CAN THO – shop has been famous for 13 years for its traditional processing, with bold flavors of home.
Bay Toi is a famous place selling Banh Xeo and Banh Khot in Can Tho city. The shop has a space of more than 500 m2 located on Hoang Quoc Viet street, An Binh ward, Ninh Kieu district.
The owner is Mr. Le Huu Toi, born in 1970, commonly known as Bay Toi. He said the shop has been open for 13 years, known by customers near and far thanks to its delicious taste, affordable price and true home taste.
Traditional style bakery, all preparation steps are done by hand at the shop. Flour is not bought ready-made but soaked in rice, grinded, mixed with coconut milk, poured cake on cast iron pan, less grease. In addition, all ingredients for the bakery are prepared by themselves, not purchased. The shop buys dried coconut to grate, squeeze the juice by itself. The accompanying forest vegetables will be picked by the staff, such as toad buds, convex leaves (a kind of bitter buds), leaves, leaves of Langur, silk leaves … as the highlight of the shop because there are few places for sale.
Each pancake takes about 2 minutes to complete. The chef cleans the thick cast iron pan, heats it up, and then puts the dough in, turning it around so that the cake has a nice round shape. Wait for the dough to dry before adding a little oil to make the cake fully cooked and crispy, not burnt. At this time, the chef adds bean paste, coconut or cassava roots, Siamese duck meat, shrimp in the middle, let it heat and fold it in half to complete. The cake brought to the table is large, thin and hot, crispy, when the cake is opened, there is still smoke and the aroma of duck meat, sweet and bold coconut tubers.
Pancakes filled with coconut and Siamese duck meat cost 50,000 VND each, which is the favorite dish of diners. Siamese duck meat is cleaned, removed the big bones, minced small bones, then seasoned with spices, fried. When enjoying, diners can feel the crunchy texture of duck bones when chewing. In addition, the sweet and soft taste of young coconut tofu is cut into small pieces, and fried until cooked, and the fatty flesh of green beans makes the dish more delicious.
“The recipe for Banh Xeo was invented by the couple, made in the old style in their hometown, the flour is ground from rice, so the cooked cake smells very fragrant and crispy. Wherever I sell it, I grind the rice, mix the flour there, no ready-made because it will be sour,” said Mr. Toi.
Every day the shop opens at 7am, but sometimes at 6am, customers have to wait. The shop is bustling from morning to night, in front of the shop more than 20 pans of pancakes are always red. On weekends, we have to add a new baking pan to sell.
Meals at the restaurant range from 20,000 VND to 50,000 VND. The shop also has Banh Khot with crispy shell, soft and fatty filling, coconut milk flavor, sweet and gentle. The shop has spacious parking for motorbikes and cars, easy to find road, located near Cai Rang floating market.
photo: My Trang