Cheap price and quality, the cake shop “Miss Thom” in Nha Trang city is always crowded with customers every morning.
When it comes to Nha Trang cuisine, Cake Can is often on the list of “must try” dishes. Small, crispy cakes baked in terracotta molds always attract diners because they are not greasy.
Usually, tourists coming to Nha Trang are used to eating this dish in the area around Thap Ba or some famous restaurants on To Hien Thanh street. Prices in central areas are about 6,000-8,000 VND per piece depending on the type of topping. If you are guided by local people, you will know about the banh can shop at 9 Phan Huy Ich (a small street near Binh Tan bridge) for only 2,000 VND.
The shop only opens in the morning, has a single long table but is always crowded. Ms. Thom, the owner, said she and her husband have opened the restaurant for 20 years. The sidewalk restaurant is popular and mainly serves local people. Very few tourists know about the restaurant because it is located a bit far from the center and on a small road. Because she has been selling for a long time, she has her own secret to mixing the dough, making the cake have moderate sponginess and crispness that can be customized according to the eater’s needs.
Normally, Ms. Thom gets up at 3 a.m. to prepare the kitchen, cook fish sauce, mix flour, add oil to grease onions, and clean tables and chairs. At 4 o’clock, the restaurant can start serving the first customers. The shop usually runs out of goods at 8:30 a.m. and at the latest around 9:30 a.m. She said she opens every morning, with a full moon day off.
Every day the shop sells about 7 kg of rice flour, 40-50 chicken eggs, 250 quail eggs and 3-4 kg of squid. The price of each cake ranges from 1,200 to 2,200 VND depending on the type of topping. On average, a person can eat a plate of 10 to be full, about 20,000 VND. If you bring toppings from home, the shop owner will only charge you 1,000 VND for the dough and baking time.
Banh Can is often eaten with sweet and sour fish sauce. Onion fat is also a must-have spice to make the dish more fragrant.
At Ms. Thom’s restaurant, there is also homemade fish sauce, including diced fish pieces for customers to add to their dipping sauce.
In addition, shredded sour mango is an indispensable side dish to enhance the flavor of banh can. Green acacia mango is the most suitable type because it has moderate acidity and is very crunchy.
Ms. Thom’s restaurant has a bamboo basket to store the cake before putting it on the plate. Those who like to sit near the kitchen and watch the baking process can eat the freshly baked cakes directly from this basket, it will feel much more delicious. If you want to make your own cake, you can also ask the shop owner to try it out when the shop is not crowded.
($1=24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)