I love the way the river is woven into everyday life in Can Tho. It also has some of the greenest landscapes. The people in...
When visiting Can Tho, you surely don't want to miss the foods of Can Tho as it is the biggest city in the Mekong Delta that has one of the most diverse cuisines in Vietnam. We give you a selective list of the best foods in Can Tho city.
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Top 11 Can Tho Best Foods:
1. The Fruits Of Cai Rang Floating Market Can Tho
The first thing on the to-eat list when you arrive in Can Tho is the fruits of Cai Rang Floating Market, Can Tho City.
Cai Rang Floating Market is the most famous floating market in Can Tho; it is also considered the gathering point of all floating restaurants in Can Tho. These restaurants are boats carrying all the best foods in Can Tho, and one of them is the fresh fruits of the Southern area including pineapple, mango, strawberry, watermelon, orange, coconut, mangosteen, custard apple, banana, grapefruit, etc.
2. Can Tho Fried Shrimp Cake (Banh Cong)
Can Tho Fried Shrimp Cake or Cong Cake, for the locals, is a very well-known and traditional dish originated from the Khmer people. The dish is made with fried shrimp, minced pork, green beans, crispy flour, vegetables, and many delicious spices. The filling contains green bean flour with cassava and minced meat. When cooking, the cake is dipped into a pan of oil, then fried until it turns yellow, then a few river shrimps are placed on top.
Price: 10.000 - 50,000 VND (0.40 - 2.00 USD)/portion.
3. Can Tho Fish Sauce Hotpot (Lau Mam)
Can Tho Fish Sauce Hotpot, or Lau Mam, plays a very important role in the list of Can Tho specialitíes as it is often found at important parties and festivals of the Southern Vietnamese. It is a combination of various kinds of fresh aquatic animals such as fish, shrimp, squid, octopus, etc, and vegetables. The sweet hot pot broth is simmered from pork bones and fresh coconut water, mixed with fish sauce. The ingredients are also extremely fresh and delicious such as fish, pangasius, river shrimp, squid, pork belly, snails, tofu...
Price: 100.000 - 250,000 VND (4.20 - 10.20 USD)/portion.
4. Cai Rang Grilled Spring Rolls (Nem Nuong)
Cai Rang Grilled Spring Rolls or Nem Nuong Cai Rang recipe is the simplest of Can Tho Cuisine; the spring roll is made with grilled minced pork and is served with vermicelli, raw vegetables, and a special dipping sauce. The fresh pork is pureed, grated, and marinated with a secret spices recipe, rolled into balls, skewered, and then grilled on a charcoal stove. The main course is then served with fresh vermicelli, raw vegetables, and green bananas.
Price: 40.000 - 100,000 VND (1.70 - 4.20 USD)/portion.
5. Can Tho Vietnamese Pancake (Banh Xeo)
Can Tho Vietnamese Pancake, or Banh Xeo, is one of the most popular dishes of Can Tho. In this land, people don't "make" this kind of pancake but rather pour it. The reason is that when preparing this dish, the premix flour is poured into a hot pan and it will make a sizzling sound. After that, the chef adds shrimp, meat, bean sprouts, and raw cassava roots; some places even add coconut hearts and shredded duck meat to create a unique flavor and recipe.
This means that even though there is only one kind of Vietnamese pancake on this list of Can Tho foods, the taste of it varies by region, restaurant, or chef.
Price: 30.000 - 80,000 VND (1.30 - 3.30 USD)/cake.
6. Can Tho Grilled Banana Wrapped In Sticky Rice (Chuoi Nep Nuong)
Can Tho Grilled Banana Wrapped In Sticky Rice is a snack that's gonna make you feel hungry as soon as you smell it. To make this Can Tho dish, people will wrap little bananas in a layer of sticky rice. Then, they grill the sticky rice-wrapped bananas to form a crispy and chewy crust sprinkled with a little sesame, peanuts, and coconut milk, while the inside is buttery and aromatic.
Price: Around 20.000 VND (1 USD)/banana.
7. Vietnamese Duck With Fermented Bean Curd Hotpot (Vit Nau Chao)
Vietnamese Duck With Fermented Bean Curd Hotpot is a dish that glorifies Can Tho cuisine. It also entered the list of 100 typical specialties of Vietnam made by The Vietnam Record Association and the Vietnam Records Organisation (VietKings).
Vietnamese Duck With Fermented Bean Curd Hotpot is made with duck, fermented tofu, fresh vermicelli, taro, coconut, vegetables, and spices, and is considered a delicious and nutritious dish. The main ingredient to make the dish is the Siamese duck, which naturally has lots of lean meat and little fat.
In the cooking stage, the chef must ensure that each fiber of meat is soaked in moisture, rich in spices, soft, and not smelly. Combined with chao (fermented tofu), the dish becomes even more fragrant, and greasy but not too much.
Price: 120.000 - 300.000 VND (5.00 - 12.00 USD)/pot.
8. Vietnamese Cylindrical Sticky Rice Cake (Banh Tet)
Vietnamese Cylindrical Sticky Rice Cake or Banh Tet, is a traditional dish during the Lunar New Year in southern Vietnam. This type of cake was invented by the Huynh family in Can Tho, and the recipe has been passed down for generations.
It is made with simple ingredients like glutinous rice, green beans, pork belly, and spices. In Can Tho, people stir-fry the rice with magenta plants (whose leaves are also used as a type of medicinal herb) to create the outside purple color.
Price: 80.000 - 130.000 VND (3.00 - 5.50 USD)/portion.
9. Can Tho Noodle Pizza (Pizza Hu Tieu)
Can Tho Noodle Soup Pizza or Pizza Hu Tieu, is probably the dish that has the strangest name on the list of Can Tho best foods. It is the crispy fried version of noodle soup “invented” from the original soup recipe.
People use finest flour noodles, shape them into round shapes, and then quickly fry them in a pan of boiling oil until golden brown. After that, they serve the fried noodles with a portion of topping, which could be fried eggs or meat cooked with sauce, and drizzled with coconut milk.
Price: 30.000 - 50.000 VND (1.30 - 2.10 USD)/portion.
10. Can Tho Rice Paper (Banh Trang)
Thuan Hung village is a village in Can Tho that has 200 years of experience in making rice paper - probably one of the oldest foods in Can Tho. Rice paper is a type of cake that uses the main ingredient of thinly coated and dried starch. The rice will be soaked in water and then ground into powder. Then people mix the powder with just enough amount of water, and season it with salt to make the cake taste better. Next, the cake is carefully coated on low heat so that the cake does not fall apart. After being coated, the cake must be dried in the sun before eating.
The rice paper can be used to make many dishes: salty cakes, crackers, spring rolls, and coconut cakes.
Price: 150.000 - 250.000 VND (6.00-10.00 USD)/10 pcs.
11. Phong Dien Fine Rice Vermicelli with Pork Crackling (Banh Hoi Heo Quay)
This food of Can Tho is made from soaked-and-then-ground rice flour. The pork is marinated in advance and then roasted under open fire.
The pre-cut roasted pork is then placed on top of the white-colored cake, and the dish is served with chopped cucumber and herbs, mixed with spicy, salty, and rich chili garlic fish sauce. It is definitely something that you can not miss when checking the best foods in Can Tho.
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