Hue: The Citadel

After Sapa, we took another night train back to Hanoi, where we then caught a flight to Hue, Vietnam’s imperial city, located in central Vietnam.  We didn't spend too much time in Hue and it rained while we were there--below are some brief highlights.  #bloggingtakesalotlongerthanithoughtitwould

Some (benevolent dictator of) fun facts about Hue:  Hue is pronounced “way,” or perhaps “hway.”  Either “Hue,” don’t mispronounce it and give it “aHue” that you’re not in the know.  #knowledgeispower

Hue was the imperial capital of Vietnam from 1802-1945, the last year of the Nguyen dynasty’s reign and the same year that Ho Chi Minh moved the capital back to Hanoi.  Hue is spliced by the Perfume River, with the Hue Citadel located north of the river, and a more modern, French-settled district located south of the river.

The Hue Citadel encompasses the Imperial City, which in turn contains the Forbidden Purple City.  The 22-foot, fortress-like walls of the citadel, breached by 10 gates, surrounded grand palaces, pavilions, parks, temples, pagodas, ponds, gardens, and halls.  The Imperial City, also walled and surrounded by a moat, contained over 150 royal structures, many of which were destroyed in a fire in 1947.  A few of these have been meticulously restored but a lot are still in disrepair.  The Forbidden Purple City is a third walled-off enclosure that was off-limits to everyone but the emperor, his wives, concubines, and eunuchs.

Below are some pictures of the Citadel and Imperial City.  Unfortunately, the Forbidden City is now just a huge green lawn, where royal structures once stood.  

The highlight of the Hue trip, however, was the discovery of imperial rice cakes, Hue specialties, which we had at a restaurant called Hang Me.  My two favorites were the banh beo and the banh nam.  Bahn beo means “water fern,” named after the shape of the water fern, which looks like this:

Personally, I don’t see the resemblance.  I would have gone with banh sand dollar, or maybe banh onion slice.  

I am not sure what banh nam means.  #tastyrectangle

Bahn beo are small, steamed, savory rice “cakes,” though I would say they are more like “cups,” made from a batter that includes rice flour, tapioca starch, and corn starch.  These little glutinous bites are steamed in tiny shallow saucers about the size of a sand dollar or small onion slice and topped with dried shrimp and something heavenly that resembled a pork rind!?  #cracklins  #ifitlookslikeaduck  #whateveritwas #itwasgood  These were then served in the saucer with nuoc mam pha (a combination of fish sauce, vinegar, shrimp stock, sugar, water and fresh chiles) and we got to pop out each one with a spoon before enjoying! 

I understand that these can also be topped with other ingredients, such as mung bean paste, fried shallots, and green onions.  We had this again in Saigon, but they did not even come CLOSE to the deliciousness of the ones in Hue.  They also came already out of the saucer, which was so disappointing because half of the fun is scooping out the bite.  

Bahn nam are flat, rectangular rice cakes with a mixture of fried ground shrimp, pork and scallions pressed into the surface and then steamed in banana leaves, served with nuoc mam pha. 

The best part of both of these dishes is the texture.  #indescribable #buti'lltrymybest  Light, silky with a hint of chewiness, like a very very light, savory mochi.  Can't wait to try making these at home!

Next stop--Hoi An!!