Five subtle dishes featured the art of cooking lotus in Vietnam

Vietnam culinary tours usually introduce you to a broad range of street food lying at the back of big roads. Yet today, you would be open-minded by a whole new set of Vietnamese authentic gastronomy, which is brought with the presence of lotus. Here are five most famous dishes made out of different parts of a lotus that were once greatly fancy by the royal families.

Lotus flowers

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1. Lotus tea

Standing prominently in the beverage section of Vietnamese cuisine is lotus tea. The subtle and splendid taste of this kind was only found when summertime hit the country. In order to produce a quant final product, lotus flowers must be collected before the Sun is awake when midnight dew is still busy sleeping on the pinkish petals. Only the large petals whose color is delightful and bright enough would be picked.

A kilogram of lotus tea requires a minimum number of 1000 lotus flowers. After one layer of tea is scattered, a layer of rice would overlap and be covered ultimately by a piece of paper. After 5 to 7 times drying in a row, the gentle aroma of lotus would be finely packed in each tea petal.

2. Longan tea sweet soup

Secondly, we would like to introduce you a symbolic gentle sweet dessert made out of lotus and longan. This suits the best in the killing heat of summer. To create a proper portion of longan tea sweet soup, our tea makers would be required to shell the freshest lotus seeds, remove lotus seed core and long cooked in a good amount of time until all seeds reach a proper level of softness.

Afterward, during the making of syrup, the ready-made seeds are hence fushed in. Finally, maker gently places each seed into an open longan and repeatedly brew until each of the fruit is finely seeded.

3. Sugar-preserved lotus seeds.

Most of the time, lotus seeds can only be found when Lunar New Year is around the corner. However, due to its amazing taste, this spectacular finger snack is widely spotted out in big markets. However, behind the tasty savor, that you are offered is a painstaking progress. The whole procedure consists of soaking, boiling, and long-braised yet not breaking the initial shape of the seeds. Accordingly, these are then soaked once more in cold water and dried out ultimately.

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There are two main types of lotus seeds available, for those fans of sweetening snacks, the sugar-preserved lotus seeds are supposed to be seasoned with sugar with a ratio of 1:1 until the whole amount of sugar thoroughly melts. That is not the end of the process yet. The portion of melted sugar would be hence heated viscidly. Lotus seeds are poured in, stirred finely until a thin outer of white sugar well cover the whole seeds.

4. Steamed rice wrapped with lotus leaf

This popular seems to be nationally praised in various Vietnam food tours with its lovely outlook and savory core inside. So as to serve a finely-decorated portion of Steamed rice wrapped with lotus leaf, the stuff must be filled with diversified ingredients while the overall appearance must come in a shining and vivid look.

What you can find on a dish includes rice, of course, carrot, egg, beans, mushroom, tofu and a lot more. After mixing every single element in one, the whole cube of rice is wrapped inside a greenish lotus leaf and get ready for steaming. Do not forget to add in a little pinch of soy sauce to boost the taste when consuming.

5. Lotus shoot delight salad

The very last recommendation that we are not able to forget is lotus shoot salad. Even though the food is not popular in many food tours in Vietnam, it is still one of the must-have dishes listed in every wedding feast menu. The main ingredient is sliced lotus shoot. Depending on the specific creation of each chef, the dish can be made by combining various components. However, small sliced pig's ears and shrimp are frequently favored by both the cooks and the Vietnamese diners ourselves.

Simply as it seems, lotus shoot salad holds in itself a heaven-like taste which consists of various additives such as fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice, chili, garlic and so on. All of them must be served in a well-calculated ratio in order to preserve the final overall savor.

If you are invited to a traditional Vietnamese wedding or taking part in any Vietnam culinary tours, remember to look for one of these and try the actual taste by yourselves.