17 ketosteroids test

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who is also head of the committee.

The board asked that favourable conditions continue to be created for the clinical test of COVID-19 vaccines, while plans of production should be put in place in order to quickly produce vaccines once the testing proves successful.

Hailing the Health Ministry for its vaccination efforts and dealing with post-vaccination reactions, the board directed the health, public security, and national defence ministries to continue closely controlling immigration pending a policy regarding “vaccine passports”.

Many at the meeting reiterated that prevention measures continue to play an important role in the current context.

Ministries, agencies, and localities are urged to direct medical stations, schools, lodging facilities, factories, and markets to remain vigilant and seriously follow prevention and control measures.

Vietnam reported 16 imported cases of COVID-19 on the evening of the same day, raising the national count to 2,733.

The new cases include one Indian expert, one American expert and 14 Vietnamese citizens who were sent to quarantine right upon their arrival.

Meanwhile, 2,445 COVID-19 patients have been given the all-clear, and the death toll remains at 35.

Among patients still under treatment, 16 have tested negative for the novel coronavirus once, 18 twice and 18 thrice.

A total 38,743 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas are being quarantined across the country.

The Health Ministry continues to urge all people to follow the 5K motto – Khau trang (wearing facemask) – Khu khuan (disinfecting) – Khoang cach (keeping distance) – Khong tu tap (no gathering) – Khai bao y te (making medical declaration), in order to live safely amid the pandemic.

Nowhere else in Vietnam serves up leftovers like Hue – the country’s ancient capital – where yesterday’s rice is the hottest item on the menu.

In Hue’s city center, where tourists abound, bun bo Hue – a beef and vermicelli soup famous in the ancient capital – may be the most popular dish at local street stalls.

But walk just a few minutes from the city’s famous and attractions and visitors will find themselves immersed in a culinary world centered around a rather peculiar ingredient: leftover rice, known in Vietnamese as com nguoi .

For day laborers, the leftover rice served with bun bo Hue is integral, giving them the extra energy they need to work from dawn till noon.

Arguably, Hue is a city which runs on yesterday’s rice.

An unknown version of bun bo Hue

Hue’s Gia Hoi Islet is a hotbed of bun bo stalls, with the area surrounding Bach Dang, Chi Lang, To Hien Thanh, Nguyen Du, and Chua Ong Streets doubling as the epicenter of the city’s traditional cooking styles.

The close observer will notice that most of the bun bo stalls there have a lunchbox sitting near the service area.

Inside the lunchbox is the stall owner’s leftover rice, an ingredient that many locals agree is necessary in order to enjoy bun bo in true Hue fashion.

Cultural researcher Tran Dinh Son said serving leftover rice with bun bo dates back to the 1950s and 1960s when vendors, after running out of fresh vermicelli, would wander around the city selling their leftover ingredients – chopped pig’s feet, cooked beef, pig blood curd, and meatballs – to those who would have them with leftover rice.

A bowl of bun bo broth and rice in Hue. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Strange servings

Com va or ‘slurping rice’ is another traditional dish in Hue which has not yet made it on tourists’ radar screen.

This dish consists of large strings of vermicelli, julienned pork ham, banana flowers, herbs, and a spoonful of chicken broth.

Long ago, the people of Hue enjoyed leftover rice in a variety of ways, including by munching on it with shrimp paste and fresh chili, or topping it with fat, shrimp sauce, and hot pepper flakes.

Hue’s famous mam tom chua or sour fermented shrimp paste is made using cooked glutinous rice which adds a sweet taste and thickens the dish.

According to many mam tom chua enthusiasts, the dish must be prepared with leftover rice rather than glutinous rice in order to embody the true Hue spirit.

Worker’s food for royalty

It would not be right to talk about leftover rice without mentioning com hen or baby mussel rice.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Nga, the owner of an eatery at 17 Han Mac Tu, Hue City, says she cooks rice early in the morning and waits for it to cool down before making baby mussel rice. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Hoang Tung De – a cousin of Vietnam’s last emperor Bao Dai – loved eating at street stalls outside of the citadel despite knowing it might ruin his royal status, according to cultural researcher Son.

When Bao Dai was asked about it, the emperor said he “would like to do the same thing but could not.”

There is no official record of whether com hen was served to royals, yet many former servants said the emperor often asked to have vendors cook the dish at the palace.

Leftover rice accounts for much of the food in com hen so it would have been carried along with the vendors in order to serve the royalty.

Later, when Emperor Bao Dai built his palace in Central Highlands city of Da Lat, to cook his favorite dish of com hen , servants released baby mussel breeds in several springs nearby.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Two foreign experts and 14 Vietnamese people who recently arrived in Vietnam from abroad have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, raising the total number of patients in the country to 2,733, the Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday evening.

Illustrative photo

According to the ministry’s report, an Indian man and a US man aged 38 and 58 recently landed at the Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City. They were both sent to local quarantine facilities upon arrival.

The two men are now being treated at the Cu Chi Field Hospital for Covid-19 patients.

14 Vietnamese patients include eight men and six women aged between 23-50 who recently returned to Quang Nam, Ba Ria – Vung Tau provinces, and Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh cities from Russia, the US, and Japan. They have all been sent to local quarantine facilities upon arrival are now being treated at local hospitals.

With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 2,733, including 910 locally-transmitted cases reported since the new outbreak started in Hai Duong on January 28.

As of 6 pm on April 14, a total of 2,445 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital. There have been 35 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.

At present, nearly 39,000 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.

According to a report of the Department of Agricultural Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Vietnam exported 1.1 million tons of rice in the first three months of 2021, earning $606 million, down 30.4% in volume and 17.4% in value over the same period of 2020.

In March 2021, the average export price of Vietnamese rice reached $547 per ton, up 0.5% compared to that of February 2021 and 19.1% compared to March 2020. On average, in the first quarter of 2021, the average export price of rice increased 18.6% year on year. The price for Vietnamese rice was higher than that of Thailand and India.

According to the Department of Agricultural Processing and Market Development, the price for Vietnamese rice was high during this period thanks to the high demand for new winter-spring rice from Vietnam from foreign partners.

Vietnamese rice has held the top spot in the world in selling prices. The price for 5% broken rice of India rose sharply in late March, but it only reached $401 per ton. Indian rice currently has the lowest price among the three largest rice exporting countries in the world. Meanwhile, the price of Thai rice of the same type reached $538 per ton in early March but fell to $509 per ton in late March.

In 2020, Vietnam surpassed its competitors in selling prices, with an export volume of 6.15 million tons, earning $3.07 billion, officially overtaking Thailand to become the second largest rice exporter in the world, after India.

According to the Vietnam Food Association, since late March 2021, rice exports will increase as the supply of commodity rice is abundant and businesses have completed processing rice for export.

T.A