Visitors to Hoi An who want to find the specialty dishes of this ancient town should not ignore the name of this Cao Lau. The taste of this strange-sounding dish will make you remember it forever.
Cao Lau – the pride of Hoi An cuisine
Legend has it that Cao Lau used to be called a “delicious delicacy” only serving kings or having high status, so they often sat on the upper floor, eating while looking down at the flow of people down the street. Experiencing many ups and downs, this “noble” dish is called by the name “cao lau” – that is, eating on the high floor.
Today, not only the rich can enjoy, but even the common people can taste this “human delicacy” Cao Lau. Visitors can find Cao Lau in every corner of the Old Quarter and gradually become the quintessence of this very different Hoi An cuisine.
At first, when you see Cao Lau with your own eyes, you will immediately think of a noodle dish, but Cao Lau is not really a noodle, but it is light yellow, thick and shorter than ordinary noodles. When eating, it feels like Japanese udon noodles. Similar to Quang noodles, Hoi An Cao Lau is a dish mixed with a little broth, served with char siu pork, fat shrimp, bean sprouts, roasted peanuts and raw vegetables.
The secret to creating a unique flavor for the famous Cao Lau dish
No need to go to Hoi An, you can still enjoy this Cao Lau dish, but you will only really feel a full bowl of Cao Lau in Hoi An. Leaving Hoi An, there is no place to imitate that quintessential taste, so although there is no heirloom recipe, it is not easy to make a standard Cao Lau bowl.
Cooking high floors is not as easy as you think. Requires the skill of the chef to be strong and have a long experience to make the original flavor. The bread thread is what makes up the soul of the Cao Lau dish. If you want a delicious cake, it must be made from fragrant rice and soaked with ashes of Melaleuca firewood, originating from the land of Cu Lao Cham, only then will the new cake be smooth, supple, and grainy. People believe that using Ba Le well water to grind rice after carefully filtering it will produce a sweet and dry cake as desired.
Cao Lau is not a hot dish but a cold dish. Wherever customers order, they cook there, so the Cao Lau fiber keeps its toughness and crunchiness. A full bowl of Cao Lau is a must have Cao Lau fiber, char siu meat, a few raw vegetables, bean sprouts and must have some crispy fat shrimp. Slices of pork char siu are sliced evenly by hand, seasoned with strong flavor around the edge of the bowl, cooked to a pink color, brick red border looks extremely attractive. Raw vegetables can be placed at the bottom or on top of the cake and the best ones are fresh vegetables from Tra Que traditional vegetable village. Sprinkle with crushed roasted peanuts, fat cloves and crispy pork skin, drizzle a few spoons of broth made when making char siu meat on top and it’s perfect.
When enjoying Cao Lau, you must mix it well to absorb the spices. When you eat it, you have the rich, rich taste of the soup, the smoothness and the smoothness of the Cao Lau fiber. Even more attractive when biting more pieces of char siu sandwiched with raw vegetables, eating is just addicted.
2! Nice will reveal to you a few small suggestions about the names of the favorite Cao Lau restaurants in Hoi An!
– Cao Lau Ba Be: Located in the market on Tran Phu street, Hoi An. Opening hours: 2PM – 10PM.
– Cao Lau Trung Bac: 87 Tran Phu, Hoi An. Opening hours: 7AM – 9PM.
– Cao Lau Thanh: 26 Thai Phien, Hoi An. Opening hours: 7AM – 9PM.
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