In the Southwest region, almost every province where diners come can find and enjoy banh tam bi nuoc co dua. Bac Lieu people are very proud that this delicious dish is loved by many diners and tourists when coming to this land will be suggested to... eat it once to know.
Ms. Tu's attractive box of banh tam bi (rice vermicelli with pork skin) next to Tan Dinh market (HCMC)
Many years ago, on Hai Ba Trung Street (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) near Tan Dinh Market, there was a very famous Bac Lieu pork skin rice noodle shop. The owner was a woman originally from Bac Lieu but had lived in Saigon since before 1975. To the writer, she was truly the model of a virtuous woman, outstanding in her cooking skills. She could cook many delicious dishes, including pork skin rice noodle. She married one of the famous Vietnamese cyclists at that time, Mr. Nguyen Van Chau, former Asian and Southeast Asian sprint cycling champion. To make a living, she opened a pork skin rice noodle shop near her husband's house in Tan Dinh.
She makes this dish entirely in the traditional style of her hometown. That is, she cooks the rice noodles with rice flour, then rolls them completely by hand into strands of moderate length, enough to fit neatly in the mouth. Because the noodles are rolled by hand, their shapes are not uniform. However, this manual work makes the noodles more delicious and moreover, helps urban people feel the rustic soul of the countryside. Her pork skin noodles are very unique, a combination of pig skin and thinly sliced pork belly.
Her technique of mixing rice bran makes the skin fragrant, not dry, both rich and slightly fatty. The fatty and fragrant coconut milk is also a secret that cannot be shared. The "soul" of this delicious dish can be considered the sweet and sour fish sauce with a slightly spicy taste. Eating banh tam bi without using the right fish sauce cannot be considered to have eaten this dish.
The restaurant used to be a popular place for many famous people. There was a time when artist Thanh Loc came here regularly to eat banh tam, banh duc and banh beo. Time passed, many things happened, the restaurant moved to near Kieu bridge. Regular customers still came to support even though the owner was no longer there. In the past few years, for unknown reasons, the restaurant closed.
Now, in Saigon, anyone who wants to eat banh tam bi can go to the food court of any market and enjoy it right there amidst the bustling atmosphere of buying and selling. Each place has a different flavor, although basically it is still banh tam, coconut milk, pork skin and sweet and sour fish sauce. Each person will have different tastes, so it will be difficult to judge which place is better.
Ms. Tu sells rice cakes with pork skin.
However, there is a woman who sells this dish on a mobile cart that is supported by many ladies in the morning and at noon. That is Ms. Tu's rice vermicelli with pork skin cart right next to Tan Dinh market. Ms. Tu is not related to the famous Bac Lieu rice vermicelli with pork skin shop mentioned above, although she is also from the West. She chose to sell right at Tan Dinh market because she felt it was convenient.
The way she makes the dish is similar to the old ladies of Bac Lieu. Hand-rolled rice noodles, pork skin and thinly sliced lean meat, fatty and fragrant coconut milk, a bowl of sweet and sour fish sauce. But she adds a piece of pork roll to this famous dish. If anyone doesn't want to eat it, just tell her, but the fragrant pork roll flavor blends well with rice noodles, pork skin and fish sauce. Therefore, many picky diners who prefer purely traditional flavors still accept it and praise it as delicious. She always keeps the coconut milk separate, and whoever wants to eat it can pour it on.
Rice noodles are rolled by hand.
Ms. Tu sells here on Saturdays and Sundays, from 9am until sold out, pushing her cart around the area next to Tan Dinh market on Nguyen Huu Cau street, opposite the gold shops. She sells boxes for customers to take away, there are no tables or chairs. Those who want to sit can take a small plastic chair, eat picnic style, then leave. It's sold on the sidewalk but it's delicious and hygienic. Each box costs 40,000 VND, including a large piece of pork roll.
The skin consists of pork skin and thinly sliced lean meat, with a rich, aromatic flavor.
There are some Bac Lieu people who often come here to buy and eat. For them, Ms. Tu's rice cake with pork skin tastes very similar to the famous cakes of Bac Lieu today.
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