Since its appearance in Vietnam, bo bia has become a favorite dish which is indispensable for the students because of the delicious taste that is easy to eat.
The dish “imported” to Vietnam
Bo bia is a style of cuisine in Chaozhou (Guangdong) and Fujian, China, popular in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. In Fujian, this dish is common in Xiamen, while in Cantonese, this is popular in the east of the province during the grave-visiting festival.
In Vietnam, this dish was introduced by the Chaozhou immigrants and varied slightly to meet the taste of the Vietnamese. Bo bia is made with ingredients including sausages, chicken eggs, carrots, lettuce, jicama, or kohlrabi, dried shrimp, herbs …, all are chopped and rolled in rice paper. The sauce served with this is chili sauce mixed with roasted peanut butter and fried onions. Bo bia is one of the favorite dishes in Saigon.
If bo bia in Saigon is made from the sausage and other ingredients, bo bia in Hanoi is made from the sugar and coconut. Visitors to Hanoi food tasting tours can easily find this dish in street vendors.
Bo bia Saigon
Bo bia in Saigon contains many familiar ingredients such as sausages, chicken eggs, carrots, lettuce, jicama, or kohlrabi, dried shrimp, herbs…
To make bo bia, sausage must be cut into thin slice. After the ingredients have been prepared, you can roll rice paper, lettuce, thyme leaves, cassava chips, egg, dried shrimp, sausage. Sausages often have a sweet taste, so when mixing sauce for this dish, you should mix sweet and slightly sour taste.
The favorite dish of students in Hanoi
Actually, sweet bo bia comes from the South. Making this snack is so simple that you can learn to make in cooking class in Hanoi. You just need rice paper made from flour, a little bit grated coconut, bar candy, little black sesame. Bo bia is not found in luxury shops, only seen along the way, the school gate, but for the past years, it has contributed to the lifestyle of the Hanoians.
If you want to eat delicious bo bia, you must choose old coconut, fresh, and fat. First, place two slices of thin rice paper and cover with coconut and then grate two crunchy candy bars and finally sprinkle some black sesame. The sellers rolls the cake like a small spring roll and the buyers just holding the white cake and enjoy. Rice paper to wrap bo bia is different from that used to make spring rolls or roll sliced pork. The cake is soft but not too thin so it will not be torn. Only with simple ingredients, bo bia still have a tempting taste. The sweetness of candy added to the smell of coconut so you do not taste bored.
Although this dish has origin in China, this divine food is not unknown to anyone. Not being luxurious food, from the school gate or corner, in the streets are always appearing cyclists selling this food. The land of the capital is wonderful, there are things that are simple but bring much attraction. According to the sellers of bo bia, Hanoians are gourmets, but bo bia still is the “hot” dish.
If you come to Hanoi, it is great to find the smell of Hanoi traditional food through the taste of bo bia…