Pho Hien

Pho Hien - Bustling Ancient Commercial Port

Pho Hien - Hung Yen is a bustling ancient commercial port with unique architectural complex of 60 historical remains, 100 engraved stelae as well as many temples and pagodas.

Pho Hien is located 60km from Ha Noi. To go there, take National Highway 5 to Pho Noi, then road 39A through rice fields and luxuriant gardens of longan trees.

From the 13* to the 15* century, Hien was a bustling commercial port with boats coming from China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Great Britain and France. But Hien slowly gave up its position as a commercial port to Hai Phong. However, today Hien still possesses a whole architectural complex of 60 historical remains, 100 engraved stelae as well as many temples and pagodas. Do not forget to visit the Hien Market.

The cage-longan (the name comes from the technique of covering the longans with cages to protect them from the birds) is a speciality of Pho Hien, which is famous in the whole country. The sweet cage-longans, with a thick pulp and a thin peel, used to be offered to kings only.

If tourists in Vietnam Travel have chance to visit Hung Yen province, Pho Hien is a must-see place that should not be missed!

Rang Bua Cake

Rang Bua Cake - distinguished flavor and taste cake

Rang Bua Cake got its name as its shape looks like a rake used for farming but to be famous for its distinguished flavor and taste.If tourists in Vietnam Travel have chance to visit Hung Yen province, you should try Rang Bua cake .it's very delicious.

Tourists coming to Bat Trang Pottery Village should not miss the chance to enjoy rang bua cake, an indigenous specialty of Phuong Cong Commune, Van Giang District, Hung Yen Province.

Bat Trang Village is about 15 kilometers from the Red River and next to Phung Cong Commune. Famous for tea flower trees, Phung Cong has been considered the cradle for the trend of growing bonsai trees in Northern Vietnam.

On Thursday, the commune is also well-known for rang bua cake which is popular for its distinguished flavor and taste.

Rang bua cake got its name as its shape looks like a rake used for farming. The cake is made of rice soaked in water and grinded in lime water. Then the rice flour will be boiled until half-done and husked one more time so that the flour can become viscous, sticky and leathery. The process of making the dough is very important as it decides the cake’s quality.

The kernel of the cake includes meat, dried onion and wood-ear mushroom. The dried onion will be fried until it pervades fragrance and then will continue to be fried with small sliced pork together with wood-ear mushroom, pepper and fish sauce.

The cake will be wrapped by dong (phrynium) leaves to be steamed or boiled in lime water.

Wrapping cakes also requires carefulness and dexterity. After spreading the dough on the leaf, makers will put the kernel into the center of the flour and then wrap it up in the shape of a rake that swells out in the middle and becomes smaller at the two ends.

Makers often take dong leaves that grow in alluvium plains along the Red River. Dong leaves are soft, leathery and green.

Rang bua cake is served with chili sauce, fish sauce or soya sauce, depending on eaters’ taste. The fragrance of rice and onion, the sweetness of pork meat and the crispiness of mushrooms would make the cake unforgettable.

Long Longan

Long Longan - specialty fruit of Hung Yen province

Long longan is specialty fruit of Hung Yen province! it has a thick pulp and a very sweet taste.If you have chance go here, you should try Long longan and buy as souvenir for your friends and parents. it's very delicious and sweetly!

The longan grows in many provinces in the North. The longan is no bigger than a ping-pong ball with brownish peel. The peel only has to be slightly removed to reach the whitish pulp, enclosing the glistening black kernel.

There are many varieties of longans. The most renowned variety of longan is the cage longan of Hung Yen Province. There are varieties that have a thick pulp and a very sweet taste called pulp longan. Water longans have a thin watery pulp and a fresh sweet taste. In the South, there is the longan of Chau Thanh (Dong Thap Province), which is fairly renowned. This variety has a watery pulp, a very sweet taste, a perfumed scent, and small black seeds, which is why it is called nhan tieu (pepper grain longan).

The longan is a tropical fruit rich in nutrients. It is used in the preparation of sweet lotus seed soups. A longan that has been rid of its black kernel then dried over a fire is called long nhan (literally: dragon’s eyes); it is one of the tonics used in the recipes of traditional medicine.

If tourists in Vietnam Travel have chance to visit Hung Yen province, you should try Long longan and buy as souvenir for your friends and parents. it's very delicious and sweetly!

Saint Chu Dong Tu Festival