Mussel rice (Cơm hến)

introduce

Clam rice is the second most famous specialty food in Hue after beef noodle soup. Many people go to Hue to taste beef noodle soup but never try clam rice. It is a pity.

Gourmet features

Clams are shell molluscs that live in freshwater and semi-freshwater. Clam meat is sweet in taste and cold in nature. It has the effects of smoothing the intestines, moistening the liver, clearing away heat and detoxifying, and being a diuretic. Therefore, for the people of Hue, clams are not only a specialty product that can be made into delicious dishes, but also a nutritious medicine.

Hue clam rice is a famous snack in Hue. Whether you are a Vietnamese or a foreigner traveling to Hue, you must go there to eat Hue clam rice. You can't taste that kind of food in other places. After the clams are fished out of the river, they are first processed by fishermen, separated and shelled, washed and cooked. The clam meat is then sent to the restaurant, where it is processed again and the clam soup is cooked and sold together with the clam rice. Usually a bowl of clam rice contains clam meat, peanuts, green onions, chili, garlic, etc.

The rice is put first, and it must be cold rice, followed by a few spoonfuls of clams fried with green onions. Followed by oil residue, fried pork skin, coriander, taro stems, chopped banana flowers, bean sprouts, fried peanuts, shrimp paste, chili powder, etc. Authentic Hue clam rice must have 13 ingredients, symbolizing the yin and yang, eight trigrams and the five elements.