Found at only a handful of Vietnamese restaurants, chanh muoi is a highly underrated beverage
Way down the beverage menu, past the trendy yet stellar Thai tea and boba drinks, is the humble, flavor-packed chanh muoi. Often translated as “salty lemonade” chanh muoi is an underrated traditional beverage at pho places, but nowadays, newer restaurants are shying away from this traditional beverage.
Defining “chanh muoi”
“Chanh muoi”, which literally means “salt lemon”, is highly complex despite the simplicity of the recipe. It includes muddled preserved lemon, sugar, and water or tonic water. The flavors are highly reminiscent of a margarita in some ways, and the complexity of the drink is owed to the preserved lemon which brings about a tangy, slightly funky flavor that’s both refreshing and irresistible.
Drinking culture
Chanh muoi has Chinese and Vietnamese roots. Salt preservation was highly popular in the pre-Frigidaire era, with recipes for salty lemon drinks varying by region. In Hong Kong, lemon-lime soda is added to the lemon and then mushed by the drinker. The drink can also be served hot and is said to be a good remedy for sore throats and persistent coughs.
Pho purists, and actual Vietnamese people, know that chanh muoi can be found at traditional pho places and at home. Pho Saigon on Gessner, a non-affliate of the notable Pho Saigon Noodle House on Milam, is one of the few places that continues to dish out tall glasses of chanh muoi to pair with steamy bowls of pho. Still, others prefer to stock up on jars of preserved lemons from Asian grocery stores or make their own salted lemons at home.
Why not?
Of course, the more popular Vietnamese beverage is cà phê sữa đá, or Vietnamese iced coffee, which has gripped caffeinated Houstonians by the throat for years. Almost every Vietnamese restaurant is expected to sling the super sweet, super strong coffee, which is a best seller compared to the nichely-enjoyed chanh muoi.
Next generation pho joints, like the Vietnamese-owned Pho Fix, have done away with chanh muoi altogether, only offering canned beverages, milk teas, or coffee. Perhaps its just good business to forego traditional beverages altogether, but what restaurateurs gain from excluding generational recipes from their menus– even ones that sound as odd as a “salty lemonade”– is a limited view of what encompasses Vietnamese cuisine.
Source : CHRON.
