. It was not until I complained to my Southern friend that I learned the different habit of eating balut between the two regions".
In addition, the habit of eating balut in the South makes female tourists quite confused because Southerners often put the egg directly in a cup, then beat a little of the skin on top and scoop it up with salt and pepper. Northerners beat the shells all over and put the eggs in a bowl, then added spices such as flour, ginger, Vietnamese coriander and ginger.
See more: How to enjoy three-region balut
