Snail noodle soup

Snail noodle soup

Almost every bún ốc stall has a regular following of loyal customers who are attracted to it because of the special taste only its owner can offer. Whatever the cooking secret is, the broth is the most important element of bún ốc.

The ideal broth mush have a moderate sourness: sour but sweet, not in the least piquant or sharp but just in between; to this already complex flavor must be added the burning hotness of dried chilly stir-fried in boiling fat. Thạch Lam, a Vietnamese writer, once wrote in his Hà Nội and its 36 Old Streets and Guilds: “Sour snail broth… makes one shed tears more earnestly than love does.” Snail broth is not as sugary as that of phở, sủi cảo (boiled dumplings originated in China) and bún thang (hot round rice noodle soup with many ingredients). Most important in the dish, however, are the two flavors of sourness and hotness maintained in a good balance.

No one knows why, but women seem more likely to frequent bún ốc stalls than men, stopping for a snack on the way to the market or while doing some other errand. Perhaps women, being thrifty, like bún ốc because it is inexpensive and a serving is not so large that one feel too full when finished.

Several dishes are prepared using fresh-water snails, including an excellent soup, but since they are eaten whole, the snails for bún ốc must be most carefully selected. The best varieties are ốc nhồi of medium size and ốc bươu or ốc đá which should be about thumb-sized.

Before cooking, the snails must be immersed in clear water for a long time, cleaned, parboiled and picked out over a flat basket. All these procedures must be properly handled to insure that the cooked snail will have a crunchy head, soft body, and oily yellowish juice. To accomplish this, a bún ốc vendor first selects a snail and then uses a chisel and hammer to break the snail shell. She then turns it and pokes the animal out of its shell, using her thumb to remove its lower part.

After all these processes, the snails are laid over a bowl of while round rice noodles sprinkled with thinly-cut scallions and perilla. The noodles are blanched and re-blanched to make sure they are always hot. Snail noodles must be served hot and heavily spiced with something hot and sour, and perilla.

The best choice of round rice noodles is the Tứ Kỳ and Phú Đô brands, which are supple but not soggy when cooked, and not a bit sour.

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Bún ốc may be accompanied by a variety of vegetables eaten raw: lettuce, coriander, cockscomb mint, perilla, knotweed, and basil are all popular. Pepper and cà cuống (belostomatid essence) are optional spices to the dish. As far as etiquette goes, bún ốc – unlike cốm Vòng – may be slurped down noisily, blowing hard between bites. This is a very informal food, its casual manner of consumption seeming to contribute to its flavor.

Nhà Chung Street was once famous for its delicate boiled snails and snail noodle dishes. Now every market has familiar stalls offering bún ốc of equal quality. In the neighborhood of Phù Đổng Thiên Vương Street and Hàm Long-Ngô Thì Nhậm crossroads, one can find two old sisters, native of Thanh Trì, who served very savoury bún ốc. You will have to arrive early, as both sell out their stock every morning by ten. The area of Tây Hồ by West Lake clusters nearly twenty bún ốc stalls serving the pilgrims who flock to the local temple to pay tribute to Lady Chúa Liễu, especially during Tết. On the 1^st and 15^th days of every lunar month, hardly anyone wants to miss a steaming bowl of bún ốc by the lake.

Bún ốc is specialty unique to Hà Nội. The snails themselves come from local waterways and when they are served fresh and hot over a simple bowl of noodles, snail are among the most delicious local dishes, loved by visitors and natives alike./.

By Băng Tâm