By Nguyen Chi   September 27, 2023 | 10:21 am GMT+7

Vietnamese American chef Christine Ha, winner of the MasterChef TV show in 2012 and renowned for her journey as a blind chef, tried many of Hanoi’s iconic dishes during a recent tour.

Ha started her morning with a cup of egg coffee and yogurt coffee at Giang café at 13 Dinh Tien Hoang Street.
“Had Vietnamese iced yogurt coffee for the first time and at first sip, my brain was confused, I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, but the more I drank, the more it grew on me. Decidedly one of my favorite things I tasted today,” Ha said.

Ha said a cup of hot egg coffee reminds her of a Vietnamese eggy cappuccino in form and a mash-up of espresso and eggnog in taste. In recent years, egg coffee has gained attention from international media and is a famous specialty of Hanoians.
A cup of egg coffee starts with a layer of condensed milk at the bottom, and then topped with strong black coffee. A scrambled egg yolk is then poured over the top.

Ha then enjoyed breakfast at Suong pho stall on Trung Yen Street in the Old Quarter.

“Hanoi-style pho there has a lighter, less-spiced broth with wider rice noodles, very similar to the way my mom used to make it,” she said.
Pho, Vietnam’s national dish originating from Hanoi, is traditionally made with chicken or beef broth, where the bones simmer for at least three hours until the broth is perfect.

Ha had bun cha for lunch, which consists of white vermicelli topped with a savory, sweet and sour fish sauce, meatballs, and thick pig slices.
A twist on traditional bun cha may be found on this street corner. Ha said, “The pork is cooked to perfection, and everything is dipped into a mild fish sauce before being eaten.

Dong Xuan Market alley is home to street food stalls and is known as the food capital in Hanoi. Ha also tried a traditional snail noodle shop and banana tofu snail noodle.

At a stand on Dao Duy Tu Street, she sampled banh gio, pork pyramid dumplings.
Soft rice cakes stuffed with pork and wood ear mushrooms have been a specialty of the sidewalk shop where Ha bought one for 40 years. Banana leaf dumplings stuffed with pork, wood ear mushrooms, and onions are a common morning meal in Hanoi.
Ha made history as the first blind person to win MasterChef with Gordon Ramsay. In addition to penning a best-selling cookbook and co-hosting the hit cooking show “Four Senses,” Ha and her husband John Suh also run a successful YouTube channel with over 160,000 members.

Source: vnExpress