Ka Tum cake shell is knitted from young palm leaves The first time I knew about Ka Tum cake, I suddenly thought of the fairy tales that my mother used to tell me in the past. They always attract listeners right from the title. And so is the Ka Tum cake. Looking at me pinching my lips, pronouncing the name of the cake according to the tone of the language of the Khmer ethnic group, artisan Neang Phuong laughed and explained: “In Khmer, Ka Tum means pomegranate cake”. This is a sacred cake, conveying the desire for a full, affluent and full life. So only on traditional New Year days such as: Chol Chnam Thmay, Bonh Dolta, Bonh Oc-om-bok… do the Khmer people make this cake to offer to heaven and earth. And only O Lam land in Tri Ton district still makes this kind of cake, so Ka Tum becomes a “rare, hard to find” specialty in the land of An Giang jaggery. Ka Tum cakes are meticulously perfected by artisan Neang Phuong Having been taught the craft of wrapping by her mother since she was a girl, up to now, artisan Neang Phuong has been attached to the Ka tum cake of his people for 40 years. Is it because of that, that in the whole O Lam commune, no one has ever surpassed her reputation of skillful hands and good bakers. In the process of making a cake, the hardest part is making the crust, which is introduced by artisan Neang Phuong as creating a unique characteristic for Ka Tum cakes. Ka Tum cake shell is made from young jaggery leaves, cannot be made of old leaves because old leaves will be hard and hard to bend, no fragrance and green color is too dark and unsightly. The leaves after being picked up will be washed, then peeled off piece by piece and begin the process of knitting into a pomegranate shape, with flowers blooming on top. The ratio of the cakes must be the same, not the big ones, the small ones, if carelessly tied, the cake will not have its shape. So it can be said that this is the most difficult and time consuming stage. Artisan Neang Phuong who won the gold medal in the Southern Folk Cake Festival 2016 “Make this cake, every step is difficult. Peeling is already difficult and elaborate, when it comes time to put the filling, it becomes even more difficult. Even though it’s difficult to make, I still like this cake very much, because it’s beautiful, small and cute, “smiling artisan Neang Phuong. Although she is proficient and familiar with her hands, because of the small shape of the cake, the mouth of the shell is narrow, so it takes a long time to put the filling inside, so she can only make about 100 cakes a day. In the past, the Khmer people often made Ka Tum cakes with Chol Ho sticky rice, which had a very fragrant growing time of six months and even soaked the rice overnight. Now, everything “payroll” in the cake has been simplified more or less, you can use regular sticky rice combined with white beans, sugar, salt and coconut milk. After wrapping the cake, people boil it for a period of 30-45 minutes depending on how big or small the cake is. When the cake is cooked, take it out, blanch it in cold water, and let it dry. Artisan Neang Phuong fervently passed on Ka Tum cake making to the young generation of O Lam When completed, Ka Tum has a light yellow color, the cake inside is not sticky, the sticky rice is soft, smooth and fragrant mixed with fatty panther coconut milk, making visitors from far away fall in love. It is because of that wonderful taste that in the Southern Folk Cake Festival held in 2016, Ka Tum cake won the Gold medal. Realizing that traditional cultural values ​​are being cared for and promoted again, in recent years, artisan Neang Phuong has devoted himself to teaching the recipe and how to make Ka Tum cakes to the young generation of O Lam, contributing part of preserving the identity and culture of the Khmer nation.

If you only make pate to eat, you can learn the recipe below from Hoa Lavender, a Hai Phong native who is currently living in Ho Chi Minh City. Ms. Hoa said that she was lucky to be born in Hai Phong – where there are many delicious dishes such as crab cakes, spring rolls, pate bread, che flat, banh beo, pillow cakes, bui din, crab spring rolls .. . Cooking is not her forte, but since moving to the South – there are no dishes from her homeland, so Hoa has to tinker and learn by herself. Cooking became a habit, fell in love with cooking from there. Miss Flowers Lavender. “The snack of Hai Phong, perhaps I remember the longest in my memory is Khanh Nap pate bread on Hang Kenh street. That was almost 30 years ago, when I was in middle school, I used to eat there with them. with you” – the mother shared. According to Ms. Hoa, if you want to make good pate, the ingredients need to be fresh. She often goes to the market early in the morning to choose fresh and delicious liver and meat. If you also like pate but are in the epidemic season or want to “score” with everyone, you can learn how to cook Hoa Lavender below: Resources: (The finished product is about 1 kg of pate) 500g dragon’s head pork shoulder (shoulder with fat makes it more delicious) 300g pork liver 200 ml of fresh milk without sugar (for liver detoxification) 2 pieces of cheese Laughing cow 200g pork skin 250g portion fat 1 tablespoon white wine noodle soup rượu 10 dried onions 1/2 small onion 1 bulb of garlic Just enough pepper (for the whole grain) 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 1 tablespoon fish sauce noodle Just enough soup powder 1 piece of bread with intestines to remove fishy for the liver and increase the stickiness of the pate. Making The liver is washed, sliced, poured 100ml of fresh milk in and soaked for 15 minutes to remove fishy and toxic.. 1. Liver washed, sliced, poured 100ml of fresh milk into 15 minutes to remove fishy and toxic. When choosing a liver, you have to keep a few things in mind: A healthy animal liver has a dark red or light purple color. It feels soft and smooth to the touch. Use your index finger to press on the liver surface, the liver will concave and keep the indentation when withdrawing the finger. In contrast, the livers of infected cattle often change color to brick, yellow or silver-white. The liver of animals infected with infectious diseases is often mushy like mud, absolutely do not use this liver, must be destroyed. The bread is torn into small pieces, watered with 100ml of fresh milk to soften. 2. Shredded bread core, watered with 100ml fresh milk to soften. Has the effect of reducing fishy for the liver and increasing the stickiness of the pate. 3. Clean skin, boiled soft. Remove the liver and wash it. Boiled skin is also washed. Remove 50g of fat, diced and boiled. The remaining 200g cut into large pieces to line the bottom of the bowl for steaming. 4. Remove 50g of fat, diced and then boiled. The remaining 200g cut into large pieces to line the bottom of the bowl for steaming. 5. Chop the skin into small pieces and grind it with meat, liver, cheese and bread intestines until smooth. Put the meat and liver mixture on the island. 6. Put the pan on the stove. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and onion to the pan. Put the meat and liver mixture on the island. Season to taste. North to the kitchen. Sprinkle pepper. Add wine for aroma and to remove fishy liver. (Now you can feel the taste of the pate! If you taste it medium, or salty, adjust it from now on). Pour the mixture into the blender again until smooth. 7. Pour the whole mixture into the blender again until smooth. Add fat and mix well. Then pour into a large bowl, line the bottom with fat so that when upside down to create a beautiful shape, eat the fat leopard! 8. Fill the steamer with water for 3 to 5 hours if it is a regular steamer and depends on the amount of pate you make! If steamed with a pressure cooker, only 2 hours is just delicious! (Pour water below, put steaming bowl on top). Put foil on top and cover the pot to prevent water from falling on the pate when steaming. Finished products: Smooth, fatty, delicious paste! Shelf life: Refrigerate for 1 week and freeze for several months. Good luck!

The famous beef porridge restaurant for 20 years in An Giang. (Illustration) An attractive bowl of porridge makes her brand Yen. (Illustration) The owner of the porridge shop is Ms. Hong Yen, who has been with the profession for 20 years. She shared that she wakes up at 4:30 every day to prepare ingredients such as beef intestines, beef, bean sprouts…. The intestines must be washed thoroughly with salt water to avoid fouling. Particularly, the pot of porridge must be stewed for about 1 hour until smooth. To get a bowl of this quality porridge, Ms. Yen has to get up at 4:30 am. (Illustration) Beef intestines are put in the pot at the same time as rice to soften because the intestines take a long time to cook. Finally, the blood is poured in. This is also the most important stage because when the water has just boiled, the chef must be very skillful and precisely timed to pour so that the blood does not swell, spongy, lose its taste. Season to taste more MSG, fish sauce, salt is done. The highlight that makes a difference in the bowl of porridge is the use of Cambodian rice and congee leaves. Cambodian rice when cooked porridge is soft, flexible and more fragrant than ordinary rice. And chrysanthemum is considered a specialty of An Giang, grown a lot in Tri Ton district. The fruit is similar to a lemon, but has a rough, long-lasting fragrance that is light and refreshing. A little thinly sliced ​​wish leaves makes the porridge richer and more fragrant. Porridge is cooked from Cambodian rice, when seasoning, the owner adds a little chopped coriander leaves. (Illustration) A full meal costs less than 30,000 VND including a bowl of porridge with beef intestines, blood, rare beef, brain, marrow, encrusted … more green onions and herbs on top. In particular, this porridge is not only served with bread, but diners also get a free portion of fresh vermicelli, enough for a full breakfast. This strange combination makes many people “round eyes and flat eyes”. When eating, diners squeeze a slice of fruit to create a mild sour taste, dip the heart, meat … with ginger fish sauce is the standard.

Bac Giang lychee: Referring to Bac Giang specialties, it is impossible not to mention lychee. Lychee is sweet, thick pulp, small seeds are delicious lychee. In addition to fresh lychee here, people also dry lychees to keep the flavor of litchi without losing the characteristic sweetness of this fruit. Yen The hill chicken: It is impossible not to mention Yen The hill chicken, one of the famous specialties in Bac Giang. Hill chicken meat is usually firm, sweet and fragrant, not mushy and chewy. The most delicious dish is boiled chicken with salt and lemon leaves, chicken broth can be used to cook noodles or chan with rice is also great. Banh Da Ke: The richness and attractiveness of Bac Giang cuisine is reflected in many famous Bac Giang delicious dishes and famous specialties in Bac Giang that should be enjoyed. Banh Da Ke is one of the typical dishes of the Northern countryside. Dong Quang molded cake: This is one of Bac Giang’s specialties that you should try, with a piece of white cake, soft and smooth, both flexible and fragrant, with a rich, rich flavor of the homeland. Nham Ca: A rather strange dish for diners who have never visited Bac Giang. Nham fish is made from ingredients such as black filling, bacon, carp, herbs, sour star fruit, roasted peanuts, basil, … all of which are preliminarily processed and mixed together, sprinkled a little on top. fragrant roasted peanuts have been crushed. This dish can be served with soy sauce. Tho Ha rice paper: This snack has long been famous from afar for its delicious taste, carefully selected and meticulously processed from the skillful hands of the baker here. Tho Ha rice paper has sesame rice cake and coconut rice paper, each type has a delicious and attractive taste. Noodles Luc Ngan: This is a type of dry noodle to bring home as a gift for relatives, very convenient, made from rice of the Bao Thai Hong rice variety, so the noodles are flexible, smooth, used as instant noodles and perhaps how to prepare them. The best dish is to eat Chu noodles in a hot pot meal or cook with a bowl of sour soup with minced meat or bone broth. Luc Ngan sucker cake: is a cake made from glutinous rice flour, molasses and spicy vegetables (green cabbage). Spicy vegetables washed, pounded and squeezed to get water, kneaded glutinous rice flour with spicy mustard leaf juice, then molded the cake (rounded like a floating cake), dropped the cake into a pan of cooking oil and fried until it was golden, took out the cake, quickly released it. into the pot of molasses (the pot of honey is simmered). The cake has a sweet taste of molasses mixed with glutinous rice. This is a unique dish of the San Rui ethnic group in the Luc Ngan region. The ingredients for making shoulder cakes are glutinous rice, sugar, green beans, banana leaves, wormwood… Hiep Hoa Sesame Salad is a typical rustic dish often made to invite distinguished guests when coming to Bac Giang to play. This dish has this unique flavor that makes anyone who eats it and remembers it forever. Eating sesame fish salad is indispensable for spices such as: clove leaves, fig leaves, sesame leaves… Photo: IT. Invite readers to watch the video “Smoked land – Strange dishes of Vinh Phuc people”. Source: VTV3.

Talking about Ha Tinh branded seafood, maybe Vung Ang dance squid is the top dish. Unlike normal squid in other seas, Vung Ang skipping squid is famous for being able to catch squid that is still swimming in cages, and still jumping in pots. The squid dance season usually starts from mid-February to the end of the seventh lunar month. The fresh cuttlefish are fished by skilled workers at night, stocked in boats with available seawater and then sold to restaurant owners on floating rafts. The squids are still alive when picked up from the seawater storage compartment. Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh – owner of a seafood restaurant in Vung Ang said, squid jumps best when picked up from the cage, washed so that the whole child is boiled, steamed beer or ginger warehouse. The sweetness and fat, the crispness of the squid is still fresh, making Vung Ang squid not mixed with other squid. The crisp, sweet, and fresh taste of Vung Ang squid is difficult to mix with the squid in other seas. For Vung Ang gourmet squid dance, salad is an indispensable dish in the menu when coming to floating restaurants here. The biggest, strongest swimming squids are chosen by the chef, removing all parts, only the body with transparent color to make salad. Squid salad dish served with herbs, special spices and sauces prepared by each restaurant makes diners pamper. Along with dancing squid, Ky Anh sea area also has a famous jellyfish dish. The fresh jellyfish was mixed by the people of Ky Anh with acrid flavored leaves such as leaves and dung leaves. These leaves are collected in the forest, washed, sun-dried, misted, pureed and then used to squeeze jellyfish to help the jellyfish become bright yellow, not stale. Jellyfish are marinated with dung leaves – a miracle dish of the Ky Anh. Photo: Thu Trang The preparation of leaves was meticulous, and the process of marinating jellyfish was also very meticulous. Jellyfish are separated from the body and legs, then cut into small pieces. Fresh jellyfish is pressed with watermelon leaves, crushed leaves for 2 days, then washed, continued pressing with dung leaf powder one night. When the jellyfish has turned yellow, achieving fragrant and crunchy is a successful jellyfish batch. As a typical folk dish of the Ky Anh people, but anyone who has once enjoyed the jellyfish sauce, jellyfish salad, jellyfish salad is hard to forget the crispy taste of the jellyfish, the pungency of the chili, and the fat. of crushed roasted peanuts and the aroma of the accompanying vegetables such as mango, marjoram, basil, and ham … The dish is rustic but enough to make people “fall in love”. Coming to the coastal waters of Loc Ha district, visitors will easily be “held on by the feet” by delicious opaque fish salad that is hard to resist. The meat is white and firm, and the opaque fish is favored by diners with many ways of processing, but to feel all the deliciousness of this fish, the salad is the best. The opaque fish chosen for the salad are fresh and delicious, neither too big nor too small, and their body still has sparkling silver scales. The fish is beaten clean of scales, head removed, gutted, washed to drain; use a knife to separate the flesh on both sides of the fish body. This meat will be marinated with lemon juice for about 20-30 minutes and then squeezed dry. Processed fish is mixed with onion, pineapple, green mango, sliced ​​carrot, roasted peanuts … Chisel fish salad in Loc Ha horizontal sea makes but fastidious diners also “fall in love”. (Photo: Tuy Phong). To make the fish salad flavorful and bold, Loc Ha people eat with a sauce made from nearly 15 different spices such as: lemon juice, minced garlic, purple onions, roasted peanuts, chili, herbs, fish sauce … This mixture is boiled, fully mixed with the sour taste, sweet salty. Fish salad wrapped in spring rolls of the same kind of water makes the most demanding diners also nod. For the first time to enjoy the opaque fish salad, Ms. Pham Mai Hue from Ninh Binh shared: “I rarely eat salad, but the time I went back to Ha Tinh to play, I was introduced to the opaque fish salad, so I tried it and was correct. is delicious. Next time I have the opportunity to return to Ha Tinh, I still want to re-enjoy that special dish ”. Hen Duc Tho is properly processed to keep its taste and sweetness from being crushed. ( Photo by Duong Chien). On the contrary to Duc Tho, the cool sweetness of La river mussels will certainly not make you regret it for tasting. After the flood passed, it left phytoplankton a natural source of food to help mussels flourish and have a characteristic taste, sweeter than other regions. After the mussel is caught, it must be soaked in water to release mud, pick up grit and trash; then wash and boil the mussels to release the intestines. When you boil the mussels, the heat should be high enough so that the water will just boil for a short time until the mussels open, but the meat is not tender. Both the gut and the shell of the mussel sink but the flesh is lighter than the shell. When the shell is submerged, the intestines will float on the surface, so just quickly push the intestines of the mussels to another basket. The taste of the mussel dish holds many children away from home. Hen Duc Tho is often processed into many dishes such as cooking soup, cooking porridge, stir-frying bean sprouts with rice cakes … Hen is a clean food, completely handmade and living in a natural environment, today, it has become a specialty in restaurants and hotels. Many people in Ha Tinh who go far away still cannot forget the sweet taste of home specialties, so Duc Tho mussel also follows people to many other provinces and cities. The delicacies from aquatic and seafood have contributed to the branding of Ha Tinh cuisine, hidden in which the cultural values ​​of each region are unique features that attract tourists from near and far.