Some more chả talk – The refined tastes and textures of Vietnamese sausages
– QUYNHCHI, aka Little Mom – Translator: Mai
Most Vietnamese like chả, and I like chả even more than most people, because it tastes good, it’s good for you, and it’s good with everything. Chả appears subtly but unmistakably in noodle soups like bún bò, bún mộc, bún thang… Chả fares well with the lustrous steamed rolls of bánh cuốn, with bland white rice, topping sweet sticky rice, inside a crusty loaf of bánh mì… You can also eat chả by itself as a cold cut, then it tastes even better.
Why is chả good for you? Because of what comes into it and how people make it. Vegan chả aside, all chả are pure meat. Take chả lụa (silk sausage) for instance, the pork must be lean, the fresher it is from the slaughter house the higher quality the sausage has. Traditional chả makers don’t wash the pork with water but use instead a clean cloth to wipe off its excess moisture before the pasting process. These days the meat is most likely ground by machines(*), but a good log of chả used to be made from pounding and kneading the meat as one would do with sticky rice to make mochi. The pounding has its specific rhythm to success, which is a smooth, sticky, elastic mass of perfect consistency to be rolled up tight in banana leaves and boiled for hours. So if we come upon a warm log fresh out of the process, we’re guaranteed its cleanliness and pure content.
But chả lụa isn’t the only type of Vietnamese meat sausage around. Not all are made from pork, not all are served in its boiled final form, and not all contain just meat. Recently I got enticed by four types of chả from Đức Hương in Houston.
1. Chả heo chiên (fried pork chả):
Same content as chả lụa, with a textural twist. Fried chả is also in log shape, but the log is smaller than its boiled counterpart, and it has less pepper. The meat is slightly more chewy and the rim covered in the aroma of frying oil. Some of the chả lụa‘s loyal fans would detest chả chiên‘s inconsistency, but I think those bite-sized round slices that fit perfectly well in a crusty loaf of bánh mì or layer on top a scoop of hot sweet sticky rice would make quite a fair start for any busy day.
2. Chả bò chiên (fried beef chả):
Perhaps it’s because of the always-available, always-fresh-and-cheap Texas beef that a slice of beef sausage also shines a healthy golden brown hue. Although the texture errs on the hard side and the taste is a tad too spicy, the heartfelt aroma of beef entangling with a subtle fresh garlic zing makes chả bò chiên the best rice companion for the wintry months.
3. Chả cốm (rice flake chả):
Chả cốm is also made from pork, but like its name indicates, it contains a few handfuls of young rice flakes (cốm). The light green flakes scatter inside and on the surface of the pale beige meat log, their natural viscidity (from the heating of sticky rice) increases the meat’s chewiness and causes the appearance of gossamer strings woven into the meat when the log is sliced. Chả cốm is not as blatantly flavorful as chả bò, nonetheless a complete entity to be served by itself as a friendly witty representation of the rural Vietnam.
4. Chả gà chiên (fried chicken chả)
This turns out to be a pleasant surprise to me. The meat is neither too hard nor too soft but a bit crunchy, not fatty but savory, not strongly spiced but lingering at the tip of the tongue for quite some time. At first I actually wavered over buying the chicken sausage, but now I believe that this is the “phoenix sausage” in “peacock and phoenix sausages” (“nem công chả phượng”) that used to be offered to the monarchs and nobels of the old days. Wouldn’t you agree? 🙂
I can’t remember exactly how much each type costs, but the whole deal of four set me back by $20. That’s not expensive at all, considering the talent and the hard work poured into keeping alive a taste of that faraway home.
Address: Đức Hương Giò Chả in Bellaire, Houston
11369 Bellaire Blvd, Ste 950
Houston, TX 77072
(near the Vietnam War Memorial)
(281) 988-6155
(*): Note from Mai: double-ground meat is easier to obtain than kneaded meat, but would give the sausage a porous texture instead of a silky smooth one.
Please let me know if you’re looking for a author for your site. You have some really good posts and I feel I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an e-mail if interested. Cheers!
1I just could not depart your site prior to suggesting that I really enjoyed the usual information an individual supply to your guests? Is going to be back ceaselessly to check out new posts
2Hey, you used to write fantastic, but the last several posts have been kinda boring?K I miss your great writings. Past several posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
3Hello very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally?KI’m satisfied to find numerous useful info here in the publish, we’d like develop extra strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
4Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read something like this before. So good to seek out someone with some unique ideas on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this web site is one thing that is wanted on the internet, someone with a bit of originality. useful job for bringing one thing new to the internet!
5Great tremendous things here. I’m very happy to look your post. Thank you a lot and i’m looking ahead to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?
6I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
7Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.
8Great post. I am facing a couple of these problems.
9I am impressed with this web site, very I am a fan.
10Would you be considering exchanging links?
11This really answered my problem, thank you!
12I believe this web site holds some very great information for everyone :D.
13I’m not sure why but this web site is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
14Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am inspired! Very helpful information particularly the closing section 🙂 I deal with such information a lot. I used to be looking for this particular information for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
15Hello, Neat post. There’s an issue along with your site in web explorer, would test this… IE still is the marketplace leader and a good component to other folks will omit your wonderful writing because of this problem.
16I’ve been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or weblog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this website. Reading this information So i’m happy to show that I have an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed. I such a lot indisputably will make sure to do not fail to remember this website and provides it a glance on a continuing basis.
17Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!
18I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thanks, I’ll try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your website?
19I’m not sure why but this site is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
20Hola! I’ve been following your website for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Austin Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the excellent work!
21Thank you, I’ve just been searching for info about this subject for ages and yours is the greatest I’ve found out till now. However, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you certain in regards to the source?
22Saved as a favorite, I really like your blog!
23It is the best time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions. Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article. I desire to read more things about it!
24Thanks for any other informative site. Where else may just I am getting that type of information written in such an ideal manner? I’ve a venture that I am just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such info.
25Great line up. We will be linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the good writing.
26I’ve recently started a blog, the info you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.
27Wow that was strange. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say great blog!
28Some really nice stuff on this web site, I love it.
29Thanks for any other informative blog. Where else may just I get that kind of information written in such an ideal way? I’ve a challenge that I’m simply now running on, and I have been at the glance out for such information.
30Awsome site! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am bookmarking your feeds also
31I’m really impressed with your writing abilities as well as with the format for your blog. Is this a paid subject or did you customize it yourself? Either way stay up the nice high quality writing, it is uncommon to peer a nice weblog like this one today..
32WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..extra wait .. …
33It is in reality a nice and useful piece of info. I am glad that you just shared this useful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
34There is noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made certain nice points in features also.
35Really excellent information can be found on weblog.
36you may have a fantastic weblog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my weblog?
37Hello, i think that i saw you visited my blog so i came to “return the favor”.I am attempting to find things to improve my web site!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
38I do consider all of the concepts you have offered in your post. They are really convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are very short for newbies. May just you please lengthen them a little from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.
39Whoa! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a entirely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Excellent choice of colors!
40But wanna admit that this is very helpful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
41Glad to be one of many visitors on this awesome web site : D.
42An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
43