Country people love their hometown dishes

Quang Nam rice paper with fish sauce. Photo: XUAN HIEN

Vietnamese cuisine is so rich that each region has its own unique flavor, preparation, and eating method. For example, the familiar rice paper dish, each region has its own way of making rice paper from different types of rice, and of course, the way of eating it is also different!

Rice paper - a unique way to eat

Thanks to my Quang friends, I was guided on how to eat Hoi An’s famous rice paper right in the heart of Saigon. If Southerners have been faithful to the way of eating grilled rice paper “scooped” with salad for many years, Quang people also have a unique way of eating it: grilled rice paper with Quang noodles and rice paper dipped in Hoi An’s famous fish sauce.

Banh trang dap is a popular snack of Quang people. A grilled rice paper holds a wet noodle sheet that has just been rolled, spread with fragrant fried onions and peanut oil, then another grilled rice paper is placed on the outside, forming 3 layers.

When eating, customers place their hands in the middle of the cake, press down, and lightly hit it to break it (hence the name "banh dap"), then tear off small pieces of cake and dip them in fish sauce. At first glance, the wet cake looks like a Southern rice roll. But when placed between two layers of crispy grilled rice paper, it becomes a unique Quang Nam dish called "banh dap". When we pick up each piece of "banh dap" and dip it into a bowl of anchovy fish sauce, skillfully mixed with a little Quang Nam peanut oil, we can feel the delicious taste permeating our teeth!

In the middle of Saigon, there is a market specializing in Quang dishes. Shops selling Quang snacks and full meals are also increasing on every street. All alleys, big and small, have shops selling dishes from all over the country.

But a true Saigonese who wants to eat delicious, authentic Quang dishes must have a native of Quang to guide them. It’s like when setting foot on a certain land, we will feel secure when there is a “local” to guide us. When going out to eat, I’m not afraid of getting “lost” because I have a friend to guide me carefully on how to eat, I’m only afraid of getting “lost” among the myriad of local dishes with strange names and not being able to resist the appeal.

The first time you took me to eat rice paper, it was also the first time my culinary taste was “enlightened” by another layer: the rice paper has 3 layers, two dry and one wet, which seem to be opposites but they embrace each other harmoniously. The dry and crispy texture of the 2 puffed layers of grilled rice paper on the outside protects the wet layer inside, and the layer of fried peanut oil and onion brings out the fragrant aroma. The wet layer seems to soothe the dry layer, the crispiness of the dry grilled rice paper on the outside will slow down a bit, matching the soft and fragrant aroma of the wet layer inside, adding the salty and sweet taste of the skillfully mixed fish sauce with a bit of ground pineapple and fragrant fried peanut oil and onion.

Hometown delicacies

In the midst of this bustling city, my Quang friends still keep a deep love for their hometown dishes. It is not clear when the dish of banh trang dap appeared, but perhaps it has been around for a very long time in the villages.

You said that since you learned to spell, you saw your grandmother sitting by the fire making rice cakes. The simple rice cake is not only a childhood gift but also a dish that can be eaten instead of rice when the family does not have time to measure rice. Now, rice cake has become one of the most delicious dishes in Hoi An, next to Cao Lau. It is also a favorite dish for tourists to explore the cuisine when they set foot in Quang.

Even though the people of Quang Nam have gone to find a living far away, they still carry the taste of their homeland with them. The meals of those far away from home still contain the taste of their homeland in every bowl of fish sauce, in the rustic rice paper dish, or in the bowl of noodles with the fragrant smell of fried shallots with peanut oil, or the braised fish dishes full of the taste of the Central region...

The way you cherish each piece of banh dap, dip the fish sauce in it until it's all gone... is truly delicious! You said, I'm a country person, if I don't know how to appreciate the delicious food from my hometown, it will always be a mistake. Homeland is the land where I grew up. I grew up with the dishes from my hometown that I treated throughout my childhood, whether full or lacking, the flavors of those dishes from my hometown will follow me throughout my long life!

When a country person loves his hometown food, a Vietnamese person cherishes Vietnamese dishes with the rich flavor of his hometown, every Vietnamese dish will forever be a delicious dish in the mind of those far from home! And from there, that delicious dish will spread further on the Vietnamese culinary map.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/nguoi-que-thuong-lay-mon-que-3265031.html