Rice Snail Pancake – Eat Best Food in Ben Tre
Rice Snail Pancake – Eat Best Food in Ben Tre

Banh xeo (pancake) is a popular delicious cake of people in the North, Central and South regions in Vietnam. Each region has a different way of making banh xeo from ingredients, cake size to dipping sauce, with its own unique local characteristics. For the people of the South, banh xeo is not simply made from bacon or silver shrimp, but also combined with rice snails to create a unique flavor, bearing the imprint of the Mekong Delta river. If Dong Thap is famous for Cao Lanh pancakes, Ben Tre attracts tourists with rice snail pancakes.

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: Rice snail pancake

Local’s pick: Hoa rice snail pancake restaurant

Tourist’s pick: Rice snail pancake restaurant in Ben Tre

Blog: https://vemekong.com/rice-snail-pancake-ben-tre/

Facts: It’s called rice snail pancakes because the filling of banh xeo is the sweet meat of rice snails

2. Better to Know Rice snail pancake

Rice snail pancake is a favorite rustic dish of Phu Da people (Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province), especially on the occasion of Doan Ngo New Year (i.e. the 5th day of the 5th lunar month). In the journey to visit Ben Tre, if you have the opportunity to visit Cho Lach, you cannot ignore the famous rice snail pancakes.

It is said to be a rustic dish, but not every season has rice snails to make pancakes. The rice snail season usually starts from April to July of the lunar calendar every year and the most delicious is in the May of the lunar calendar. At that time, the rice snail was fat and round, the meat was full, and it was delicious to eat until it absorbed the tip of the tongue. It is not a coincidence that people in the West in general and people in Ben Tre in particular eat rice snail pancakes on the occasion of the Lunar New Year. The ancients believed that: In the human body, especially the digestive system, there are often hidden insects that live, if not eliminated, the insects will multiply and cause harm to each person. To “exterminate insects” on the Lunar New Year, people often eat fruits, sticky rice or cakes. In the western provinces, the fifth lunar month is also the rice snail season, so the dishes of this day are skillfully and eye-catching, especially rice snail pancakes.

3. Rice snail pancake in Ben Tre

Traveling to Ben Tre without enjoying rice snail pancakes is a mistake. Rice snail pancakes are delicious, crispy, delicious, once tasted, it will be difficult to forget the taste. To make rice snail pancakes, the most important ingredient is rice snails. Before bringing the snails to boil, people often put the snails in a bowl of water to wash the soaked rice with crushed chili peppers so that the snails can release all their sebum. Boiled rice snails take out into a bowl, use a bamboo toothpick or needle to remove the snail meat. Then, stir-fry rice snails with thinly sliced ​​onions and chives, season to taste and taste the delicious pancakes.

For a delicious rice snail pancake, in addition to the filling, the crust is also an important ingredient. First, you have to mix the flour to make pancakes with coconut milk, eggs, turmeric powder and thinly sliced ​​green onions. The process of making pancakes is quite simple, but requires the maker to be skillful and meticulous so that the cake is round and the edge of the cake is not torn. Pour a little flour into the pan, spread it very thin, then add the rice snail filling and roll it up, deep-fry the two sides of the cake. Add chopped cassava roots (beans) and bean sprouts to increase the sweetness of the cake, helping people not to get fed up. Rice snails, milky white meat, and fragrant fat are spread evenly in the heart of the cake. When the cake is done, fold it in half and scoop it out onto a plate. The cake is served with lemon garlic chili fish sauce and raw vegetables such as mustard greens, lettuce, sprouts, herbs, cucumbers…

Rice snail pancake is a delicious dish that visitors should try when traveling to Ben Tre. Visitors can easily find banh xeo shops on the roadside or in eco-tourism areas. A tray of rice snail pancakes is served with vegetables and dipping sauces, attracting diners. When enjoying, put raw vegetables in the palm of your hand, pick up a piece of pancake mixed with rice snail meat and then roll it up and dip it in a cup of lemon fish sauce, garlic and chili, and slowly chew it in your mouth. The sweet and crispy taste of snail meat is mixed with the fatty and aromatic taste of rice flour to form an attractive dish.

4. How to Make Rice snail pancake

Ingredients for making rice snail pancakes

Rice flour

Rice snail

Turmeric powder

Coconut

Water

Bean sprouts, herbs, broccoli,….

Seasoning: Fish sauce, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, cooking oil,….

How to make rice snail pancakes

Step 1: Prepare ingredients

Rice snails, when brought back to soak with water to wash rice, let the snails release all the dirt, then wash and put in a pot of water with a little salt, monosodium glutamate, add a little water to boil until the snails are cooked, then take them out. take the snail meat inside. Next, stir-fry the snail’s flesh with some thinly sliced ​​onion and chives, then turn off the heat and scoop out into a bowl.

Step 2: Make cake dough

Western pancakes often have the sweet and fatty taste of coconut milk. So when making pancake flour, mix the flour with a little turmeric powder and add some spices including: sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, coconut milk and finely chopped scallions. Adjust seasoning to taste. The cake batter must have a moderate consistency so that the finished cake has a delicious crispness.

Step 3: Fry the cake

Put the pan on the stove, heat it with a little cooking oil coated with cashews all over the pan. When the oil is boiling, use a patch to stir the dough, then scoop the flour into the pan and coat it all over the pan into a thin layer of dough. Next, spread the rice snail evenly into the cake, add a little sprout, then cover it for about 3 minutes, then open the lid and cook for another minute until the cake is golden and crispy, then fold the cake in half and then take it out on a plate. Do the same until you run out of ingredients.

Step 4: Done

When the cake is cooked, it is placed on a plate with herbs, broccoli and a bowl of dipping sauce. The way to make rice snail pancakes is not difficult, the only extreme step is to soak the rice snails and remove the snail’s intestines, but when you enjoy it, you will feel the delicious, crispy, sweet taste of snail meat mixed with the fatty and aromatic flavor of the pancake batter. mixed with sweet and sour dipping sauce.

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 cakeUt Dzach Fine Rice VermicelliThanh Van Grilled Pork SausageCrab Noodle Soup At Floating MarketScorched Rice with Caramelized Fish Sauce7-Toi’s Duck Meat PancakeBanh Mi ThuyBanana Blossom SaladFried Spring RollsFresh Spring RollsFetal duck egg (balut)Honeycomb CakeMini Sticky Rice CakeCassava Silkworm CakeGrilled Banana Wrapped in Sticky RiceKhmer-style Bun Goi Da SoupEgg CoffeeCon Son Grilled Snakehead FishBun Mam – Fermented Fish Noodle SoupLau Mam – Fermented Fish HotpotGrilled Snails with PepperMagenta Sticky Rice CakeDuck cooked with Fermented TofuRice Noodle PizzaVegetarian Noodle SoupSnails Stuffed With Pork

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Chau Doc: Chau Doc Fish Noodle SoupSugar Palm FruitBasa Fish Hot PotMam (Fermented fish)Phu Huong Beef Noodle Soup, Broken Rice with Pork Chop, Long Xuyen Broken RiceNui Cam PancakeO Thum’s Chicken Grilled with Lime LeavesStir-fried Shrimp with Sesbania FlowerSweet & Sour Soup with Siamese Mud Carp Soup & Sesbania FlowerCaramelized & Braised CatfishGrilled Rice-field Rat with Salt and Chili

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Soc Trang: Pia CakeCong Cake (Banh Cong)Bun Nuoc Leo Soc Trang’s Noodle SoupSoc Trang’s Bun Goi Da SoupDuck Noodle Soup with black PepperCurry Noodle SoupGrilled Beef on TileKhmer-style Tube CakeKhmer-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 WineBen Tre’s Coconut CandyFlat BananaCoconut RiceSnail PancakeSea Snail with Coconut MilkCoconut WormYoung Coconut Salad with Shrimp & PorkSon 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 RiceSnakehead Fish Rice PorridgeHu Tieu My Tho (Noodle Soup)Coconut Banana Cake

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Tra Vinh: Macapuno CoconutBun Nuoc Leo Tra Vinh’s Noodle SoupTra Cuon’s Sticky Rice Cake

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Sadec: Sa Dec Noodle SoupSadec Crab HotpotLai Vung Spring RollsSa Giang Shrimp Puff PastryLai Vung Tangerine

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Bac Lieu: Spicy Beef Noodle SoupBac Lieu’s Three-striped CrabWhite Radish PiesBac Lieu Thick Noodles & Creamy Coconut MilkBon 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 pepperGrilled Mudskipper FishStone Crab Roast With SaltYoung Bee SaladNam Can’s CrabU Minh Forest’s HoneyU Minh’s Fermented Fish Hotpot

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Hau Giang: Cau Duc PineappleCai Tac’s Pork Organs PorridgeHau Giang’s Bronze Featherback Fish Cake

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Ha Tien: Herring Fish SaladSpider crab cake soupKen Noodle soupXoi Xiem (Siamese sticky rice)Steamed Noodle soupHa Tien Oyster porridge

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Rach Gia: Stir Noodle SoupKien Giang Fish Noodle Soup

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Con Dao: Bang nut jamVu Nang SnailRoasted Pork Bread (Banh Mi)Coconut Ice Cream

Must-Eat Foods & Restaurants in Phu Quoc: Phu Quoc Sim WinePhu Quoc PepperPhu 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


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