Serving both foreign and local customers,
they all have the same expressions on their face as they eat a piece of cake
with vegetables, dipped in fish sauce: wow it is really good!
Mrs Ut Lu’s daughter Mrs Ut Duong Thi told
us that her family has made this cake for three generations. The shop was just
a small place in the beginning, but was later extended. 30 years making cakes
and they have never taken any days off except for holidays. The shop is called
“Ut Lu” in her honor as she is the first generation to make this cake in the
Mekong Delta.
Legend
says that “Bánh Cóng” has its origin
among the Khmer minorities of the South. Over time other ingredients and spices
have been added by Chinese or Kinh people to suit their tastes. However another
story tells that “Bánh Cóng” was
invented by Chaozhou migrants who came to Soc Trang, local Khmer people found
it delicious and learnt to make it.
Crispy “Bánh cóng” made by Mrs Ut Lu is popular in the Mekong Delta
This cake was originally called “Sển” or
“Sài cá nại” in the accent of Khmer people.
It became a favorite food for Vietnamese people and its name changed
into “Bánh cóng”. The name sounds
quite strange, but the reason for this is very simple. The cake was made with a
tool called “chiếc cóng” which is
similar to a soup ladle, but deeper and creates cylindrical blocks.
In 30 years of cake making they have never taken any days off except for holidays
“Bánh
cóng” cake was found first in Soc Trang and became a popular Southern
delicacy as well as a favorite cake of Kinh, Khmer and Chinese people. “Bánh cóng” made by Mrs Ut Lu is popular
because it is the tastiest in the Mekong Delta. Can Tho City is a young city
with immigrants coming from various regions. They have also brought many
delicious and unique dishes from their hometown. Many of the dishes don’t have
typical characteristics of Can Tho but with skillful and talented hands people
in Can Tho have made many unique dishes. These have the typical flavor of Can
Tho city, “Bánh cóng” cake is just
one of those.
“Bánh cóng” cake that looks delicious in yellow after fried with very good smell become memory in the visitors every time they come to Can Tho.
The cake is porous and crunchy and has an
attractive yellow color and very good aroma, it has become popular among
attract adults and young children. The wrapper is made of rice flour. Three
parts common rice and one part sticky rice is soaked in water overnight then
ground and mixed with soy flour and egg. The flour mixture is thicker than
pancake mix. The filling used inside the cake is a mixture that includes pork,
minced and mixed with spices, purple onion and chopped scallions as well as
steamed green beans without their skin. The mixture of flour is placed into the
soup ladle with a few prawn or shrimp leaving the skins on to make the shrimp crispy.
The chefs will dip the soup ladle with the flour mix into hot oil. The
temperature shouldn’t be too high, just enough to brown the cake. When the cake
is well cooked it is lifted out. The cake is then drained and plated.
Frying “Bánh cóng” technique: the fire has to be controlled enough to brown the cake and have it crispy but still moderately soft
Making average “bánh cóng” is simple but to
make excellent “bánh cóng” is not simple at all. Mrs Ut Lu said that the most
important step is selecting the right rice to make the flour. It must be good
rice in order to leave the cake soft and porous, and provide a good aroma when
it is fried. When mixing the rice, sticky rice and soy flour it is also
important to measure it equally, not too much and not too little. The spices
need to be balanced so that the cake won’t be too salty or too flat. When you
roll with vegetables and dip in the sauce it will create a great combination of
flavors.
All kinds of vegetables are served with “Bánh Cóng” cake to create great combinations of flavors to satisfy everyone
The
cake is at its best when served hot and eaten with other kind of vegetables:
broccoli, the youngest part of the mango tree, green leaves, lettuce, basil and
cinnamon. The cake is cut into 4 or 6 pieces for easy rolling with the
vegetables. To bring out the best taste we need to have a dipping sauce which
contains great balance of sour, sweet, spicy and salty flavors. Sometimes it
has ginger and is mixed with a chopped carrot and radish mixture. Good fish
sauce has to have a balance taste, the best is “Phu Quoc” fish sauce. The sauce
made the dish more delicious especially when it was served with many kinds of
vegetable. Diners give great compliments when they have a taste of this
combination.
Don’t worry that too much oil is used as
this is drained to make the cake dry and crispy with a good aroma of pork and
shrimp. You can taste the fat from the oil that remains in the skin of the cake
and balances with the freshness and coolness of the vegetables. You will
understand why people usually said “Can
Tho is popular for rice and its landscape with many rivers; for anyone who has
comes to Can Tho their heart will want to stay there forever” Just a small
“Bánh cóng” cake which is considered
as a simple and rustic dish but it is still able to attract you. After you
leave you know that you must return one day.
Acording to Ha Viet Thi Nguyen
Dân trí
Extracted from articles
written especially for Golden Spoon 2014 called “A journey of searching
traditional rustic dishes for three regional cuisine”