‘Patriotic bread’ all the rage in Hanoi

Do Ngoc Huy and Tran Thu Huong drew inspiration for their bread from their love of Vietnam, and desire to bring local cuisine to international friends.

"Looking at how Vietnamese united to fight Covid-19, and motivated by widespread national pride, we decided to make our bread a reality," Huy said.

People call it "patriotic bread" or "national bread".

[The 'patriotic bread' in a Hanoi bakery. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Huy.

It took about 3-4 months for the bread to reach a satisfactory standard. The red pink color of its crust was created with beet juice, and the yellow star with turmeric powder.

"Initially, we tried creating the crust from red dragonfruit, which proved not suitable as the color was not what we want," Huy said.

Rising at 4 a.m. to prepare the flour, Huy would carefully mix the beet juice and stoke the fire to just the right temperature.

Popular fillings include stewed beef with ginger, chicken stir fried with sweet and sour vegetables, crispy fried fat with sauce, fried eggs with scallions and traditional red sausage with pate.

Bread with filling cost VND15,000 ($0.65) a pop, and those without, VND4,000.

Phuong Anh, a tourist said: "The bread looked pretty cool, so I ordered some. It's quite cheap, with lots of filling."

Curious eaters could visit Cyburger By Homekekery to try this "patriotic bread" at Number 9, Alley 345, Nguyen Khoai Street, Hai Ba Trung District or order online. For take-away customers, the bread is wrapped in paper and tied with rope to protect the environment.