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Enjoying 4 folk-dishes in Can Tho rainy season

Grilled snails, pancakes, frogs hotpot or grilled pork patties are dishes that easily make you feel warm and relaxed when the rain rushes down on Can Tho streets.

On rainy days of this kind of weather, it is an unmatchable experience when the whole family sits back together to enjoy folk-dishes such as grilled snails,pancakes, frogs hotpot or grilled pork patties.

1. Crispy Vietnamese pancakes or Vietnamese sizzling crepes ( Bánh xèo )

Unlike the small, deep-fried pancake of the Central Vietnam, the Southern pancake is round and its filling looks really attractive. Rice flour is spread evenly in a large pan to form the crunchy crust. The filling is diverse and flavourful from pork, river shrimp, bean sprouts, green beans, sliced cassava tubers, Sesbania sesban flowers, etc. Vietnamese pancake is delicious mostly because of its thin and crunchy crust together with the fat of coconut milk and the attractive golden turmeric powder. To be more delicious, “Bánh xèo” should be eaten with raw vegetables, mustard greens, daikon and carrot pickles; then dip into sweet-sour fish sauce, with finely chopped chilies.

      2.  Frogs hotpot (Lẩu ếch đồng)

Each tiny firm frog leg, the delicious taste of fresh meat mixes with spicy soup will help diners feel warmer gathering to enjoy with friends on rainy days.

Frogs are considered “field chicken” favored by people in the West of the Mekong Delta. In addition to deep fried, stir-fried or grilled with peppers, frogs hotpot is one of the most common dishes, easy to cook and very appealing for get-together.

Frogs are rubbed with salt, beheaded and skinned thoroughly. Then cut thighs and bodies in half, retain the skin. Marinate the frogs with salt and seasoning powder then fry until they turn golden.

To make the soup more luscious, besides frogs, marrowbone is not to be missed. Marrowbone is washed, simmered with bruised lemongrass, the longer it is simmered, the more delicious it will be.

To make delicious soup, people often use mashed fermented rice, sour tamarind, unripe mango, aganonerion leaves, vinegar, lemon, star fruit, mango … to make sour taste. When the water has boiled, pour cursory stir-fried frog meat with cooking oil, garlic, and lemon grass into the pot. Then add water lilies, sawah-lettuce, water spinach, segmented taro plant. When water is boiling, add sliced chilli peppers to make spicy taste. When enjoy, diners can dip vegetables such as water lilies, sawah-lettuce, water spinach, taro plant, kae flowers, water hyacinth to enhance the taste and eye-catching for the dish.

To make sure your stomach can get full you can enjoy with vermicelli, noodles or rice. The affordable price for a hotpot is 180,000 dong for 2 people and 250,000 dong for 4 people.

You can find frogs hotpot on Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City to enjoy.

            3. Grilled snails (Ốc bươu nướng)

Snail is a popular dish in all street diners; this is an affordable dish but very tasty and appealing. Besides snails steamed with lemongrass, snails boiled with coconut milk or snails simmered with banana, grilled snails with hot fragrant pepper sauce is always the first choice on cold rainy days in Can Tho.

Snails to be grilled are usually chosen big and firm ones. Snails are cleaned by soaking in rice water or hot chilli water within one to two hours to eliminate all slime. The sauce is the soul of the dish; water is mixed with ginger, minced garlic, fish sauce, sugar and pepper. After that, add the sauce into each snail to marinate about 15 minutes then grill on charcoal. Grill the snails until the sauce inside becomes thick and has fragrant flavor.

Snails marinated with spices have fragrant flavor of fish sauce mixed with spicy peppers, snails are served when they are still steaming, take the snail meat out one by one, and also sip the delicious sauce inside the shell.

You can enjoy this dish on Ly Tu Trong Street or streets to Ninh Kieu Quay.

               4. Grilled pork patties (Nem nướng)

Can Tho grilled pork patties are made from lean meat marinated with spices, but the most important is sugar to make a sweet taste. Grilled pork patties are rolled into balls, skewered and grilled on charcoal, the dish is always eye-catching having banana, cucumber, pineapple, star fruit and sweet and sour pickle with rice paper. When enjoying, just take out a meat ball and make a roll with rice paper together with vegetables like perilla, chive, or fish mint and banana, pineapple, star fruit and dip into sweet and sour fish sauce. The sweet taste quickly spreads on the tongue, the dish is served with vegetables that help diners enjoy without being fed up.

Grilled pork patties cost about 50,000 dong for one serving. You can enjoy this dish on Hoa Binh Avenue, Nguyen Viet Hong Street, De Tham Street.