Ready to roll: A flat basket of nem nướng Cái Răng. Photos: dulichcantho.com
Cái
Răng is well-known for its nem nướng
(literally grilled sausage). The dish is a real Vietnamese grilled pork sausage
or grilled meatball served with rice noodles or rice as a main course.
In
years gone by, only gourmets and foodies knew to go to Cái Răng to enjoy the
best nem nướng, produced by Bá Lộc or
later Tư Khem.
Nem nướng Cái Răng, a tasty and delicious
dish, came into being hundreds of years ago. It is an unforgettable dish
because of its harmonious combination of ingredients, enjoyed by locals but
also a hit among foreign visitors to the province, said culinary expert Lê Kim
Chi.
“Through
the years, the food became the pride of locals. Enjoying not only the original
aromatic flavour, the dish also brought back memories of the cultural values of
our native village,” said Chi.
Make it hot: Nem nướng on the grill.
Tư
Khem’s nem nướng was so tasty and
delicious that an overseas Vietnamese, Trần Lệ, who left Cần Thơ for almost half
century to settle in Los Angeles recalled: “I still remember that when we were
young and had done well at school, my mother often rewarded us by asking a
rickshaw to carry us to Cái Răng floating market in the district of the same
name, to enjoy the dish.”
“My
mother said no other nem nướng could
compare with Tư Khem’s, whose dish was tasty and aromatic. I can still remember
it now. Closing my eyes, I can see the meat balls on a small bamboo stick and
grilled over wood charcoal with a fragrant smell,” said Lệ.
Apart
from nem nướng, Tư Khem also ordered
quality soya sauce and then ground it until it became smooth. She often put
chilies and fried ground nuts over the sweet sauce, making it even more
attractive and tasty, Lệ said, noting that her mother also learned the recipe
of making nem nướng from Tư Khem to
make the food at home. She went on to teach her children and friends.
Delicious: Tasty and aromatic nem nướng Cái Răng should become a national dish to welcome international visitors.
Materials
to make nem nướng include fresh pork,
shrimp, pork fat, chili, grouns soya sauce, rice paper, vinegar and ground nuts
as well as herbs, cucumbers, carrots, turnip salad, fresh coconut water and
bánh hỏi (rice vermicelli or steamed rolls made of rice flour).
The
pork should be warm, cut into pieces and ground until it is soft and smooth.
The shrimp should be fresh and be shelled and ground.
Garlic,
pepper, sugar and pork fat is added to the shrimp and mixed with the ground
pork, before being rolled into balls, skewered on a bamboo stick and grilled
over wood charcoal until they are cooked through, said Lệ.
“The
dish is wrapped up with bánh hỏi or rice paper, turnip salad and herbs and
dipped in a bowl of ground soya sauce plus fried nuts and chili,” Lệ said.
Homemade: The floating market of Cái Răng is the birth place of specialty nem nướng.
Today,
any travellers visiting Cần Thơ can enjoy the dish. Nguyễn Văn Đính from Hà Nội
said during his working trip to Cần Thơ, he often spends some time at Cái Răng
to enjoy the dish.
“The
sweet flavour of the sauce filled my mouth, and the fragrant smell of different
herbs mixed with the grilled meat balls sipped with a cold cup of beer made me
so ecstatic that I thought I was in heaven.”
“This
specialty has its own characteristics that no other food can come close to. The
dish could make diners forget all other dishes that they had enjoyed before.
I’m an addict for the dish,” Đính told.
He
added that he often bought several kilos of nem
nướng home.
Local
herbalist Huỳnh Liêu said the dish is nutritious and very good at cooling down
heat from inside the body. It is really good for patients with hypertension,
diabetes, cholesterol and insomnia.
“Nem nướng should become a national dish
to welcome international guests and visitors,” Liêu said.
By VNS