AN GIANG – Hot pot crab porridge, pureed rice, forest vegetable pancakes… with a rustic flavor in the Southwest region.
The floating season from September to November every year is the best time to come to An Giang. Outside of sightseeing Tra Su Melaleuca forest , floating markets, and historical and cultural relics… discovering the typical cuisine in the capital of An Giang is also one of the memorable experiences. The dishes below are suggestions.
Pureed broken rice
Broken rice is one of the popular dishes in Long Xuyen. Not attracted by the large pieces of grilled meat like many other localities, the plate of broken rice here is especially impressive thanks to the chopped pieces of braised meat and eggs, finely chopped broken seeds, skin, and sweet pickles (many places have more vegetables). soaked morning glory) served with a paste of fish sauce. Each plate of broken rice costs 25,000-35,000 VND (1$).
Suggested address: 67 Ly Tu Trong; 32 Phan Dinh Phung; 143/2 Thoai Ngoc Hau…
Hot pot with fish sauce
This is one of the dishes with bold features of the Long Xuyen river region. The main ingredients of the dish are cooked from Linh fish sauce, choked fish with lemongrass, chili, minced garlic and many ingredients such as meat, shrimp, squid, fish cakes, howling fish… to make the broth sweet and rich. Vegetables to eat fish sauce hotpot have more than a dozen types, including dandelion, grated banana flower, grated water spinach, bitter vegetables, coriander, pumpkin flower, rafter, water lily… Enjoying this dish must have a cup of clear fish sauce and chili peppers. served with vermicelli or noodles. Hot pot with fish sauce costs 150,000-200,000 VND.
Suggested address: 95/4 Tran Hung Dao; 5D Le Lai, 291 Nguyen Hoang…
Forest vegetable pancakes
Banh xeo is made from rice flour, turmeric powder, and a little beer for a crispy aroma. The filling consists of pork, shrimp, bean sprouts or cassava root (in many places, it is replaced by coconut tofu). This dish in Long Xuyen is served with more than 20 types of wild vegetables with a characteristic sour and acrid taste such as lettuce, herbs, perilla, basil, lettuce, fenugreek leaves, cassava leaves, convex sand… full of sweet, sour and spicy flavors. Each pancake costs 20,000-35,000 VND. In addition to banh xeo, many shops also sell banh khot with shrimp paste.
AN GIANG ‘s hot pancakes served with 30 kinds of wild vegetables are specialties on the 700m high Cam mountain, which is likened to the “roof of the West”.
On the way from the foot to the top of Cam mountain (An Hao commune, Tinh Bien district), visitors can encounter more than a dozen stalls with wild vegetable pancakes, most concentrated around Phat Lon Pagoda. Each shop arranges more than a dozen baskets of fresh, fresh wild vegetables instead of signs. Sweet shop owner: “Aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters support wild vegetable pancakes. Hot cakes are just blown and eaten”.
At a crowded restaurant on the top, as soon as they sat down at the table, the staff immediately brought up a plate of wild vegetables, regardless of whether the customer would order some cakes. If it is not enough, diners can take whatever they want from the vegetable counter. Ms. Hoang, the owner of the restaurant, introduced that there are about 30 kinds of vegetables on the mountain served with banh xeo. Each type has its own unique taste, some vegetables according to human experience are good medicine for health.
Ms. Hoang said wild perilla is similar to house perilla but eye-catching with its bright red color interspersed with purple, sour leaves to eat with pancakes to relieve boredom, royal jelly “functional food” for people suffering from arthritis, and vegetables. Orchid women should eat a lot, figs are good for people with stomachache, strawberry buds, avocados, forever, plums, imitation stars, convex sand…
In addition to the sour taste, according to the owner of the restaurant, the remaining vegetables are acrid, slightly bitter, slightly sweet… The number of typical mountain vegetable, the restaurant must order in advance from households specializing in the forest to pick, priced at 30,000-60,000 VND per kg. “This vegetable is available all year round, the rainy season is young and tastier,” she said. With the amount of vegetables seeming to be overwhelming, many diners think that the cake is just a side dish, served with wild vegetables.
In the kitchen, Ms. Xuan Mai is busy with 14 pans on fire. Put two freshly baked cakes on a plate, she added a little oil to the pan, one hand scooped the dough into the pan, the other hand rotated the pan, the coated dough was empty. Before putting the pan on the stove, she put some raw bean sprouts and boiled green beans in the pan. Salty cake is added with meat, fried shrimp and cassava roots. Vegetarian cakes include tofu, cat mushrooms, and vegetarian fish balls. The filling of the cake has been prepared, after putting it in the pan, wait for about two minutes for the cake to be cooked, then it can be served to diners.
While frying the cake, she turned her eyes to the finished pans, which was cooked immediately put on a plate. If the pan doesn’t fry more, add a little oil to the burning pan, then turn off the heat. She revealed that the Western pancake fryer day in and day out has certain challenges, especially frying pans, using only clean towels, not washing them often, and avoiding the cake sticking to the pan.
Mai has been in the profession for more than 5 years, frying 14 pans at the same time, none of which is too hot. For her, the work has become familiar and smooth. “Depending on the layout of the kitchen so that the travel time between one pan and another is short, the new worker can pour a lot,” she said. On a crowded day, the 38-year-old woman poured more than 1,000 pieces, at least a few hundred.
Another special feature of the mountain pancake is that it’s big, the edges are thin, and it melts quickly in the mouth. “A Western daughter or daughter-in-law who can pour a round cake with a thin edge will be praised for her skill,” said Mai with a smile. Nearly a dozen shops, but the price of cakes here is quite similar, vegetarian cakes are 15,000 and 20,000 VND for savory cakes.
Between the cool, chilly weather in the morning and at dusk, it would be ideal to enjoy a hot crispy cake with lots of vegetables, as soon as you set foot on the top of the “roof of the West” or before leaving.
Cam Mountain, also known as Thien Cam Son, together with Tuong mountain (Lien Hoa Son), Dai mountain (Nao Long Son), Dai Nam Gieng mountain or small Dai mountain (Ngu Ho Son), Co To mountain (Pung Hoang Son), Ket mountain (Anh Vu Son) and Nuoc mountain (Thuy Dai Son) and more than 30 unnamed mountains make up the Bay Nui area which attracts a lot of tourists every year. Particularly Cam mountain belongs to Tinh Bien district, bordering Cambodia, more than 250 km from Ho Chi Minh City.
Suggested address: 4/4 Le Quy Dong; 38 Ly Thai To; 796/5 Tran Hung Dao; 63/2 Thoai Ngoc Hau…
Fish noodles
The special feature of the noodle dish is that it is cooked from snakehead fish, the meat is fragrant, chewy, sweet and has little bone. Fish meat is stir-fried with lemongrass and yellow turmeric, fragrant and bold. Bone broth for natural sweetness. Eating fish noodles in Long Xuyen must have a price, vegetables, water spinach, dandelion flowers and sliced banana flowers… Accompanied by fish noodles, there is also a cup of salt and pepper and lemon to add more flavor. A bowl of Long Xuyen fish noodle soup costs about 20,000-30,000 VND.
Suggested address: 22-24 Nguyen Thai Hoc; 4 Ly Thuong Kiet; 60 Nguyen Thai Hoc; 502 Vo Thi Sau.
Crab porridge hot pot
The porridge pot scored thanks to the harmonious combination between the sweetness of field crab and the sweetness of many fresh vegetables. Long Xuyen people often use pureed copper crab, remove the carcass and cook it to get pieces of crab meat. The rest of the water will combine roasted yellow rice and stewed it into porridge, with straw mushrooms, and onion heads… When the porridge is boiling, dip in a variety of melons, spinach, and Centella Asiatica… and dip them in fish sauce. add chili. This dish is hot and delicious. The price of each porridge hot pot is about 60,000-80,000 VND.
Suggested address: Sao Mai field crab porridge hot pot restaurant, Binh Khanh ward or 16G1, Pham Cu Luong, My Phuoc ward.
photo : Khanh Thien