Located on the sidewalk of Hang Dau and Hong Phuc (Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi), Ms. Hang's crab noodle soup stall is a "favorite restaurant" of many people in the capital.
Ms. Luong Thi Hang, the owner of the banh canh bun stall, has been selling for decades. In the past, she used to carry her goods to sell all over the streets of Hanoi. Later, she settled down in a small corner on the sidewalk of Hang Dau Street.
This simple noodle dish has many different names such as noodle soup, vegetable noodle soup, noodle soup... With this dish, fresh noodles are first blanched in boiling water to soften the noodles, then kept warm in the pot.
The soul of the noodle soup is the broth with a sweet taste from field crabs, pork bones, a slight sourness from tomatoes, and the fragrant aroma of pure fish sauce.
When a customer orders, the owner arranges the noodles in a bowl, adds the side dishes and pours in the broth. The broth is only poured to cover the noodles, not as full and shimmering as other noodle soup dishes.
A full bowl of vermicelli will include vermicelli, crab fat, pig's ear, pork rind, vegetables and fried onions... Ms. Hang said she learned to fry onions since she was 15 years old, and has been doing it for over 30 years now, but has never burnt the onions.
Each season, the noodle soup is served with different types of vegetables such as water celery, water spinach or morning glory. When enjoying, diners can add chili sauce or garlic vinegar to taste, to enhance the flavor.
Most noodle soup shops are very simple, and so is Ms. Hang’s shop, just a small stall set up on the sidewalk. Diners come to the shop and enjoy a bowl of noodle soup on low plastic chairs, without tables.
Mr. Trung Hieu (1994, Hanoi) said: “I have eaten vermicelli soup here since I was a child, since she was still a street vendor. After so many years, her vermicelli soup is still as delicious as ever, the broth is sweet and easy to eat.”
Ms. July Tran (Hanoi) commented: “The owner of the shop sells in a small corner on Hang Dau sidewalk. It is very suitable to sit and eat on cool days. The noodle soup has a bit of crab paste, pork rind, water spinach, celery and noodles, served with fragrant broth.”
Ms. Hang's noodle soup stall opens from 10am to 5pm. A bowl costs from 25,000 to 30,000 VND.
In addition to this address, diners can find some famous addresses selling crab noodle soup on Le Ngoc Han, Hoe Nhai, Thanh Ha, Hang Chieu, Yen Phu, Nguyen Sieu, O Quan Chuong streets...
