On the occasion of the old Tet holiday, the trays of the upper-class families in Hanoi often had four bowls of soup (bowl of fin, bowl of ball, bowl of dragon, bowl of bird's nest). Meanwhile, middle-class families changed their choice of four bowls in dishes such as ball drop soup, bird stewed with green rice and lotus seeds, squid stewed with tangy noodles, bamboo shoot soup with pig's feet, mushroom soup with lotus seeds as an option...
Ball drop soup
According to the old way, the balls were made from boiled tenderloin skin, stretched with two old bicycle spokes, then dried in a few sunny spells, then fried with clean sand to make the bubbles pop. When cooking the soup, these pieces of skin balls floated up like balls on the surface of the soup, hence the name ''Ball drop soup''. There are two versions of ball soup: Wood ball drop soup and Snow ball flower and red flower ball soup.
Four Immortal Soup Dishes in the Old Hanoi Tet Feast
A bowl of standard soup has soft skin, naturally sweet broth, and delicious crispy vegetables. The color of the soup bowl is harmonious with the gentle green of cauliflower, bright orange of carrots and shrimp, pinkish white of pork loin, golden brown of shiitake mushrooms... like an attractive spring painting.
Note that when cooking, you need to thoroughly clean the skin with ginger wine to remove odors, and the broth must also be carefully prepared to have a naturally sweet taste. The chicken broth needs to be skimmed off the fat, mixed with the water used to simmer dried shrimp, and the water used to simmer pork loin. After cleaning, marinate the balls with a little broth to make them flavorful (do not stir-fry the balls until they become mushy). Nowadays, in weddings, soup has variations such as adding liver, heart, quail eggs, stir-frying soft balls... which can easily ruin the original elegance, making it difficult to please gourmets and picky eaters.
Bamboo shoot soup
A bowl of bamboo shoot soup is simple but has the soul and unique characteristics of Vietnamese Tet flavor. When eaten, the bamboo shoots are flavorful, soft and crunchy, the stewed pig's feet are just right, the broth is naturally sweet and quite appealing.
Four immortal soups in the old Hanoi Tet feast - 1
According to the old way, Hanoi housewives often use thick, crunchy pig's tongue bamboo shoots. Nowadays, pig's tongue bamboo shoots are quite rare and elaborate in preparation, some families replace them with other types of bamboo shoots such as: crispy and soft sprouted bamboo shoots, crispy bamboo shoots, chewy leaf bamboo shoots... Bamboo shoot soup should be cooked "twice over the fire" for better taste (first fire stir-fry the bamboo shoots thoroughly and then simmer over low heat with the broth and accompanying ingredients).
Squid cooked in the upper ladder
Squid cooked in a mess, also known as squid cooked in the upper ladder, five-color squid, is a traditional dish on death anniversaries, festivals, and Lunar New Year of Hanoians.
Four immortal soup dishes in the old Hanoi Tet feast - 2
A bowl of stewed squid brings together all the colors, aromas and flavors with amber squid, golden eggs, crunchy green kohlrabi, orange-red carrots, and fragrant white ham. The broth is naturally sweet and fragrant with the aroma of squid.
The squid needs to be selected from good quality, fragrant with the scent of new sunlight, and then washed with ginger wine and cut into thin strips. The ingredients of kohlrabi and carrots are cut into thin strips and blanched in the broth to keep the delicious and light sweetness - a typical feature of Hanoi cuisine. Then stir-fry the ingredients together.
Pigeon stewed with green rice and lotus seeds
The pigeon is soft and fatty, the filling inside is full of flavors mixed together with soft sweet meat, rich lotus seeds, fragrant green rice, crunchy shiitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms, the broth is sweet and nutritious.
Four immortal soup dishes in the old Hanoi Tet feast - 3
Clean the pigeon, wash with ginger wine, and roast it before cooking. Depending on the conditions, you can use fresh or dried lotus seeds. You should stew the lotus seeds separately until they are soft and keep the seeds intact. Do not put the uncooked lotus seeds into the bird because if the lotus seeds are covered with fish sauce, they will take a long time to cook. After stuffing the bird with meat mixed with wood ear and mushrooms, fry it or put it in an air fryer to make the bird meat more fragrant and firm when stewed for a long time. When stuffing the bird, you should stuff the right amount. If there is too much stuffing, the stuffing will expand and the broth will not be clear when stewed.