Chao Trai, a bowl of soup for the soul

It's quite a long time since the last time I wrote. So today I will introduce to you guys one of the most exquisite food of Hanoi. It's Chao Trai (pearl mussel porridge), which has delighted locales with its rich and aromatic flavor for decades.

Source: Foody

The most famous Chao Trai's restaurant is located on the Tran Xuan Soan Street. Owner Le Minh Hang set up the place more than 30 years ago. Her parents raised pearl mussel in her native village in Thuong Tin district, about 30 km from the center of Hanoi, to supply for her restaurant.

Made with pearl mussel meat, a tasty bowl of Chao Trai requires the rice porridge to be light, while the mussel meat should be fresh, rich in taste but no too tough nor floury. A normal bowl gets watery after eating a few spoonfuls. However, the perfect chao trai is blended and not watery until the final drop.

For taste, the dish comes with additional ingredients: laksa leaf (rau ram), onion, dried red chilli and crispy quay (fried bread stick). According to the traditions of Hanoi gastronomy, the “rau ram” must come from Lang village — the type grown there gives chao trai the best aroma. All of these above qualities, you can find at the eatery on Tran Xuan Soan.

Preparing Chao Trai ingredients

The broth to cook rice porridge is the soul of the dish. To get sweet and light rice porridge, the tip is to not use 100 percent boiled mussel broth. So instead, they combine pork stock with mussel stock. The best rice is both starchy and sweet smelling, but mustn’t be too dense. The fire while cooking the porridge should be mild and the cook should constantly mix it to avoid crumbling.

The process of cleaning and stir-frying the clam is also important. They have to carefully watch the boiled clam to prevent it from becoming too tough. The clam should be stir-fried with dried onions and then poured into a bowl over the rice porridge.

Stir-fried pearl mussels

Each bowl of Chao Trai costs about 30,000 VND (1,3 US dolar), double that of many others in the city but still, Le Minh Hang's Chao Trai is best-seller in Hanoi.

Pearl mussel is rich in Protein, Folate, Phosphorus and a good source of Vitamin C, Iron and Zinc. According to traditional medicine practices, the clam meat helps to cool down heat inside the body and reduce hypertension, liver inflammation and children’s night sweats.

Not only delicious but also healthy food, I don't wonder why people keep eating Chao Trai every day….