Travel Nha Trang

Banh Can is a type of rice cake cooked in small clay dishes over a low-heat coal pot. The rice cake has no flavor itself, therefore it's necessary to compliment it with diluted fish sauce, stir-fried green onions, and tiny pieces of deep-fried pork fat bits (if you're adventurous and aren't afraid of a little health risk ) in order to give your taste buds some excitement.

Fluffy Banh Can with Eggs This dish is quite popular among Nha Trang locals as breakfast food and as a late night fun food. There isn't anything particular special about Banh Can for it only consists of rice flour and water in the mix. Its simplistic tastes and feel give the eater a fulfilling experience. Making the flour mix requires precise expertise from the cook as many people in Nha Trang (or the whole country) do not particularly use any measuring tools in their daily cooking. Only an experienced cook will know how to monitor the "baking" process. Leave the cake in too long, you'll get a burned bottom. Take it out too early, you'll get nothing but a mushy piece of yuck.

Fluffy Banh Can with Eggs

You'll also get a variety of Banh Can depending on where you go. The addition of eggs is a popular order. One chicken egg will get you about 8-10 semi-fluffy yellow ones. You can put in a request for few cakes per egg, and that'll get you 5 fluffy golden ones. Try adding quail eggs too! However, a quail egg will only get you about 2-3 rice cakes at most. Very few places offer Banh Can with beef. Mmmmm! Ask them to make it well done to lessen the chance of food-borne illnesses.

Co Hien pouring egg in rice batter

There are two different kinds of dipping sauce for you to choose. Fish sauce (spicy or regular) and Mam Nem (the purple sauce). Whether you choose spicy or regular fish sauce, you'll get a diluted version of fish sauce that has been mixed with water, sugar, pineapple and tomato bits. Mam Nem has a more salty taste, but this too has also diluted from its original form. Remember to ask for the onions. Some places can be a bit stingy with onions, so remember to ask. Fried fat bits are a delicacy to locals. Newcomers rarely know about the extra kick that the fried fat bits bring to the dish. Come early and request quickly as these bits do go fast.

Banh Can is served hot, so be cautious to not haste your first bite. Dip the cake into your bowl of sauce and gather some green onions and fried fat bits atop your cake. Bite half of the cake because the whole thing can be overwhelming for you mouth to chew. Nevertheless, if you cannot resist devour a whole thing for the second cake, go ahead and break loose! No one will look at you funny. This is quite normal among locals.

Place your order by plate. A typical NT local can handle about 3-5 plates in one sitting. You can try ordering a plate of mixed plain and egged rice cakes to test out the water, then order more if you're becoming addicted. Eat until satisfied but don't be overstuffed. Remember the 3-5 rule.