Throughout the long coastline of Vietnam, cuttlefishes are everywhere. Each region has their special type of cuttlefishin different shapes or sizes. As a coastal province, Ha Long is no exception. However, unlike the ones in other provinces such as NhaTrang, where cuttlefish is well-known for its big size, Ha Long’s cuttlefish gain people’s love because of its unforgettable flavor.

As a matter of fact, QuangNinh’s sea possesses many kinds of cuttlefish: kislip cuttlefish, broadclub cuttlefish, pharaoh cuttlefish, and golden cuttlefish, etc. They can be used to cook a lot of dishes such as dried, grilled or fried cuttlefish, but cuttlefish cake is still the best of all.

The recipe used to make cuttlefish cake requires skills and experience. From the first steps such as choosing the right cuttlefish and cutting its organs, to the last steps such as seasoning or frying, the cook must pay great attention to details. After being fried, the cakes have a delicious, yellow color and an irresistible fragrance. Their spicy and salty taste can be most noticeable when we eat them with sticky rice or Vietnamese pancake.

In Ha Long City, there is even a street near Bach Dang Theater where all inhabitants specialize in making and selling cuttlefish cake. Because of its increasing popularity, people name it the "Cuttlefish Cake Street"

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When travelling to Thanh Hoa, visitors should not miss this tasty cake. The cake is made by rice, so that it is also called rice cake. Rice is grinded into powder and then cooked with water in a pan until it becomes a viscous mixture. The fillings inside the cake are often specific for each of the many purposes. If the cake is made to eat, the inner are mostly meat and onion, or peanut if using to worship and visiting pagoda.  The cake is wrapped by banana or phrynuim leaves that have been dried upon fire.

In the past, Rang Bua Cake was mostly made on holiday or rite such as Tet Holiday,Tet Doan Ngo or anniversary of death. On a tray full of dishes, there is also a tasty plate of Rang Bua Cakes that haven’t been stripped of their wraps, smelling delicious with the flavor of onion and fat. Specially, on these holidays, families often take part in a secret contest of making rice cake, where the women of each family have the chance to show their skillful hands and cooking talent.  In the present, Rang Bua Cakes are made more frequently to serve the demand of the local people and visitors, but the taste of it has not been diminished.

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No one can tell for how long such a simple food has grown to be an essential part of Hai Phong gastronomy. It's something worth trying, like the rest of Vietnamese cuisines, for the unique taste as well as method of cooking.

The main ingredients that create this delicious dish is fresh shrimp picked up directly from Hai Phong sea. Shrimp shells are peeled and the shrimp are then fried with green onion until shrinking. Added in with shrimps are yellow grilled chopped fish, grilled chopped “ lá lốt” or grape leaves, Indian taro and a mixture of mashed onion, sliced tomatoes and dill to bring out richer flavor. A soft, white thread of rice vermicelli noodle harmonized with reddish shrimps and tomatoes, together with green onion, Indian taro and yellow grilled chopped fish make a colourful, attractive and lively picture that wake up visitors’ taste.

As you savour the dish, you will be greatly comforted by the sweet and slightly greasy taste of the broth, fragrance of shrimps and especially the pungent smell of grilled chopped “ lá lốt”. More special is a sour taste of tamarind broth seasoned with common spices like vinegar or lemon. This kind of “bun” is best served with lettuce and some slices of red chilli. All flavours harmonize so well with each other that the first try can bring out immediate temptation for a return.

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Originating from an indigenous sour soup made in style of a hotpot, “lẩu canh chua” charms guests by its sour taste coming from tamarind, pineapple or vinegar, varying with seasons. The sweet of the stock often springs from marrowbone or fish meat. The intriguing fragrance stems from the harmonious combination of herbs, including caramelized garlic, chopped scallions, as well as okra, Vietnamese coriander (“rau răm”), long coriander (“ngò gai”), Thai basil, and so on, at the cooker’s disposal. Large piles of greens, tofu, starchy taro root, and noodles, mushroom are integral to be served with the broth.

The main ingredient, beef, seafood, meat or the mixture of all is ordered according to personal interest. Like other hotpots, things were either boiled or blanched in the simmering stock and then served with soy sauce and spicy fish sauce. It is interesting with ultimate processes, adding stuff, removing and eating and just-cooked foods sounds too tempting to restrain from.

Once the dipping course is done, rice noodles and bean sprout are added to the viscid broth to create a second course of delicious soup. “Lẩu canh chua” with its sour taste and pure harmony of basic flavors, is not just a favorite warming your belly and your heart in the winter but also an idea choice for hot summer days.

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Day Cake is a popular type of cake that can be found all over Vietnam, but the Day Cake called “Pau Plau” in Lao Cai is a quite unique dish. It is made solely of rice, but its deliciousness has been tested and acknowledged by many travelers who have been to Lao Cai.

The rice is soaked with water for approximately 2 hours; it is then poured into a basket to dry out water. Next, it is steamed to make glutinous rice. When finished, the glutinous rice is grinded. This is an especially demanding process as the cook has to grind and apply oil into the mixture of glutinous rice at the same time. After the glutinous rice reaches the certain degree of stickiness, it is cut into smaller pieces and can be eaten right away!

Day Cake can be preserved for about one week. If you want to make it last longer, you have to press the cakes so that they become flatter and apply dry rice powder around them. When eating, you can heat them again or put them into boiling pan and fry until they get the yellow yummy color. Banh Day is a tasty dish, but it would be ever more delicious if you eat it with sugar. You will then realize that each bite of the soft “Pau Plau” Day Cake has the typical scent and taste of a mountainous land.

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No cooking time

Serves 4

200g (7oz) cooked king prawns

½ a cucumber, quartered, seeds removed and finely sliced

2 carrots, peeled and finely sliced

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 red chilli, seeds removed and thinly sliced

1 tbsp coriander leaves, plus 1 tbsp for garnish

1 tbsp mint leaves

Finely sliced spring onions, to garnish

300g (10½oz) cooked rice noodles

For the dressing:

2 stalks of lemon grass

1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsps fish sauce

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic

3 limes, juice and rind

2 tbsps caster sugar

Using a pestle and mortar or food processor, blend the lemon grass, ginger, shallots and garlic into a paste. Add the juice and rind from the limes, fish sauce and sugar, stirring well.

To assemble the salad, combine the noodles, prawns, sliced cucumber, carrots, red onion, chilli, coriander, mint and dressing in a bowl.

Toss everything to mix, divide the salad between four plates and top each salad with a few coriander leaves and spring onions to serve.

Handy hint: Don't even try to slice vegetables with a blunt blade. This could be the moment to treat yourself to a cutting-edge knife.

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            “Nộm bò khô” is so popular in Vietnam that it has gradually become a familiar snack of street foods family and showed up frequently in Vietnamese weeding parties and death anniversaries. Savoring the utter spiciness of chili, the spicy sweet of dried beef, the crispiness of julienned green papaya, the pungent flavor of herbs and the nutty taste of roasted peanut, you are bound to comprehend how far-reaching its coverage is. The most important ingredient, certainly, is dried beef. It is cut into big thin slices, soaked with seasoning including salt, sugar, garlic, oil, ginger, chili for about one night, then dried off by putting it into oven. Green papaya and carrot are pickled, sliced into julienned strips and drained off, then blended with coarsely chopped herbs. The flavoring dressing made of sugar, vinegar, fish sauce, chili, soya sauce and other seasoning is the most attention receiver, considered as the secret of each maker. Just pour the dressing into the bowl, toss the mixture finely, top it with roasted peanuts and dried beef and enjoy.  A colorful dish with the wonderful taste and aroma definitely satisfies all gourmets. What an unforgettable experience!

of roasted peanut and the harmony of the seasoning….

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            It is used to a rustic dish that now turns to be a specialty in Vietnam cuisine. In the south, it is called “gỏi hoa chuối”. It is such a lifetime experience being exposed to its explosion of different flavors and amazing texture contrasts. The cooking begins with the tough, outer layers of the banana blossom peeled off and discarded. Banana blossom is crunchy with subtle, slightly floral fragrance. Next, slice it into fine julienne strips; soak it into large bowl of cold water and white vinegar or lemon juice to prevent it from browning. Then sliced boiled pig ears or boiled shredded chicken breast is prepared and let it cool.  Sour star fruits are sliced thinly, combined with bean sprouts, banana blossom, sliced big ears, mint, and cilantro. To make the dressing, along with sugar and vinegar, garlic, lemongrass, chili, lime juice and fish sauce are mixed to a fine proportion. When the dish is relished, the salad is placed into a banana blossom bowl, tossed finely with the dressing and topped with chopped roasted peanuts and fried shallots. It looks more than an artistic work. Just enjoy every bite and make the most of the subtle flavor of herbs, the crispiness of banana blossom, and big ears, the chewy and tender taste of chicken, the nutty flavor of roasted peanut and the harmony of the seasoning….

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            A refreshing dish for hot days, “gỏi ngó sen” is healthy, vibrant, delicious on its own and certainly crunchy. The most special taste comes from the pure flavor and crunchy texture of pickled lotus stem. What is more, it is easy to make. The main ingredients are lotus root, carrot, tender pork, shrimp, shallot, coriander, mint, onion, and roasted peanut with the appetizing dressing being as an integral part of the dish. First, boil the pork shoulder and shrimp separately in water with a little of salt and sugar added; let they cool, then slice the pork as thin as possible, de-shell and de-vein the shrimp. Next, rinse out pickled lotus stem, pickled carrots, cut or slice them into pieces and drain them. Then, coarsely chop the fresh coriander, mint, and cilantro and mix them together with above ingredients with a gentle toss. The dressing poured into the concoction is a perfect combination of hot, sour, spicy, salty, and sweet. Finally, crispy fried shallots, roasted peanuts sprinkled over the dish make it look much tastier with a nutty flavor. It is commonly served with prawn crackers. Enjoy it and you definitely never forget its refreshing flavor and amazing crunchy texture.

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In a nutshell, Xeo Cake of Vietnam is somehow familiar to Crêpes of France. You can find Xeo Cake in many places thorough the country, but to taste one of the most unique recipes, you must visit Quang Binh. Xeo Cake there is made of red rice; it is best accompanied by Banana Fishes, Vietnamese salad, fresh herbs and fish sauce.

First, a plate of Vietnamese salad includes sesame, bean sprouts and a special kind of vegetable called Ket. The bean must be the extremely big red beans. The rice used to make Xeo Cake also has a unique red color. It is dipped in water for about 5 hours before being grinded. During the 2 separate grinding processes, water should be added periodically. After that, we add a little of salt and fried onion into the mixture. The pan used to fry the cake must also be made by the men of Quang Hoa: it is only a little bit bigger than a normal bowl; the side is just 1.5 cm high and the bottom is flat. When frying, we have to make sure that the fire is extremely red so that the cakes can “bloom” fully into the desired size and shape.

The Banana Fish is another part of this exciting dish. The main ingredient is nothing else but Porcelain Bananas (a type of banana that has many seeds) which are not too ripe and not too green. They are peeled and dipped in lemon sauce before being cut into small pieces. After that, we boil the bananas and bend them into different shapes of shrimps or fishes. Each of the “fishes” is then dipped quickly in the bowl of spices. Finally, we arrange all the “fishes” on a plate and pour fish sauce (with garlic and chili) on so that each piece would have an equally spicy taste.

When eating, we wrap the Xeo Cake, the veggies, the salad and the banana fishes inside a piece of rice paper. The cakes taste best when they are still hot. Holding the hot Xeo Cake on your hands, you will understand why the hotness and the tempting sense of red rice are so wonderful!

            

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