Spicy bread, also known as stick bread, is a famous and typical snack of the Port City. Spicy bread is smaller in size than regular bread, about as big as two fingertips, about a glove long. Inside, there is only pate filling and eaten with "chi chuong" - Hai Phong's chili sauce.
One of the most famous and oldest places selling spicy bread in Hai Phong is Ba Gia Spicy Bread Shop, located at 57A Le Loi Street, Ngo Quyen District, Hai Phong City. Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, the current owner, said that the shop was opened for sale by Toan, her grandmother about 20 years ago. Ms. Thuy is the third generation to take over the shop after her mother retired from selling.
The shop has a spacious premises, about more than 20 m2, cool and clean, can serve about 30 people at the same time. The shop is open from 6h to 20h daily. In addition to spicy bread, the shop also sells some drinks such as Thai tea, tacit tea with prices from 5,000 - 15,000 VND.
Thuy said what makes her spicy bread brand is pate, which Thuy makes herself at her family's workshop. With common pate ingredients such as pork, liver, salt, pepper, Ms. Thuy seasons and cooks according to family recipes.
Ripe pate is shaped into molds, weighing about 3-4 kg. The maker slashes along the length of the bread with a knife and then spreads the pate in the center with a knife. During work, employees wear gloves to ensure hygiene.
"Spicy bread must be dipped with chapter lice to taste," Thuy said. Chi Chuong is the name of chili sauce of Hai Phong people, with a light consistency, bright red or orange-red color, fragrant, rich, not pure spicy like normal chili sauce but mixed with a slight sourness.
The way to eat spicy bread is not to sprinkle chili sauce on top, but to dip it in a bowl and enjoy. The crust is crispy, the spicy and slightly sour taste of lice mixed with the smooth, salty, creamy pate in the middle creates a special flavor.
Since spicy bread is about 1/3 the size of regular bread, one person can eat several pieces. When asked about the amount of bread sold, Thuy said it was difficult to estimate exactly, but 1,000 was still quite a small number. Especially on two weekends, the amount of bread can be double or triple the amount of bread on weekdays combined.
Spicy bread is considered as a snack gift for the afternoon, so at the end of the day, people take advantage of eating and buying takeout. On weekdays, the crowded time is between 16 and 18h.
Take-out bread is wrapped in 10 pieces, priced at 30,000 VND. The restaurant also does not forget to add chapter packages for diners to eat. One note is that if you want to eat spicy bread, visitors should ask for more chapters, which are free.
Not fussy with a variety of ingredients, only bread, pate and lice, but spicy bread has become a specialty in Hai Phong, which tourists buy and enjoy throughout the four seasons. Spicy bread is also often in the top must-try dishes when experiencing food tour in Hai Phong city
According to VNE
Photo: Quynh Mai