Huong Quynh

Join the main editor of Heritage Magazine in exploring Vung Tau’s tasty street food.

Rice flour and shrimp are key ingredients

I love to discover the local food culture when I explore a new region. Upon visiting Ba Ria – Vung Tau, I had a long list of attractions and delicious dishes recommended by friends or praised on social media. Join me in sampling this coastal town’s tasty street food.

Bánh khọt (Khot pancakes)

Many provinces in Vietnam’s Center and South serve up khot pancakes – a treat enjoyed more as a snack than as a full meal. Upon visiting a stall selling these tiny savory pancakes on Hoang Hoa Tham Street, I watched the cook skillfully pour the batter into the molds and quizzed her about the origins of this peculiarly named dish. She speculated that it probably originated from bánh căn, a similar type of pancake found in some provinces of Central Vietnam.

Vung Tau’s khot pancakes are made from rice flour, which is ground into a paste, fermented overnight, and mixed with other “secret” ingredients that vary with every chef. The filling contains the salty taste of the sea thanks to various types of seafood, including scallops, squid, or – most commonly – shrimp.

The metal mold is easy to heat on the stove. The baker quickly pours the batter into each adorable cup. The filling is placed in the middle and garnished with scallions to look beautiful. It only takes three or four minutes to prepare a batch of these delicious and pretty pancakes. Customers wrap the little pancakes in lettuce leaves and various herbs before dipping them into fish sauce mixed with salty, sour, and spicy ingredients. The delicious taste of khot pancakes will certainly impress visitors on a tour of Vung Tau’s street food.

Bánh canh ghẹ (Thick noodle soup with sentinel crabs)

Bánh canh (thick noodle soup) is a rustic dish found throughout Central Vietnam and in some southern provinces. In Ba Ria Vung Tau, bánh canh ghẹ (thick noodle soup with sentinel crabs) is a must-try delicacy. The star ingredient is the meat of freshly steamed and shelled sentinel crabs. The noodles are made from rice flour mixed with tapioca starch, and the broth is derived from simmered bones along with dried shrimp and sentinel crabs, giving it a rich and aromatic ocean flavor. Depending on the restaurant, there are various additional toppings, such as mantis shrimp, fish cakes, squid, and quail eggs. The noodles are boiled in a flavorful broth. Once ladled into a bowl, attractive toppings are sprinkled on top. The dish is garnished with scallions and cilantro and drizzled with hot broth. Add some crispy fried shallots and you have a bowl of bánh canh ghẹ that looks as good as it tastes.

This soup has the rich taste and aroma of the sea

Gỏi cá mai (White sardine salad rolls)

Wherever there is fresh seafood, there are delicious salad dishes. While Vung Tau boasts many salads, white sardine salad rolls stand out. White sardines have flat, thin bodies and a transparent white color with a silver stripe on their sides. Like anchovies, they are cleaned and marinated with spices such as lime, garlic, pepper, and chili, then mixed with powdered grilled rice. The secret to delicious white sardine salad rolls lies in the dipping sauce, which is made from fish sauce, crushed peanuts, lime, garlic, chili, sugar, and whole toasted sesame seeds.

Diners roll the white sardines in rice paper with a variety of herbs, sliced star fruit, and green bananas. A perfect sardine salad roll has the fresh sweetness of the fish, the sourness of limes and star fruit, the acrid taste of green bananas, the aroma of grilled rice flour and herbs, the spicy heat of chili, pepper, and garlic, plus the nutty flavors of toasted sesame seeds and peanuts. Thanks to these balanced and attractive flavors, diners remember these salad rolls made from cute little fish.

Lẩu cá đuối (Stingray hotpot)

When visiting Vung Tau, if you want a delicious meal that consists of a single dish, opt for stingray hotpot. This hotpot is served in many restaurants, and the secret lies in the freshness of the fish. After being cleaned, the fresh stingray is marinated with onions, ginger, fish sauce, and pepper, then stir-fried to produce firm, chewy, and richly sweet pieces of fish. The hotpot’s broth is quite simple and includes tomatoes, pineapple, lemongrass, a bit of spicy chili, and fresh bamboo shoots stir-fried with onions and garlic. When served, the stir-fried fish is added to the boiling broth, accompanied by various types of vegetables, thinly sliced banana flowers, and rice noodles. Gathering around an aromatic stingray hotpot with soft, sweet, and richly flavored pieces of fish is a wonderful culinary experience in this coastal town.