Banana blossom salad is a familiar dish in Vietnam. This dish is called banana cabbage salad in the North of Vietnam, and it is called banana salad in The South. It is one of the rustic dishes with bold rural flavor and is popular in all three regions of the North, Central and South. In particular, coming to Can Tho, visitors can feel the distinct flavor of the Mekong-Delta-style banana blossom salad.
By Thomas Vietnam at vemekong.com | All Best Foods & Restaurants in Can Tho
1. Better to Know as a Food Lover
Find them: Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho city.
Best time: Dusk-Dawn
Don’t miss: Banana blossom
Local’s pick: Chanh map restaurant
Tourist’s pick: Lua Nep restaurant, Hoa Su restaurant…
Blog: https://vemekong.com/banana-blossom-salad-can-tho-food/
Facts: Nowadays, banana cabbage salad has appeared on the menus of restaurants, large and small eateries all over Vietnam. It has become one of the dishes with a national flavor, rustic and cool.
2. Better to Know Banana Blossom salad
Eating Banana Blossom salad has the effect of:
Improve Uterine Health
Banana flower is one of the “golden” foods for the female uterus. This food provides iron, copper and calcium, ingredients that help strengthen the uterine wall and prevent inflammatory problems. This effect will be increased if you take it with other spices and herbs such as fresh turmeric, pepper or cumin.
For pregnant women, banana flower is also a “remedy” to help you feel healthier. Because the consumption of boiled bananas has the ability to control the production of the hormone progesterone. This is the hormone involved in cramping, bleeding that can occur during the first and last trimesters of pregnancy.
Banana cabbage also contains a significant amount of magnesium, a mineral that is very beneficial in early pregnancy because it helps improve mood and effectively fight morning sickness. Many pregnant women also say that drinking boiled banana flower water early in the morning will limit unpleasant nausea symptoms. However, to be on the safe side, you should consult your doctor before doing so!
Regulate menstruation
Another use of banana flowers is to help regulate the menstrual cycle. Accordingly, every woman has a different menstrual situation, quite a few have to experience premenstrual symptoms, while others experience excessive bleeding. Fortunately, bananas can help you with this problem thanks to their ability to boost the production of the hormone progesterone, which reduces blood flow.
Usage is quite simple, you just need to chop the banana, cook sour soup or cook it and then serve it with cheese or yogurt as a salad. A plus point when using this dish is that it provides fiber content and many nutritional ingredients. In particular, fiber is one of the essential factors for effective weight control.
In addition to the above benefits, banana flower is also a great natural remedy for menstrual pain. According to a study, banana flower tea can help relieve menstrual pain. Wash the banana flower, cut it into small pieces and then let it dry or dry. Then, let the flowers dry for about 5-7 minutes before using the tea.
Increase lactation
In folklore, the stewed banana flower dish is used as a remedy to help clear milk, “calling for milk” to feed the baby.
In addition, postpartum mothers are also encouraged to consume other foods such as banana flower cooked with shrimp, banana flower salad, etc. so that the baby can receive nutrition from breast milk, helping the baby grow and develop comprehensively…
In addition, the nutrients in banana flowers have also been shown to promote wound healing during childbirth, inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria, thereby protecting the mother from diseases. infection.
Lower blood pressure
Hypertension (or high blood pressure) is a disease that occurs when the pressure of the blood against the walls of the arteries is increased. The disease is likened to a “silent killer” because the entire progression of the disease takes place silently without symptoms. It is an obvious fact that today there are millions of people suffering from this health problem without even knowing it.
Accordingly, high blood pressure puts a lot of pressure on the heart and can cause dangerous complications such as cerebrovascular accidents, heart failure, myocardial infarction …
To reduce these risks, patients must change their lifestyle, adhere to the treatment regimen and combine with natural therapies, such as using bananas. Explaining this benefit, experts say that the composition of banana flowers including flavonoids, tannins, amino acids and antioxidant compounds have protected the body from the harmful effects of free radicals – the cause of many different diseases, especially cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Treatment of anemia
An indispensable use of banana flower is to support the treatment of anemia. This condition usually occurs when the body does not have enough healthy blood cells to carry oxygen to the cells and tissues.
There are many different types of anemia, ranging from temporary to long-term. In general, if you have anemia, you will feel tired and weak with symptoms such as irregular heartbeat, dizziness, headache, pale skin, cold hands and feet.
Accordingly, some types of anemia can be solved with a healthy diet, a variety of foods rich in iron – an essential component involved in the production of red blood cells. The great thing is that this mineral is present a lot in bananas. So, do not forget to add this food to your daily menu!
Food safe for people with diabetes
People with diabetes need to monitor their blood sugar regularly. Because if this index rises suddenly, it can easily lead to many complications such as circulatory arrest, impaired vision, itching and tingling sensations in hands, feet or even death if no measures are taken. timely intervention.
To prevent these problems from happening, you need to try to keep blood sugar levels stable by many measures, including adopting a high-fiber diet such as bananas. This ingredient works to keep you full for a long time, thereby preventing a sudden spike in blood sugar, limiting health risks for patients.
Improve kidney function
Kidneys are one of the important organs of the body. Every day, the kidneys make 1-2 liters of urine. The composition of urine includes residue and excess fluid. Imagine without the kidneys, waste and excess fluid would accumulate and harm the body. In addition to this function, the kidneys also play a role in regulating blood pressure, participating in red blood cell production, producing essential hormones, and keeping electrolyte levels stable.
As can be seen, the kidneys are essential for all the normal functioning of the body. The good news is that the use of banana flower helps to nourish the kidneys, and prevent kidney and urinary problems if we consume it sensibly.
In folklore, young bananas are also used to treat kidney stones. In the traditional way, people will cook the banana flower and stem for drinking within 2 weeks. In addition to kidney stones, cystitis is also said to improve when the patient adds banana flowers to the diet.
Solve Digestive Problems
For those who are having stomach problems, banana cabbage is definitely a great “savior”. In essence, banana flower is alkaline, so it will neutralize excess acid, and reduce pain and irritation in the stomach.
Besides, the high fiber content and nutritional components in banana flowers also act as a natural “laxative” to help overcome constipation effectively.
In case of indigestion, you can also try banana flower. However, if you do not see improvement, you should consult your doctor. By persistent status is also a warning sign of possible more serious problems.
Similarly, banana flower also has an anti-sadness effect for pregnant women in the first week. For peace of mind, you should check with your doctor before consuming any new products during pregnancy.
Prevent Aging
Theoretically, the original accumulated in the body is aging. Free radicals mark themselves electronically from proteins and DNA molecules in the skin, causing stress and damage to cells. In addition, exposure to factors such as UV rays from sunlight, pollution, and cigarette smoke also increase proliferation by itself.
To reverse the aging process and regain a youthful appearance, consume foods rich in antioxidants. In particular, banana flowers have been shown to have high levels of vitamin C, tannins and flavonoids which are all free body antioxidant compounds that protect from free radical damage.
3. Banana Blossom Salad in Can Tho
This dish in Can Tho has a harmonious taste between the four flavors “salty, sweet, sour, spicy”, when eaten, there is the aroma of flowers, herbs, the crunchy feeling of pig’s ears and a little fleshy bean. served with sweet and sour fish sauce, making it hard for people to forget. A plate of banana flower salad with full colors and flavors will surely make a cozy meal with family members gathered together on the tray of rice.
4. How to Make Banana Blossom salad
Ingredients:
1 banana flower (small)
1 pig ear
2 cucumbers
2 sour star fruit
1 carrot
100g peanuts
2 red horn peppers
Herbs, mint basil
Spices, sugar, vinegar, fish sauce
How to make pig ear banana blossom salad:
Step 1:
First, you thinly slice banana flowers, you should choose young banana flowers, if you choose old banana flowers, they will be bitter, when making mannequins, they will be hard.
Thinly slice banana flowers, then immediately soak in rice water or cold water with a little lemon/vinegar. This little tip will help the pig’s ear banana flower salad not to darken, having a certain crispiness when eaten.
You soak banana flowers for about 15 minutes, then wash and drain the scales.
Step 2:
Purchased pig ears are washed with water, rubbed with salt or vinegar or white wine to clean and deodorize.
Then put on the stove to boil for about 15 minutes, when the pig’s ears are cooked, take them out and let them cool. Then you cut the pork ears into thin, long pieces.
Step 3:
Peeled garlic, minced
Chili washed, seeded, chopped
Wash the star fruit and cut it into thin slices.
Peel the cucumber, soak it in rice water to release the plastic, then cut it into long, thin pieces.
Step 4:
Roast peanuts and then incubate them in a cloth to make them crispy. When roasting, remember to keep the heat on medium, stir well because otherwise it will burn very quickly.
Peel the peanuts and pound them into small pieces. Pay attention not to crush too much, you just need to pound the peanuts into 2, 3 pieces.
Step 5:
Mix the salad dressing according to the ratio: 3 teaspoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of vinegar (You can replace it with lemon juice if you want), 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, garlic, and chopped chili.
Put the banana flower, pig’s ear, star fruit, raw vegetables, cucumber in a bowl, add the water mixed with the mannequin to stir well and season to taste.
Step 6: Finished Product
Finally, you wait about 15 minutes for the ingredients to infuse the spices, then put the mannequin on a plate and enjoy. Crispy pig ear banana flower salad, sure to make you and your family satisfied. Don’t forget to garnish with a few slices of herbs!
Let’s start making pig ear banana flower salad right away. Wishing you success and delicious food!
5. Pro tips:
Here are our tips for easing your mind (and stomach) around food-handling environments that you may not be used to.
Make sure the food is freshly cooked. If you’re eating hot street food, it’s always safest (not to mention more delicious) to eat food you can see being cooked to order.
Look for lines and busy stalls. Busy street food stalls are an indicator of popularity, and their high turnover rate means the food is never sitting out for hours and developing dreaded bacteria. Yes, long lines can be discouraging when you’re hungry after a full day of exploring, but it’s not worth the risk of grabbing precooked food from the empty spot next door.
Eat when the locals are eating. The last and most important element here is when to eat. You’re likely already on a weird eating schedule while you’re traveling, but it’s important to try and adjust to the eating times of where you are. A bowl of pho might be lunch for Americans, but it’s breakfast for the Vietnamese. This ensures that you’re eating freshly cooked food and that you can find the best and most popular places to eat.
If you can’t drink the water, then you can’t eat the salad. Most people get so hung up on not drinking the water or skipping ice in drinks that they don’t think about all of the other ways in which water is used in food service. Fruits and vegetables tend to be washed with tap water in most places, rather than the filtered water that locals drink—or sometimes it’s not washed at all. If you’re really craving some produce, try fruits you can peel or cooked veggies.
Trust your gut. If you’re unsure about the food or the way that it’s being prepared, then keep moving. Eating street food all over the world doesn’t make you an expert. Every stall and every country are different, and sometimes the rules can be harder to follow. When something doesn’t look, smell, or feel right, don’t eat it! Trust your judgment. Chances are that there’s another spot close by that’s making something more delicious.
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Can Tho: Co Ut’s Cong cake, Ut Dzach Fine Rice Vermicelli, Thanh Van Grilled Pork Sausage, Crab Noodle Soup At Floating Market, Scorched Rice with Caramelized Fish Sauce, 7-Toi’s Duck Meat Pancake, Banh Mi Thuy, Banana Blossom Salad, Fried Spring Rolls, Fresh Spring Rolls, Fetal duck egg (balut), Honeycomb Cake, Mini Sticky Rice Cake, Cassava Silkworm Cake, Grilled Banana Wrapped in Sticky Rice, Khmer-style Bun Goi Da Soup, Egg Coffee, Con Son Grilled Snakehead Fish, Bun Mam – Fermented Fish Noodle Soup, Lau Mam – Fermented Fish Hotpot, Grilled Snails with Pepper, Magenta Sticky Rice Cake, Duck cooked with Fermented Tofu, Rice Noodle Pizza, Vegetarian Noodle Soup, Snails Stuffed With Pork…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Chau Doc: Chau Doc Fish Noodle Soup, Sugar Palm Fruit, Basa Fish Hot Pot, Mam (Fermented fish), Phu Huong Beef Noodle Soup, Broken Rice with Pork Chop, Long Xuyen Broken Rice, Nui Cam Pancake, O Thum’s Chicken Grilled with Lime Leaves, Stir-fried Shrimp with Sesbania Flower, Sweet & Sour Soup with Siamese Mud Carp Soup & Sesbania Flower, Caramelized & Braised Catfish, Grilled Rice-field Rat with Salt and Chili…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Soc Trang: Pia Cake, Cong Cake (Banh Cong), Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang’s Noodle Soup, Soc Trang’s Bun Goi Da Soup, Duck Noodle Soup with black Pepper, Curry Noodle Soup, Grilled Beef on Tile, Khmer-style Tube Cake, Khmer-style Mung Bean Cake (Banh In), Dried Radish (Xa Bau), Stir-Fried Noodles with Seafood (Mi Sua), Soc Trang’s Green Rice Flakes…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ben Tre: Phu Le Rice Wine, Ben Tre’s Coconut Candy, Flat Banana, Coconut Rice, Snail Pancake, Sea Snail with Coconut Milk, Coconut Worm, Young Coconut Salad with Shrimp & Pork, Son Doc Puff Rice Paper…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Cai Be: Puffed Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Vinh Long: Elephant Ear Fish (fried giant gourami)…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in My Tho: Fried Sticky Rice, Snakehead Fish Rice Porridge, Hu Tieu My Tho (Noodle Soup), Coconut Banana Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Tra Vinh: Macapuno Coconut, Bun Nuoc Leo Tra Vinh’s Noodle Soup, Tra Cuon’s Sticky Rice Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Sadec: Sa Dec Noodle Soup, Sadec Crab Hotpot, Lai Vung Spring Rolls, Sa Giang Shrimp Puff Pastry, Lai Vung Tangerine…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Bac Lieu: Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, Bac Lieu’s Three-striped Crab, White Radish Pies, Bac Lieu Thick Noodles & Creamy Coconut Milk, Bon Bon Pickles…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ca Mau: Banh tam ga cay (Silkworm rice cake with curried chicken), Grilled Vop clams with salt and pepper, Grilled Mudskipper Fish, Stone Crab Roast With Salt, Young Bee Salad, Nam Can’s Crab, U Minh Forest’s Honey, U Minh’s Fermented Fish Hotpot…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Hau Giang: Cau Duc Pineapple, Cai Tac’s Pork Organs Porridge, Hau Giang’s Bronze Featherback Fish Cake…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ha Tien: Herring Fish Salad, Spider crab cake soup, Ken Noodle soup, Xoi Xiem (Siamese sticky rice), Steamed Noodle soup, Ha Tien Oyster porridge…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Rach Gia: Stir Noodle Soup, Kien Giang Fish Noodle Soup…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Con Dao: Bang nut jam, Vu Nang Snail, Roasted Pork Bread (Banh Mi), Coconut Ice Cream…
Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Phu Quoc: Phu Quoc Sim Wine, Phu Quoc Pepper, Phu Quoc fish sauce…
Hopefully, the above tips will help you to come up with a great plan for your adventure in Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. Have a safe trip!
“Sleep less, travel more, respect more” – Thomas Vietnam – Local travel expert.
Thank you