Dumpling Sweet Soup and Other Bold Treats

Roast pork dumpling sweet soup? Strange, right? Let’s dig in!

In Vietnam, some sweet soups (chè) break away from the ordinary, featuring unexpected ingredients rarely linked to desserts. Think perch, roast pork belly, or even duck eggs in a sweet soup. These daring creations prove that even the sweetest treats can have a surprising twist!

Perch Sweet Soup 

This extraordinary sweet soup was exclusive to the Nguyễn dynasty’s royal menu and remained unknown among commoners. According to royal legend, Emperor Gia Long Nguyễn Ánh once tasted perch sweet soup prepared by an old woman in Gò Công while fleeing from Tây Sơn forces. As Vietnamese cuisine holds no record of perch sweet soup, I imagine the woman simply used what she had at hand: a freshly caught perch, sugarcane syrup, and arrowroot starch. Without rice to prepare congee, she improvised by crafting a sweet soup and adding the perch flesh to quickly restore Nguyễn Ánh’s strength.

Gia Long likely shared this story with his children. When his son, Emperor Minh Mạng, took the throne, he tasked the imperial physicians with recreating the legendary perch sweet soup. For doctors more skilled in remedies than recipes, it was no small challenge. Yet, with help from the culinary team, they crafted a version that delighted the Emperor, blending the old tale’s ingredients with thoughtful enhancements.

The perch undergoes a careful three-step preparation: its flesh is separated, rinsed with quality tea to remove any fishy smell, marinated with fermented velvet beans, steamed and added to the sweet soup. The soup, made from arrowroot starch and fine sugarcane syrup, achieves a clear, thick consistency. Meanwhile, “má đào” (the inner cheek of a pig) offers a delightful balance of softness and crunch, thanks to its delicate tendons. To complete the dish, golden-yolked eggs are boiled, diced, and paired with a subtle touch of mint for a refreshing finish.

Phan Thanh Hải, who had the rare privilege of tasting the perch sweet soup, described it as follows: “Each spoonful radiates an elegant flavor, reminiscent of the candied fruits crafted in Huế. The sweetness is rich yet delicate, followed by a subtle tanginess.” (“Worldly Delicacies: Perch Sweet Soup from Hue”, June 2024).

That subtle tanginess most likely comes from fermented velvet beans, the most curious ingredient in this dish. But why velvet beans instead of the more familiar soybean paste, which suits Vietnamese palates so well? This choice remains a fascinating mystery, adding yet another layer to the allure of this royal delicacy.

Roast Pork Dumpling Sweet Soup

If perch sweet soup remains a royal treasure, roast pork dumpling sweet soup has ventured far beyond the palace walls to embrace Hue’s vibrant streets. Its journey into everyday life is so seamless that no one seems to recall when it became a beloved local delicacy.

Now, it sits quietly among the many Huế-style desserts offered by charming vendors on sidewalks or in lively, bustling markets. Nestled beside rainbow-colored bean sweet soups, black and white jellies, and radiant fruit treats, roast pork dumpling sweet soup adds its own charm to Hue’s rich dessert tradition.

The sweet soup exudes a quiet charm. Each tapioca dumpling is round and slightly translucent, hinting at the amber glow of the roast and specks of black wood-ear mushroom inside. The syrup is crystal-clear, mildly sweet, and infused with the fragrance of pandan leaves, with a few strands of fiery ginger drifting on the surface.

For the best experience, savor the dumplings whole – cutting them takes away the magic! The tapioca, softened by the syrup, offers a delightful chewiness. And the roast pork? It’s nothing like you’d imagine! Richly seasoned with five-spice, the meat is robust, and the crispy fat is decadently refined.

Chatting with the vendor, I learned that preparing roast pork for sweet soup involves the intricate ritual of “two soaks, two tosses, one float.” That’s no easy feat!

First, the meat is blanched in boiling water for the initial soak, then tossed with sugar until the fat turns translucent and fragrant. For the second soak, it’s cooked in its own rendered fat, shrinking and crisping beautifully. Once drained of excess fat, the meat is tossed again with five-spice powder and a pinch of salt, taking on a glossy, amber-like finish. Soft, seasoned wood-ear mushrooms join in, adding a subtle aroma. Finally, the filling is wrapped in tapioca dough before floating in boiling water to complete the final step.

At last, the syrup and pork dumplings come together in a joyful embrace. Speaking in her soft Hue accent, the vendor explains that she only prepares the dumplings when the soup pot is nearly empty. Making them too early, she says, would dry out the tapioca and toughen the meat, stealing the dish of its charm.

Roast pork dumpling sweet soup casts its enchantment differently with each passing season. On a misty, chilly day in Hue, a steaming bowl warms both hands and heart. On a scorching afternoon, its cool and refreshing version offers a sweet reprieve from the heat.

Meticulously crafted and effortlessly elegant, roast pork dumpling sweet soup doesn’t need flashy colors to steal the spotlight. Feeling down? One bowl of this sweet soup will revive your spirits faster than a love song at karaoke. As for me, it even stirred up a little poetry:

Tapioca wraps pork in a tasty embrace,

Now I’m smitten with the vendor’s sweet face!

Duck Egg Sweet Soup

Picture this: thousands of ducks roaming freely across golden, straw-covered fields, waddling down pathways, and gliding into canals for a leisurely swim. Behind them, their herder gently swings a long bamboo pole, keeping a watchful eye. The air is alive with the lively quacks of ducks, the soft patter of their waddling feet, and the splashes of water as they paddle about. At dawn, while the ducks remain nestled together in sleep, the herder quietly gathers eggs from their straw nests. By morning, netted sacks brim with thousands of freshly collected duck eggs, ready to be whisked away.

Walking-over-field duck herders in the Mekong Delta lead lives filled with both joy and hardship. Their joy comes from wandering far and wide, gaining knowledge, and embracing new experiences. Yet, their challenges lie in enduring the open skies, tending to their ducks in remote and solitary fields. For many, even Tet – the most cherished holiday – is spent far from the warmth of home. 

Whenever they settle near a village, the herders bring duck eggs to the locals as a gesture of goodwill. “Some take it a step further by buying mung beans and sharing the eggs, inviting villagers to join them in cooking duck egg sweet soup. Over steaming bowls of sweet soup, they chat, laugh, and weave bonds of friendship.” (Quốc Dũng, “The Nomadic Life of Duck Herders“)

Could the Mekong Delta’s beloved duck egg sweet soup have hatched like this? One day, a duck herder ambles into a village, fresh eggs in hand. He spies a young woman stirring sweet soup—mung bean, seaweed, tapioca sticks, coconut milk—and flashes a grin. “Mind if my eggs join the party?” he quips. She relents (whether charmed or worn down), cracks the eggs in, and watches as yolks turn golden, cocooned in silky whites. Soon, the aroma fills the air, and one spoonful seals the deal: delicious! Thus, with a dash of charm and a spoonful of serendipity, the quirky, delightful duck egg sweet soup was born.

Of course, there’s no one to back up my little tale about the birth of duck egg sweet soup, but let’s face it: the ducks in Mekong Delta folk songs have far more romantic stories to tell:

“In the afternoon, ducks glide far and wide, 

No bridge in sight, let me carry you with pride.”

See? Someone’s even taking down the bridge just for the chance to carry their crush across the river! Compared to that level of romance, my little tale of ‘duck eggs meeting mung bean sweet soup’ feels like amateur hour.

Sweet meets savory in perch, pork dumpling, and duck egg sweet soups. This unexpected harmony isn’t just a treat for the taste buds, it’s a daring revolution that defies conventions. After all, boldness might just be the secret ingredient that elevates both cuisine and life!

mlefood – Minh Lê