Many renowned dishes representing various regions have been recognized as National Intangible Cultural Heritage, such as Quảng noodles of Quang Nam province and the craft of making phở of Nam Dinh province. In light of this information, diners are asking where bún bò Hue (beef noodle soup) stands on the culinary map and why it has not been recognized yet.

I was quite surprised to learn that milk sweet soup is a dessert originating from Hue, not a new snack from Saigon - where dairy ingredients are quite popular in delicious dishes for young people.

Three Vietnamese dishes, namely beef stew (bo kho), Hue beef noodle soup, or Hue breakfast noodle soup (bun bo Hue), and broken rice with grilled pork (com tam suon), have been included in the list of “Top 100 breakfasts in the world” by the international food magazine Taste Atlas.

Thua Thien Hue is a region with many dishes honored in the “Journey to find the cultural value of typical Vietnamese cuisine” including Hue beef noodles, tapioca dumplings stuffed with roasted pork sweet soup, mussel rice, tapioca dumplings, mixed vegetarian fig salad, vegetarian rice steamed in lotus leaf.

Thua Thien Hue has the most dishes honored in Phase I of the project, including Hue beef noodle soup, tapioca dumpling stuffed with roasted pork sweet soup, mussel rice, tapioca dumplings, vegetarian fig salad, and vegetarian steamed rice wrapped in lotus leaf.

These are 6 of 121 Vietnamese culinary dishes that have just been honored by the Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association (VCCA) as typical national dishes in phase I of a project titled "Building and Developing Vietnamese Culinary Culture into a National Brand Name”. All of these 6 dishes, including: Hue beef noodle soup, glutinous rice dumplings stuffed with roasted pork in sweet soup, mussel rice, banh loc (glutinous rice dumplings), vegetarian fig salad, and lotus-leaf-wrapped steamed rice; all are close to the gardens and paddy fields of the land.

Visitors to Hue in the summer season are greeted with the sight of fragrant lotus blossoms adorning Tinh Tam Lake, their white petals fluttering like delicate butterflies in the breeze. The gentle and refreshing fragrance of lotus permeates the surroundings, and a passing encounter with this scene instantly uplifts one's spirits.

Beef noodle soup is a famous dish of the ancient capital, but beef noodles with cold rice is not known to everyone.

In recent days, Hue beef noodle soup has been mentioned again. The first is the strange but happy news when in April, a special dish of the Ancient Capital has been introduced on the menu of the schools in Saijo City (Japan).

The special offerings at Trach Pho Shrine (Phong Hoa Commune, Phong Dien District on February 12-13th of the Lunar Calendar every year), including a pair of sea bass and a tray of yam sweet soup, helped us connect ancient Southeast Asian cultural symbols together to clearly see the unique values condensed in the belief of worshiping the Thien Y A Na Goddess.

Hue is considered the land of sweet soups with more than 50 kinds. Through the hands of Hue women, many kinds of fruits, seeds and tubers are processed into delicious and appealing sweet soup dishes. Among Hue sweet soup dishes, khoai mai sweet soup is a precious type that is very suitable for the early days of spring.

From skillful and talented hands, the women of the Ancient Capital knew how to delicately blend the properties and flavors of ingredients into medicinal sweet soups, which have the effect of promoting health.