Chad Kubanoff (38 years old) is an American chef, currently living in Ho Chi Minh City with his Vietnamese wife and children. He owns a YouTube channel with 135,000 followers, regularly posting videos of his street food experiences in Vietnam.

Recently, Chad took his son and Michael - a friend of Chad - to a restaurant specializing in Hue specialties in Ho Chi Minh City. He had passed by this restaurant before but this was the first time he came to enjoy it.

When he picked up the menu, Chad saw many new dishes such as egg rolls, shrimp and pork rolls, dried beef rolls, and braised duck eggs with gourd. He also tried fried rice cakes, mixed tre, and steamed snail rolls to experience.

Chad tells you that Banh ep is a specialty of Hue City, the ancient capital of Vietnam, located in the Central region. Banh ep also has a dry version. "Dry Banh ep looks quite similar to grilled rice paper. I will buy some to take home because my wife will probably love it," Chad says.

Pressed cake is a Hue specialty with a cheap price, only 3,000-5,000 VND/piece. Photo: Hue pressed cake

Pressed cake is a famous specialty of Hue, there are dry pressed cakes (usually packaged, can be taken away as gifts) and wet pressed cakes (served to eat on the spot).

This cake is made from simple ingredients such as tapioca flour, eggs, green onions, later it was varied, combined with ingredients such as pork, shrimp, pate, sausage...

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Nowadays, pressed cakes are combined with more ingredients, creating diversity. Photo: Gia Di pressed cakes

In some places, the chef will shape the dough into small balls, add a little meat and green onions on top, then press them between two hot cast iron plates.

Two cast iron plates are greased with cooking oil, tightly closed and held over the fire for about 10 seconds. Then, the chef opens the mold, adds raw quail eggs or spreads the egg mixture, presses for a few more seconds, flips the cake back and forth evenly until both sides are golden brown.

In some places, like the restaurant Chad ate at, the chefs use a thin batter instead of forming it into small balls. They then add eggs, shrimp, and meat according to the customer's request.

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To make the cake cook evenly, with crispy edges and soft inside, the chef must watch the heat carefully, pressing and turning the cast iron plate evenly. Photo: Chad Kubanoff

The plate of cake was still hot when brought to Chad. This dish was served with a plate of fresh raw vegetables including lettuce, Vietnamese coriander, sweet and sour papaya and carrots.

Diners roll the rice paper with the toppings and dip it in fish sauce or fish sauce with a variety of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors. Chad, his friend, and his son all use fish sauce. Chad skillfully adds chili and garlic to enhance the flavor of the sauce.

Chad nodded in approval of the cake, which was both crispy and chewy, and served with green vegetables and pickles, which were very attractive and fresh. Chad was quite delighted to see that the cake was made in 15-20 seconds and yet so delicious.

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Hot rice paper served with Vietnamese coriander, lettuce, papaya, and pickled carrots. Photo: Chad Kubanoff
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Chad Kubanoff enjoys a delicious delicacy. Photo: Chad Kubanoff

Michael said that the texture of the pressed cake is quite similar to a tortilla - a flatbread made from cornstarch or flour, popular in Mexico and South American countries.

Each plate of pressed cakes (4 pieces) costs from 20,000–36,000 VND, depending on the ingredients. Chad also tried the braised duck eggs with gourd dish – the first time he had seen it – but he said he still prefers boiled duck eggs.

Trong Nghia

Recently, Chad enjoyed a specialty dish that made him exclaim: "It's hard to believe that it took me more than a decade to know about this special Vietnamese dish."

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/khach-my-ngo-ngang-voi-mon-dac-san-viet-nam-thom-ngon-che-bien-chi-20-giay-2452071.html