Fatty, sweet, and fragrant… are not simply a rustic snack of “coconut land”, but Ben Tre Flat banana is also considered a unique specialty, the result of a combination of harmony between banana and coconut. These are two famous products of the land of Ben Tre.
By Thomas Vietnam at vemekong.com | All Best Foods & Restaurants in Ben Tre
1. Better to Know as a Food Lover
Find them: Ben Tre city.
Best time: Dusk-Dawn
Don’t miss: Flat Banana
Local’s pick: Ba Tam Flat BananaRestaurant
Tourist’s pick: Flat Banana Restaurant in Ben Tre
Blog: https://vemekong.com/flat-banana-ben-tre/
Facts: Banana Flat Ben Tre is not only a snack food but also a nostalgia for expatriates when it comes to Ben Tre. Just imagine on cold days, sitting and enjoying the fragrant pieces of banana mixed with hot fat coconut milk, oh well… want to eat it right away.
2. Better to Know Flat Banana
In Vietnamese culinary culture, coconut and banana are considered a “double” with high harmony. Many delicious dishes are born from combining coconut and banana. Having bananas without coconut is considered a dish that cannot have a full taste, without the delicious, naturally sweet and fatty taste of coconut. Banana with coconut milk is considered a typical example of the quintessential combination of bananas and coconuts of the land of Ben Tre. Although it is simply a snack, bananas with coconut milk are extremely attractive, becoming a “favorite” dish that causes much “nostalgia” for many people who have enjoyed it even once.
In the delicious dishes specializing in Ben Tre, bananas Flat with coconut milk have a fairly simple way of making. However, in order to get a delicious banana battered coconut milk dish, the stage of choosing ingredients needs to pay attention to many requirements. Bananas must be Siamese bananas that are just ripe, local people often call them “ripe Huong Huong”. Because bananas are just ripe, they will not be too hard nor too mushy, have just enough flexibility, when baking, they will hunt and eat. And if you choose overripe bananas, they are often mushy, baked without toughness and hunt, easy to eat.
3. Flat Banana in Ben Tre
Bananas are separated, cut in half and placed on a charcoal grill for about 5 minutes to drain and hunt again. Next, put the banana in a plastic wrap or put it directly on a cutting board and then pound it hard to flatten it. The bananas are then grilled again on a charcoal stove. Bake evenly on both sides until the banana turns from a natural opaque white to a slightly yellow color, it is ripe and can be used. During the baking process, the cook must constantly turn both sides of the bananas evenly, otherwise the bananas are easy to burn.
As for coconut milk, to have delicious coconut milk, people often grate dried coconut squeezed in a mosquito net to get water. Then put the obtained essence in a saucepan over low heat. When cooking, it is necessary to stir well. Many places add a little tapioca starch to make the juice thicker when eating. Near the end of the fire, add a little salt, a little sugar, and finely chopped scallions for more flavor and aroma.
Put bananas on a plate, when eating, you can sprinkle coconut milk on top, or eaters can directly dip bananas into a cup of coconut water. Enjoying Ben Tre’s banana with coconut milk, visitors feel the ingenuity in combining many flavors together in a very harmonious way. The first is greasy, slightly salty, sweet, and fragrant coconut milk, the second is a sweet banana with a bit of natural acrid taste… all blended together so deliciously that people eat it. One plate wants to eat another plate. Bananas with coconut milk in Ben Tre are suitable for mid-afternoon snacks. It’s cool in the afternoon, sitting by the river, under the rustling coconut canopy, eating a plate of bananas Flat with coconut milk, nothing is “better”.
4. How to Make Flat Banana
Preparation materials:
The banana chosen to make this dish must be a ripe Siamese banana, which Westerners often call “ripe pink”.
The reason to choose this is because at this stage, the banana has just enough flexibility, neither too hard nor too mushy, when baked, it will be very tasty.
Making:
Banana peeled, cut in half, put on the stove to bake for about 5 minutes to drain.
Then, take the bananas down, put them in plastic wrap or put them on a cutting board.
Continue to smash bananas on the charcoal stove, turning both sides evenly. When the milky white color turns to light yellow, then the banana is ripe.
This stage must be very quick, otherwise the banana will be burned and lose its taste.
Bake bananas:
After baking the bananas, we continue to make coconut milk. Grated dry coconut squeezes out the juice, stirs on the stove, can add a little tapioca starch to increase the consistency.
Usually, people often add a little onion, a little salt and sugar to taste and smell good.
Enjoy Flat bananas:
Put bananas on a plate, sprinkle coconut milk on top and you’re done.
You can make this dish yourself at home during the holidays to treat your friends.
Bananas with coconut milk are quite difficult to find, mainly only sold at street vendors, but only “intestinal” customers are easy to find that place.
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.
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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…
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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…
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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
