Be ready to delight your taste buds, as the
heir to Hue’s traditional royal cuisine
explains how to season simple dishes like
stir-fried vegetables and stewed fish to
unlock a unique flavor. Mrs. Ton Nu Thi Ha
is one of the last surviving royal cooks.
The 77-year-old from Hue began cooking at
the age of 10 and was schooled in royal
cooking techniques by her aunt, who was also
the wife of the Chief Minister . She’s a
traditional woman who prepares traditional
food, with every dish needing a perfect
taste, deep flavors, and a stunning
presentation. At an event in Ho Chi Minh
City recently, Mrs. Ha was first introduced
as a guest and she shared the secrets of how
she uses soy sauce. In her kitchen, it’s
used as a marinade, and she delighted the
audience with a guide to making a flavorful
dipping sauce. The heir to Hue’s royal
cuisine, Mrs. Ton Nu Thi Ha Uses soy sauce
as a marinade and as a final seasoning Mrs.
Ha explained that for her, soy sauce is the
final dash of seasoning for her dishes, as
well as a marinade for stir-fries. With its
deep and unique taste, vegetables and fish
soak up the flavors and enhance every
element of the dish. “Soy sauce can be used
for marinating or seasoning, such as with my
favorite meat stewed with coconut dish, or
in a traditional fish stew. Rather than
using rock sugar or brown sugar, I prefer to
use Nam Duong soy sauce to give my dish a
slightly sour taste, plus give it the
perfect color of melting sugar. Once stewed
for four hours, the fish hardens and the
edges begin to curve - giving it a truly Hue
taste,” she said. As a dipping sauce or for
adding chilli powder When making porridge
served with pandan leaves, Mrs. Ha adds
original soy sauce. When using too many
ingredients, the porridge gets diluted and
loses flavor, she explains, so only use soy
sauce. She also advises cooks to add fresh
sauce, rather than leftovers that can become
clotted or discolored. If you’re not a fan
of original soy sauce, Mrs. Ha suggests
adding crushed garlic and chillies, or even
chilli powder, to bring out the flavors.
Further, soy sauce can be added to a sweet
and sour sauce that can be added to cakes
and dumplings. She does note that the garlic
soy sauce shouldn’t be used by vegans. “ You
can use soy sauce to dip in sweet potatoes
or to add flavor to morning glory. If you
find it too light for dipping things like
cabbage, turnip, or mustard greens, just add
some extra seasoning to it,” she counsels.
Soy sauce is perfect for dipping or for
marinating food Choosing a soy sauce When
talking about the benefits of soy sauce,
Mrs. Ha notes that people with high blood
pressure should avoid salt and that soy
sauce is an ideal replacement. When cooking
more healthy dishes, she replaces salt with
soy sauce to not lose any of the taste. “
Soy sauce must be balanced and
well-seasoned, every drop must have the
right flavor. When I’m preparing an omelet,
I’d never use fish sauce; only soy sauce.
Out of all the soy sauce brands available,
Nam Duong soy sauce is the best quality and
my first choice. It’s concentrated and
doesn’t discolor the dish. When you are a
royal cook, like me, you must pay attention
to the color and presentation of your dish,
not only the taste,” Mrs. Ha said. Looking
back at her childhood, Mrs. Ha explained
that Nam Duong soy sauce used to be called
Con Meo Den and it was a rare and special
sauce back then. Every morning after qigong,
her grandfather would make porridge and add
soy sauce, occasionally adding a dash of
chilli powder. Soy sauce is a much-loved
dipping sauce in Vietnamese meals and has
been part of food history for centuries
According to Mrs. Ha, the flavor of Nam
Duong soy sauce has been consistent all
through the years. “ When you cook, you need
to know your seasoning so you can master the
flavor and the look of the dish. Nowadays,
there are good and bad sauces available, but
Nam Duong soy sauce is just as great as it
ever was,” she said. In Saigon in 1951,
there was a soy sauce factory that used the
symbol of Con Meo Den and the name Nam
Duong. It produced bottles of sauce with a
strong, concentrated flavor that soon
captured the hearts of the people. From that
point, Nam Duong has been a top brand in
Vietnam and featured in millions of meals
over the decades. With over 50 years of
refining the product, the brand has remained
loyal to its traditional flavors whilst
harnessing modern manufacturing methods in
its production. March 2019 saw Culture
Magazin, a leading bilingual magazine in
North America, vote on which was “The Best
Taste of Vietnamese Soy Sauce”. The contest
was between locally made, Vietnamese soy
sauce brands and Nam Duong soy sauce, from
Nam Duong International Foodstuff
Corporation, was awarded the title The
criteria for the award from Culture Magazin
took into account the following: - Having
the best flavor as determined by a survey
conducted by Culture Magazin in Toronto,
Canada. - Being favored by consumers in
interviews conducted in supermarkets and
markets. - Being noted as having the best
flavor by Vietnamese chefs after 70 years on
the market. - Having all the correct
licenses and certifications for
manufacturing and trading under Vietnamese
law and meeting international food safety
requirements. (Source: Kham Pha Newspaper)
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