At the beginning of this year, I left Quang Ngai to work in Hanoi for six months according to the assignment of the agency. Not long after, but after only about a week, what reminded me was the very ordinary dishes of my hometown.
Those are banh xeo, don, hu tieu, bun thit nuong... Simple dishes that Quang Ngai can encounter in any corner of the market or small restaurant. But when you come to Hanoi, it is not easy to find the right flavor again.
In Ho Chi Minh City, where many Quang Ngai people live, it is not difficult to find a restaurant with the true taste of the countryside. But in Hanoi, not many Quang Ngai people settle down, so restaurants cooked in the style of Quang Ngai are also quite rare.
Fortunately, a compatriot pointed out to me a familiar address of expatriates from Quang Ngai: Chinh Tham banh xeo restaurant on Yen Lang street. The small restaurant is nestled in a crowded street, but stepping inside, I find it familiar and strange. The menu is full of dishes from Central Vietnam such as banh xeo, nem lui, grilled pork belly, Quang noodles, grilled pork vermicelli.
As soon as I called to order, the shop owner looked at me and smiled: "Quang Ngai people?". Just hearing the voice, she immediately recognized me.
She is Luong Khanh Ly (born in 1985), originally from Song Ve town (old), now Ve Giang commune. She said it's been a long time since she heard Quang Ngai accents again in the heart of Hanoi, so she feels happy.
While waiting for the banh chung to cook, the story of the hometown continued alongside the hot pan. Ms. Ly recounted that her family's banh xeo restaurant opened in Hanoi in 1994.
Previously, her grandparents sold banh xeo in Song Ve town (old). That seemingly simple job has supported the whole family for many years.
Her family's Quang Ngai flavored banh xeo restaurant has been open in Hanoi for nearly 32 years now. She said the great joy is still preserving her grandparents' profession, and many people come to eat and praise it for suiting their taste.
Banh xeo at the restaurant is made in the right Quang Ngai style. Ground rice flour, mixed just right and poured into a hot pan. When the flour touches the pan surface, the "xeo" sound sounds crispy. Inside are bean sprouts, pork belly... Cooked banh xeo are taken out, served with raw vegetables, rolled with rice paper and dipped in sweet and sour fish sauce. The crispness of the banh xeo layer, the sweetness of shrimp and meat, the freshness of raw vegetables and the familiar bowl of fish sauce... all evoke a very familiar feeling.
In the crowded Hanoi, biting a hot piece of banh xeo, I remember the rural afternoons, when the stove lit red and the sound of banh xeo pouring "xeo xèo" echoed in the small kitchen.
Perhaps for many people, banh xeo is just a normal dish. But for Quang Ngai people living far from home, that small cake carries the flavor of their homeland.
And in the heart of the Capital, the small pancake stall in Yen Lang still burns fiery every day, retaining a bit of Quang Ngai flavor for those far from home. Just hearing the "xeo" sound echoing from the hot pan, it is enough to feel that the homeland is very close.
