Asian cuisine on show in Hue

Visitors to the ongoing biennial cultural event Hue Festival 2014 can taste food served by top chefs at a side event, the International Gastronomy Festival, which opened on Tuesday evening.

The festival could be more correctly called an Asian food festival because it features 70 stands offering food from South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Myanmar and Malaysia.


Vietnamese stands showcase Hue food and specialties of localities around the country, including Quang noodle, Ha Noi pho, and Lang Son square sticky rice cakes.

Visitors can have meals at the stalls or buy take-away food. Organisers of the gastronomic event, the Viet Nam Tourism Administration, said the festival would help introduce the country, particularly Hue, as destination for cuisine tourism.

"This is an occasion to showcase Viet Nam's finest cuisine to foreigners as they come for the Hue Festival," said administration head Nguyen Van Tuan.

He said the participation of chefs from other Asian countries would be an opportunity for their Vietnamese counterparts to see where their food fitted in.

On the first night, Vietnamese were reluctant to patronise foreign food stands as they were unfamiliar about the food.

But, without a doubt, the South Korean stall was the most popular because of the craze for Korean movies and music among young people in Viet Nam.

Hue food, one of the finest and most diversified in Viet Nam, is being featured at well-known restaurants. Tinh Gia Vien Garden Restaurant offers royal style food, while the Ancient Hue presents Hue recipes served Western style.

The festival also provides a chance for visitors to taste Hue vegetarian food. Tran Thanh Phong, owner of the busy Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant, said vegetarian food was part of Hue cuisine and that he was doing his best to popularise it with visitors.

The festival runs till Saturday.