Uoc Le village is well-known for many products: Gio mo (Fat pork ham), gio bi (ham with pork skin), gio xao, cha ran (Vietnamese fried sausage), nem chua (fermented sausage), in which the most famous ones are gio lua (lean pork ham) and cha que (Vietnamese cinnamon sausage). Uoc Le pork ham requires a sophisticated process from pork selection, to cleaning and braying. Pork used in process must be lean ham. We continually bray the pork and remove all tendons at the same time. Once the pork is well-brayed and turns into paste, add the best quality fish sauce, some spices and mix well. Wrapping banana leaves are also carefully selected. Young leaves are used for the innermost layer, medium ones for middle layer and old leaves for the outer, so that boiled pork ham has nice color and attractive smell. A well-cooked pork ham once being sliced is round shape, and pinky white in color. The pie’s surface is wet, not sticky, not mixed with any fat or sinew and rather spongy with tiny bubbles.

Along with Gio Lua, Uoc Le people also has equally distinctive dishes such as Cha que (Vietnamese cinnamon sausage), cha ran (Vietnamese fried sausage), cha com (Vietnamese fried sausage with young rice). Cha que of Uoc Le village is exceptionally appetizing. It is made the same way as Gio within addition of cinnamon powder. Cha que is grilled on charcoal stoves with a pipe cylinder. The cook cover the cylinder with a thin layer of pork paste, put on stoves, spin gradually so that the pork layer is evenly grilled. When the first layer is cooked, continue to make the second and third ones until Cha has appropriate thickness. Finally, the cooks daub the pork pie panel with Hoa hien (daylily) colorings and honey, continue to grill on charcoal until the surface gets dry. The charm of Cha que lies in its wonderful taste – buttery taste of grilled lean meat, spicy taste of cinnamon, sweetness of honey blends well with passionate aroma of daylily.

Source: Hanoi’s cuisine - Hanoi City Tourism Department