‘Trà Chanh’ – the lemon tea
Ho Chi Minh lemon ice-tea
It was a weekday night when more than 200 youths gathered at
a riverside area on Ton That Dam
Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 to
enjoy lemon tea, the drink which has been called tra chanh chem gio (lemon tea
for chit-chat).
Spending VND10,000 (US$0.48) for a cup of lemon tea, taking
a canvas or a plastic chair and talking from 7pm to 11pm: that’s what hundreds
local youths have done over the last two months in the area.
Hanoi lemon tea and ice-tea
The drinks were first sold at some small street coffee shops
and then spread widely in Hanoi in recent years. To many young people, you
can’t say that you’ve been to the capital city without having a cup of lemon
tea on Nha Tho, Ly Quoc Su or Dao Duy Tu streets.
Lately, Hanoi’s tra chanh chem gio, which is considered a
local specialty, has come to the southern city.
There are several areas where
many teenagers gather to enjoy lemon tea, including District 1’s Nguyen Trai
Street and the area near Coopmart Rach Mieu supermarket in Phu Nhuan District.
Still, the most crowded place is the riverside area at the
end of District 1’s Ton That Dam Street.
“I feel a joyful atmosphere since there’s a lot of people
here and it’s also cool here,” My Duyen, 18, a freshman at the Industrial
University of HCMC, said in explaining why she likes to come to the venue once
a week.
“I like such a crowded place,” Thuy Giang, 18, a first year
student from the HCMC University of Economics and Law, added.
Street foods in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.
Besides lemon tea, a group of vendors are always willing to
serve customers famous street foods, including banh trang nuong (barbecued rice
paper), ho lo nuong (barbecued meat balls) and pho mai que (fried cheese
stick). Since they originated in Hanoi, lemon tea shops in HCMC also bring
their customers a taste from the northern city through specialties like sua chua
nep cam (yogurt mixed with sticky rice), nuoc sau (melon juice), hat huong
duong (fried sunflower seeds) and Nem nuong (barbecued fermented pork).
“I’ve brought all the
ingredients from Hanoi, except for the lemons from Da Lat, so the flavor of
lemon tea here and Hanoi’s famous lemon tea are not much different,” Minh, a
shop owner on Ton That Dam Street, said.
Danh, a teenager who sometimes visits the area seven times a
week, preferred the diversity of food and drink as well as the reasonable
price.
“I drink Hanoi lemon tea and feel the same flavor here, but
the atmosphere here is much joyful than there, I think,” he added.
Sourced: Vietnamtourism.com.vn
