Tom Chua (Sweet and sour shrimp)

In Hue, February and October are two months having small, but tasty land shrimps. From March to May is the season of big shrimp, giant tiger shrimp, lots of meat and is equally delicious, nearly shrimp. Due to that feature, Hue people often choose shrimp for processing, enriching family menus and making delicious Tom Chua.

Tom Chua in Hue is a superb combination of tradition and modernity, between the coolness of shrimp and the spicy taste of spice, pale yellow color of bamboo shoots, galangal, garlic, red of chili. The sour, spicy, sweet, salty..., crystallized into Tom Chua showing the sophistication of Hue people. Some people think that Tom Chua brings the "meditation" into the dish when gathering the mountains, forests, rivers, the sea, sunshine, rain and the kind heart of Hue people.

In the past, Tom Chua was one of the dishes used to serve guests during meal time. However, nowsaday, there are many places selling Tom Chua in Hue. Thus, people just need to go to the market and buy Tom Chua instead of making it themselves as they did before. Meanwhile, some people still love making Tom Chua on their own as a traditional beauty. 

Ingredients of Tom Chua

Tom Chua is one of the favorite dish in Hue. Making Tom Chua is not much difficult. We will need the following ingredients:

• Fresh shrimp
• Salt
• Sticky rice
• Water
• Sugar
• Fish sauce
• Galangal tuber
• Garlic
• Fresh Chili
• Alcohol (Vodka/ Rum/ Brandy)

With Tom Chua dish, shrimp is the most important ingredient, which decide the taste of the dish. Hue people do not use big, fat sea shrimp, but only catch freshwater shrimp, river shrimp, copper shrimp and earth shrimp. 

To make Tom Chua, we mix shrimp, sticky rice, bamboo shoots, garlic, chili, galangal, sugar, delicious fish sauce or salt, alcohol then put mixture in a glass jar and cover. Shrimp incubation lasts from 5 to 7 days. Finally, shrimp will taste aromatic, spicy, sour and sweet very attractive.

There are many ways to enjoy Tom Chua. You can eat Tom Chua with hot rice. Besides, the most famous and delicious way to eat Tom Chua is with boiled meat, rice paper, melon, and other raw vegetables. You can roll lettuce, starfruit, melon, basil, etc with a piece of boiled meat and Tom Chua then eat together with fish sauce. The sweetness of the meat, the sourness of star fruit and Tom Chua, the aroma of basil are mixed together bringing diners the feeling of delight and extremely delicious.

Tom Chua can be eaten in various ways

Tom Chua is the popular dish in Hue thus you can easily find a place selling Tom Chua especially at big markets such as Dong Ba market (Tran Hung Dao Street. The normal price for 1 jar of 400 gram Tom Chua is around 3 USD. Here are some good places for you to buy Tom Chua in Hue

1. Tom Chua Trong Tin

Tom Chua Trong Tin

This is one of the most reputable places selling Tom Chua in Hue. 

• Address: 21 Dang Tran Con Street, Hue city
• Price: 5 USD

2. Tom Chua Co Ri

• Address: 184 Tang Bat Ho Street, Hue city
• Price: 3 USD/ 1 jar of 500g

Tom Chua Co Ri

Tom Chua is one of the most favorite dishes in Hue. Don't forget to note it down on your list and try it once you visit Hue.

Image source: Internet