Southern speciality

As a northerner and Hanoian I often ask my friends down southto show me some local food when I go and visit them. Southern cuisinealways seems to have something new and attractive, based on the specificcharacteristics of its culture and climate and local tastes.

For me,the speciality of southern food is its cakes. It would take a few monthsto sample all of the hundred or more different kinds found in the area.For a cake lover like me, the Annual Southern Folk Cake Festival held recently  in Can Tho city was something of a godsend.

Leaves over cakes

As the name suggests, leaf cakes are covered with various leaves,like bamboo, banana, gai, or dong, then boiled or steamed.

The cakes areinfused and perfumed by the light scents and also the colours of theleaves they’re wrapped in.

Southern people mostly use banana leaves towrap cakes, including Banh it (known as Banh Gai in the north, withleaves from the gai tree used instead), Banh u (called Banh Gio in thenorth and made from rice soaked in the fluid of ash (gio) from burntmedical plants), and, especially, the ‘Queen’ of traditional southerncakes, Banh Tet.

Banh tet

Banh Tet is a sticky rice cake associated, of course, with Tet, theLunar New Year. ‘It’s a little like a savoury pancake,’ said Matt Lowe,an English expat.

In the past Vietnamese people only cooked Banh Tet atTet but they can now be found at markets on any day of the year.

BanhTet can stay fresh at room temperate for a few days or up to threemonths in the fridge. Because of its good preservation and small size,Banh Tet was used by Vietnamese soldiers during wartime as a source ofiron and nutrition in one meal.

Banh Tet and Banh Chung (which are covered with dong leaves) sharethe same ingredients: nutty mung beans and fatty pork marinated withfish sauce, pepper and a bit of sugar, which taste great together.

Whensliced and fried until golden and crispy, they’re soft on the inside andcrisp on the outside. In the south, though, a small portion of coconutmilk is added to make Banh Tet richer in taste than Banh Chung. The twocan also be distinguished by their shape, as Banh Tet is round whileBanh Chung is square.

To add a touch of creativity, some kinds of Banh Tet also have extrasweet fillings, like banana and green beans. Influenced by the Asianprinciple of the five elements, the most impressive Banh Tet is the onewith five colours.

It’s well wrapped to ensure that, after being cut,each layer presents a colourful picture of purple from magenta leaves,orange from balsam apple, yellow from beans and white from rice.

Cakes covered with leaves are normally not cut by knife or scissorsbut by its wrapping string, to make a sharper cut and it’s also moreconvenient as well.

Salty cakes

Most salty cakes have seafood fillings, like fish and shrimp, andmust be eaten with mixed fish sauce, which gives it its salty flavour.The sauce’s ingredients include fish sauce and a bit sugar, lemon (orvinegar), water, garlic, and chilli.

Explaining why this mixed fish sauce is the key to salty cakes, MrToan, a chef attending the Annual Folk Cake Festival in Can Tho, said:‘The principle of “Yin and Yang” also applies to creating Vietnamesefood, providing a balance that is beneficial to the body. The principleprimarily concerns the “warm” and “cool” properties of ingredients. Forexample, seafood is considered “cool” so goes with the “warm” garlic andchilli in the fish sauce.’

Banh xeo

Great salty cakes include Banh xeo, Banh khot (fried rice flour withshrimp on top), and Banh uot (rice noodle sheets with fried shallots andVietnamese pork sausage). Of these, Banh xeo is the most famous, forits special taste that combines the characteristics of the traditionalculinary culture of the south.

The name Banh xeo derives from the ‘xeoxeo’ sound rice flour makes when fried in a pan. Saffron powder is addedto the rice flour, giving it a yellow colour. As well as red chillifish sauce, Banh xeo can also be served with green vegetables such aslettuce, herbs, coriander, and green mustard.

Mrs Muoi Xiem, whorepresented Vietnamese folk cake cooks at the Smithsonian Folk LifeFestival in the US and is the owner of the famous Muoi Xiem restaurantin HCMC, explained the meaning of the cake. ‘Our ancestors applied theprinciple of the five senses in preparing it,’ she said. ‘When you hearthe “xeo xeo” sound and see the five colours (the yellow cover, whiteand orange filling, red sauce, and green vegetables), you smell the cakeand feel it in your hands before eating it.’

Banh xeo can be found in almost all restaurants in the south and theMekong Delta, costing around VND70,000 to 110,000 for small or big.

Sweet cakes

Sweet cakes are regarded as a type of dessert. Steamed sweet cakesinclude Banh bo (chewy sponge cake), Banh da lon (colourful layeredcake), and Banh cung (worship cake), while Banh to ong (similar to awaffle), Banh kep (crepes), and Banh chuoi (banana cake) are grilledsweet cakes. Sweet cakes are a simple mixture of sugar, rice flour,water and coconut milk, though some just have rice flour for a sweetertaste at the end of a meal.

Due to its simple components chefs oftendecorate sweet cakes by mixing pineapple leaves or green beans into therice flour, to give it some colour. ‘I don’t use chemical colouringsbecause colouring from fruit and leaves also add their fragrance,’explained Ms Huong, the owner of a small sweet cake shop at the NinhKieu night market in Can Tho.

Banh da lon

Banh da lon caught my attention with its similar shape to Heaven cake(Banh 9 tang may) in the north. Banh da lon has three layers: pineappleleaves mixed with rice flour to make a green layer, simple rice flourmixed with coconut milk for a white layer, and green beans mixed withrice flour to make a yellow layer.

To get a perfect multi-layer cake,chefs must separately cook each of them. The first layer is poured into amould and left until solid, then comes the second layer, also leftuntil solid, then the third layer. I love to separate each layer as Ieat it, to see and feel their smooth, soft textures, and take time toenjoy the scent of the pineapple leaves and the flavour of the fattycoconut milk.

The Guide/VNN

Southern speciality

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