Hue Sour Shrimp

Sour Shrimp is one of the most sought-after specialities of the old capital of Vietnam. When they first come to Hue and taste this dish, visitors from other regions must be really amazed and surprised.

The right Sour Shrimp dish must be made from fresh shrimps living in brackish water (most delicious if they are from Hai Bridge!). The shrimps must be equally big and round-shaped. To start preparing the dish, the cook removes the heads of the shrimps, cleans and dips them in wine. The shrimps are then dried and mixed with many other ingredients such as galingales, garlics, chilies, bamboos, fish sauces and rice. Among all of these, galingale is most important. The garlics are sliced; the chilies are cut into long and thin pieces; bamboo is also cut into thin slices.
Photo: dacsanlamqua.com

The cook keeps the shrimps in glazed terra-cotta jar until they are fully fermented. He will then add honey to the shrimps before putting them into separate bottles. In a bottle of Sour Shrimps, we can see all types of colors: whites, yellows, pink, red, etc. and taste all types of flavor such as sweet, buttery, sour, spicy, etc. These entire elements combine together to create an attractive fragrance.

To savor the flavor of Sour Shrimp, you have to eat this dish with 2 other food: sliced boiled pork sides and fresh veggies (green bananas, star fruits, cinnamons, and chilies). These vegetables give the meal a good look implying the balance of Yin and Yang in the dish. People love Sour Shrimps since they look at it and their love grows continuously when they taste the buttery meat, the sweet and sour shrimps and the hot, spicy veggies!