Soc Trang’s specialty dish scores thanks to the combination of the fleshy taste of green beans, the sweetness of shrimp meat, and the crispy crust.
More than 200 km from Ho Chi Minh City, Soc Trang is known to tourists near and far thanks to its many destinations. In addition, because it is the cultural convergence of many Kinh, Hoa, Khmer, and Cham ethnic groups, this place is also famous for having many specialties that make diners nostalgic, especially the Cong cake – one of the traditional dishes of the Khmer in this province.
Ms. San, a Khmer in Dai Tam commune, My Xuyen district, shared that the name Banh Cong is derived from the shape of the cake poured in a mold with a deep heart, similar to the shape of a culvert. This mold is made of aluminum, round cylinder, flat bottom, 4-5 cm high, with a handle 25-30 cm long. The ingredients to make the cake include rice flour, soybeans, green beans, shrimp, meat, cassava roots, taro, purple onions … and many spices.
The steps to make a congee cake also take a lot of steps, from how to mix the dough, make the filling, fry the cake until the sauce is harmonious and right. First, the green beans will soak in water for about a night, then cook until soft, avoiding crushing the beans. The baker continues to soak the soybeans and clean the shell, puree, then mix with rice flour to make fried dough.
The filling of the cake will have more ground pork, cassava root with minced cat mushrooms, stir-fried with purple onions and seasoning for harmony. As for shrimp, choose the type of shrimp, which is small but sweet for meat, washed and drained, taro cut into fibers.
In order to fry the golden brown rice cake evenly on all sides, people here will use a deep pan, fill it with oil, and cook it on high heat. “How to dip the cake mold into boiling oil to heat it evenly to prevent the cake from sticking to the mold when frying,” noted Ms. In particular, in order to have a really delicious cake, we will first put a patch of cake flour in the mold, followed by ground meat, cassava roots, black fungus, green beans and taro, then add a patch of flour and then add the flour. shrimp to the top.
Cong cake is fried in a pan filled with oil for about 5 minutes until it turns golden. Then, the cake will be removed from the mold and continue to be placed in the oil pan, fried for about 2 minutes until it becomes crispy, then take it out, put it in a sieve to drain the oil.
Soc Trang people eat congee cake with salad, herbs, sweet and sour fish sauce with sour food, and cucumber, many places also add a little vermicelli to fill the stomach. The crispy golden cult cake is cut into small pieces, and rolled with vegetables dipped in a cup of fish sauce with a little chili. When eating, you will feel the fleshy taste of green beans and taro, the aroma of shrimp meat, crispy crust mixed with vegetables and dipping sauce.
Many diners fall in love with Cong cake because it can be found in many places. Particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, you can go to places on Lanh Binh Thang (District 11), Ly Thuong Kiet (Go Vap), Le Van Sy (District 3), Le Quang Sung (District 6)… to Enjoy this specialty. The price of each cake is from 10,000 VND to 15,000 VND.