This is a project at Hoang Lien (Lien Mac, Bac Tu Liem, Hanoi), owned by the couple Quynh Lien and Nguyen Van Vu. The old house is located on the roof of a 500m2 villa in Hanoi Quynh Lien shared that her husband’s family has lived in Lien Mac village for a long time. The old house has gone through 4 generations, located on a land of 460m2. It is not only a place to go back and forth for the extended family, but also carries many sacred meanings and great cultural values. My wife and I really love this house. However, when the children grow up, life becomes more modern, they also want the family to live in a spacious and comfortable house. The old house is bold in the countryside in the Northern Delta with 3 rooms and 2 wings located on the terrace of a modern villa. In front is a garden area, planted with ornamental plants and decorated with sculptures. The problem is quite difficult: How to preserve the value left by the ancestors but still achieve the goal of building a new house? After thinking for a while, Lien and her husband decided to keep the old house, but moved to the roof of the villa. The bold idea seemed impossible, but the final result brought a breakthrough. The brick wall is rustic, bringing closeness. The building looks quite striking from a distance. Lien and her husband work in the sculpture industry, so every corner and design has its own characteristics with delicate statues and reliefs. The floor area of ​​the building is 460m2. The lower floor is the place to live, display statues, work and live together for the whole family. The roof of the villa with the highlight is a traditional wooden house with wooden trusses, fish-scale tile roof, three compartments and two wings. Ms. Lien added that the person who built this house was rich and prestigious in the village. Up to now, the house is more than 100 years old. Next to the old house is the family living area. More than 23 years ago, when she first visited her husband’s house, she was attracted by the house’s designs. This is the place where the family gathers and organizes funerals. To rebuild this house on the roof of the villa, the couple spent a lot of effort. The wooden core is kept completely intact, the brick wall is newly built, to carpentry, bringing closeness to the work. With a harmonious layout between ancient and modern, the building brings a new look to the architecture. Around the old house, the owner also planted many beautiful trees and flowers. “Not only creating a beautiful landscape, green trees are also an effective way to fight the heat,” said Ms. Lien. The building at night is very shimmering and fanciful. The green trees take shade and make the building more lively. Wooden stairs for homeowners and guests to “adventure” when taking photos. Husband and wife sculptors Nguyen Van Vu and Quynh Lien. Peaceful space. View of the villa from above. The kitchen and the place where the sculptures are displayed. Work area downstairs. Gym room with many equipment and machines. Reception room and Koi fish tank on the first floor. The owner is very hospitable, often invites friends and relatives to come and play.

Crab soup, a seasonal dish Then just eat a bowl of crab cake soup plump, fresh to please the god of speech, which is too dainty. In fact, living in a country where there are ten types of pho, there are dozens of styles of noodles, noodles, vermicelli, banh canh, a variety of cakes and “as much as the Nguyen army”, it’s hard to choose the right dish. most with this season’s intercourse. But why is crab cake soup? Simple, because it is a bold “seasonal” dish like the weather and the mood now. The food is delicious not because it is processed from high-quality foods, by sophisticated methods … but it is delicious only because of the circumstances, the situation. The fiber of banh canh was white as if it looked like it, taut and smooth. Banh canh made of non-glutinous rice flour (different from the kind of rice cake made from filter flour in Hue) with is a popular rice fiber, popular in the cuisine of Central and South. In the North, in the past, banh canh was not present because it could not squeeze its legs with vermicelli, pho, vermicelli, noodles, and rice cakes out here. However, there is also one thing that looks a bit like banh canh, which is the noodle noodle with a noodle the size of a rice chopstick, which is used to cook vermicelli soup with anabas and celery or crab with vegetables. spinach, onion … However, it is still vermicelli because it is not chewy, crispy, and smooth like banh canh. But between vermicelli and banh canh, there is a great sympathy, because it is the kind of rice thread of the popular people, the street. Snakehead fish soup, fish soup bone cake, fish cake soup, chives soup cakes are all delicious, cheap and bold local dishes. With its rustic rice powder nature, banh canh easily combine with many other ingredients, from simple to high-class. Therefore, we can die with a bowl of chives soup (including only bone broth and fresh chives) priced at 10,000 in Tuy Hoa or faint with a bowl of crab cake soup, luxury seafood on the sidewalk of Cho Old ( Saigon). It is the famous dish of banh canh with crab or crab and the famous seafood of the South is the way for banh canh to introduce itself to Northern cuisine. About 5 years ago, crab cake shops began to appear in Hanoi, and gradually became a favorite dish with brands such as OSON crab cake soup … On the base of the fresh, crispy and smooth rice cake, the aroma of the rice flour blends very well with the sweet, fatty, richness of the crab meat, the surface peeling and the fish ball. However, the factor that brings the above harmony is thanks to the fragrant, viscous water, the scent of salty seafood. The broth is what makes up the attractive flavor of the crab cake bowl. That is the secret to bring unique deliciousness that can not be found anywhere. Fresh soup cake, crab meat, pork belly, fish ball, herbs, green pepper is a small thing, but it is a big thing to have that broth. The broth wraps the other ingredients into a unified form, making the banh canh fibers branched and cooled under the dark yellow broth; makes the pieces of the crab meat richer and sweeter. It can be said that the broth has mixed the ingredients in the bowl of banh canh together, enriching the flavors, making the banh canh yarn the taste of seafood and the crab meat fragrant with rice and herbs. In order to get that broth, the sweetness of the pork bones and crabs must be distilled during slow simmering with low heat for several hours. Thanks to that, the sweet substances are secreted slowly, intertwined, creating a truly sweet and viscous water that no seasoning powder or monosodium glutamate can bring. Crab cake bowl is a complete combination of fresh ingredients from the sea, rivers, and forest fields. Take the first teaspoon of broth to awaken the taste cells in your mouth, then bend your face down to inhale the salty ocean flavors and see the beautiful bowl of banh canh like a picture with the main warm colors. Then lightly bite the slippery banh canh, enjoy the refreshment as it slips on the thorns to see the aroma of the rice. Discover other pieces to enjoy the crispy white crab, the sweet and chewy surface, the peppercorn flavor suddenly brightens when you bite the fish ball. Chew more pieces of green pepper to burst all the pleasure, and feel the cook’s heart that deliciousness is real. So, on one day when the weather is hovering over the spring to summer season, pamper yourself and your emotions with a bowl of crab cake soup!