Below are delicious dishes typical of the Western region that tourists cannot miss when coming to Can Tho.
Fish sauce hotpot during flood season
Hotpot with fish sauce served with water mimosa flowers. Photo: Thanh Vien
The West is the birthplace of hotpot with fish sauce. However, the factor that contributed to making this popular dish a specialty must be Can Tho. Hotpot cooked with fish sauce is a harmonious blend of Khmer cuisine with that of the Southern settlers.
In the West, any dish, from braised, stir-fried, to soup, etc., must have flowers or vegetables. The more vegetables in the hotpot, the better. It usually has all kinds of shoots, young leaves, and flowers. The list includes water mimosa, water spinach, water lily, purple chopsticks, squash flowers, winged beans, enoki flowers, water mimosa, banana flowers, and even the typical water mimosa flowers of the flood season.
Saigon also sells fish sauce hotpot, but few places have this type of flower that only blooms during the flood season like the West. Westerners often say that there is nothing as “cool as the sky” as a bowl of fish sauce hotpot filled with vegetables, shrimp, eel meat, snakehead fish, etc., slurped up on rainy and windy days.
Treasure trove of toast
Kho quet was once considered a “poor man’s dish” by the locals. In times of shortage, all you need to do is put the pan on the stove, pour in some fish sauce and “swish” it back and forth. When the fish sauce thickens, sticks to the pan, and smells heavenly, you can use it to pour over white porridge or dip vegetables with rice. The way to prepare kho quet is used to name this dish.
CanWith many kinds of vegetables, dipping sauce is even more delicious. Photo: Thanh Vien
Nowadays, Kho quet is served in restaurants and is improved with ingredients such as dried shrimp, minced meat or just fish sauce with fried onions. Sprinkled with a little pepper, this dish is also used as a seasoning for mixed vegetables (many kinds of boiled vegetables in one plate).
In particular, eating with kho quet cannot lack burnt rice. With a piece of crispy burnt rice, add a few pieces of vegetables and put on the kho quet, many people easily feel nostalgic for the taste of their hometown, when they were still poor.
Sour soup with snakehead fish and water mimosa
Southern Vietnamese meals rarely lack sour soup. In particular, sour soup (or hotpot) with snakehead fish and chopsticks is often cooked with the main ingredients of snakehead fish or catfish head.
The deep purple color of the water mimosa flowers makes the hotpot broth look unique. Photo: Thanh Vien
Each pot of sour soup is served with a full basket of vegetables, including water mimosa, water mimosa, bitter vegetables or purple water mimosa flowers, which are usually grown at home or nearby. The aroma of the vegetables blends with the fatty and sweet taste of the skin, meat and fish. Sour soup is usually eaten with rice or vermicelli.
Braised tilapia in clay pot
Due to increasing scarcity, tilapia is now often farmed. When eaten, it has a grassy smell, thick viscera, and loose flesh. During the draining of ponds and ditches, if lucky, people can catch a few genuine tilapia, tiny but fragrant when grilled or braised.
Braised perch with the smell of ground pepper. Photo: Thanh Vien
For perch or other freshwater fish, besides making soup, the best way to cook it is to braise it in a clay pot. The cooking process includes marinating the fish with fish sauce, chili, pepper, garlic, fried onions, then braising. If you want the fish to be delicious and flavorful, you must braise it in a clay pot to preserve its sweetness, while the water is just right. Sprinkle some ground pepper on the surface, and braised perch in a clay pot with crispy rice is the most delicious.
Grilled apple snails with pepper
In addition to perch, snails are also a natural product bestowed upon the rice-growing people of all regions, not just the Western region. Snails are grilled as soon as customers order them because they cook very quickly.
Don't skip the snail broth when eating grilled pepper snails. Photo: Thanh Vien
Place the snails on a charcoal grill, after they have absorbed the heat, peel off the shell. At that time, the cook can add ground pepper (or salt and pepper), and when the snail water boils, they can be picked up and eaten. Before grilling, some places also marinate the snails with spices to make the dish more flavorful.
Cong cake
One of the most prominent specialties of the Western Capital is Banh Cong. The cake originated from the Khmer people and is still sold along the roads in the Western provinces. This dish has the same ingredients and preparation as Banh Khot but is thicker and has a more generous filling.
The essence of Khmer cuisine is wrapped in a banh cong. Photo: Thanh Vien
The filling is made from green bean flour mixed with cassava and minced meat and poured into a mold about the size of a bowl. Next, the cake is dipped in a pan of oil, then fried until it turns golden brown and a few river shrimps are placed on top.
The richness of the flour and mung beans blends well with the sweetness of the shrimp. The crust is crispy and doesn't feel greasy when eaten. Banh Cong is eaten similarly to Banh Xeo, rolled with vegetables and dipped in fish sauce with garlic and chili.
