My aunt get married and
moved to Binh Thuan province. Sometimes I go to visit her and every time I come
she usually cooks many good dishes for me. My favorite is this rustic sweet
soup named “chè cánh tiên”. My aunt
told me that there is only Taro grown in Binh Thuan and it is the best.
Therefore” Chè cánh tiên” is
available in Binh Thuan only.
It has been about 7 years since I could
come back to visit my aunt in Binh Thuan and I had a mission there. My aunt
still cooked for me a bowl of “Chè cánh
tiên” and although it’s just a simple dish, it brought back so many good
memories.
I like “chè
khoai cánh tiên” not because my aunt told me that it is a unique dish in
Binh Thuan but because it tastes a little bit fat, clammy and have a good
aroma. However despite how much I miss the dish, the distance and a busy work
schedule meant that that I couldn’t get back to visit my aunt often, be a child
in her arms again and enjoy a bowl of chè
khoai cánh tiên.
“Khoai
cánh tiên” is a kind of potato but has the shape similar as taro and is
only available in Binh Thuan province. There are two kinds of root: one has one
main trunk and other 5 additional trunks growing out from the main trunk. It
looks like a hand with 5 fingers; this is the best root if harvested in the
right season. It is called “cánh tiên”
which means the wings of fairy. The round kind is shaped differently purely
because it is picked early. The skin looks like taro but the inside has yellow
color like potato.
Normally they weigh about 100 to 200 gr
though they can grow to 300gr. If it doesn’t rain then the potato will have a
very good aroma and taste, but if it rains the potato, when cooked, will be
hard. When cooking “chè khoai cánh tiên”
you shouldn’t cut it but just use the knife to pierce it, because the potato is
so clammy that it becomes sticky. By doing this the potato will be softened in
the regular way.
It is quite simple to cook this dish. The
coconut is scraped and about half bowl of warm water is poured in to create the
coconut juice, which is then set aside. Two additional bowls of water are added
to draw all the remaining juice out which is then placed into a pot. Then
pandan leaves are blended remove the juice. Mix the coconut and pandan juice
together in the pot. Add a little bit of sugar and the potato. Also add one
coffee spoon of salt into the pot and cook for about 15 minutes before adding
the concentrated coconut juice. Cook for a further 10 minutes and wait for the
potato to become really soft, before adding more sugar to taste (brown sugar
from My Tho province is the best).
Some people cook this dish with peeled
green beans and put both potato and green beans into the pot. Just adding green
bean is the only difference.
Only a small bowl of sweet soup, but it has a lot of love for the country
When the sweet soup is well cooked it takes
on a green color and has the good smell of the potato mixed with the smell of
pandan leaves. Each piece of potato is melt in the mouth soft. The yellow color
of potato and peeled green bean is as beautiful as the sand-hills at Mui Ne and
the blue of the ocean at Binh Thuan. Only a small bowl of sweet soup, but it
has the love of the country.
These potatoes are grown a lot in Phan Ri
and Phu Long. This dish is very common for all families in Binh Thuan province
and is normally cooked for big festivals such as Tet, “Tết Thanh Minh”, a day
everyone goes to pay their respects to family members in the cemetery; mid-year
celebration; Vu Lan ceremony; or the full moon in October etc. However, if you
can’t wait for these opportunities and want to try this dish, then can go to
Phan Thiet market or Tanh Linh Viet restaurant.
It has been 7 years since I could get back
to Binh Thuan to visit my aunt. She picked me up and treated me with this
simple dish, it touches my heart and brought back many good memories.
There was a surprise for me that when I
arrived at the Possanus Resort. Mrs Lieu Thi Thu Truong told me that she would
introduce me to a sweet soup that can only be found in Binh Thuan, I
immediately thought about “chè khoai cánh
tiên”.
As I thought this rustic dish, which is
usually only for people used to a life of sun, sand and strong ocean breezes,
is now served on the luxury tables in expensive hotels and restaurants like
this.
I felt happy because each rustic dish, when
it becomes a memory, becomes part of your country, culture and your original
source.
Followed by V.H
Dan tri
Extracted from articles
written especially for Golden Spoon 2014 called “A journey of searching traditional
rustic dishes”