Nha Trang Snack: Banh Khot

As a coastal city with a very long white sand beach, Nha Trang has so many advantages for tourists compared to other seaside cities such as Danang, Hai Phong or Qui Nhon. Unfortunately, Vietnam Airlines has a virtual monopoly on routes to Nha Trang which means it's not cheap to go there for a short vacation. Once you are there, however, it's very affordable. The city has excellent street food dishes alongside its famed seafood options.



Most street food vendors in Nha Trang are specialising in dishes and snacks related to seafood. An example of this is banh khot (grilled pancake). Most people from the south make this cake but they usually make it plain or with eggs. In Nha Trang, it is made with squid, shrimps and eggs as well. They serve banh khot with two sauces, mam nem and a special nuoc mam. Mam nem (fermented fish residue) has a powerful smell but great flavor which is the best for banh khot, and nuoc mam (plain fish sauce) is also a great option. Other ingredients in both sauces can include mango, pineapple, sugar, garlic, water and Nha Trang Sim chili. Nha Trang Sim chili is very famous in Vietnam because it's not very big, has a very hot taste and fragrant aroma.



When making banh khot, the batter is poured into lightly oiled griller cups over a coal brazier.  Once the batter starts to bubble, the squid or shrimp or egg (or all three!) is added on the top, taking a few minutes to cook through. To make this cake sounds very easy but it requires a lot of preparation, especially cleaning up the seafood, make the dipping sauces and the fuel up to the coal braziers. Banh khot is a popular street food snack in Nha Trang, with most people eating it as a late afternoon snack or after dinner for supper. It's actually quite filling and heavy if you have about 8 or 10 of them with egg.

In Nha Trang, the best vendors are along Le Thanh Ton Street and at the beginning of 2/4 street, opposite the Cham Towers on the way out of town.

Nha Trang Cake

Almost every year, I go back to my hometown, Nhatrang for Tet (Lunar New Year) for at least a week to meet old friends, family and also to eat and relax. This year was a bit different compared to the last couple years because I had to work in between. It was very interesting wandering around with my clients and proudly talking about my hometown's amazing food. And for sure, I showed my clients all of my favorite places. Now they have some of my secrets.


One of my favorite dishes is called Banh Can. I ate it many times during my 2 week holidays for both breakfast and dinner. I love the way they cook the cake with either egg or seafood or mixed together. There are a number of people who don't really like this dish very much but I think its kind of unique. The rice flour batter is poured into little clay cups over a hot brazier, a quail egg is broken onto the top, sometimes a whisked chicken egg. Also I have enjoyed the cake with squid or shrimp steamed on it for a little while. The dipping sauce can be a challenge for some people; but I love "Mam Nem" a fermented fish sauce with a milder flavor than "Mam Tom". Added to the sauce is shredded green mango, stir fried spring onion, chilli and minced pork balls are served on the side. I love the rich and spicy taste of the dipping sauce and the smokiness of the grilled cake in my mouth. It creates a great flavor combination. This dish is not available in Hanoi. Perhaps that's a good thing as I would probably eat far too much of it.

Steamed Prawns With Beer

This is a very easy dish to cook; all you need to do is drink half of your beer and use the other half of the bottle to soak the prawns for about three to five minutes. But the amount of beer depends on how many prawns you are going to cook as the prawns must be just covered by beer.

Anyway, after three to five minutes soaking, put the pan on the heat and start cooking. Cooking time depends on the amount but normally, as a guide, for half a kilogram of prawns, it takes about 15 minutes. The prawns should come to the boil and then simmer for the remaining time on a lower heat.

Afterwards, you should have nice firm sweet prawn with a fainst hint of the beer. Dip in a simple paste of salt, pepper, lime amd chili.
Again, this recipe is from my good friend - Ly, who owns the very popular 86 Seafood Restaurant in Tran Phu St in Nha Trang.

Steamed Prawns In Coconut Juice

I think seafood a pretty popular choice for the most of the world's population. And for me prawns are the most special as we can cook it in so many ways. I usually cook seafood according to my best friend's recommendations; her family owns a well-known seafood restaurant in Nha Trang called Gio ("Wind") at 86 Tran Phu Street.

Yesterday, after a morning street food tour with my clients, I stopped by my regular seafood shop at the Nghi Tam market to buy some prawns for dinner. I decided to cook steamed prawns with coconut juice for dinner. This is one of my favorite dish and not very difficult to make, only needing a few minutes to cook. I got the recipe from my friend in Nha Trang. Let me know what you think.
Ingredients: Coconut juice, prawns, garlic
Boil the coconut juice, add the garlic (lightly mashed) and prawns for about 7 minutes.
Serve it with mixed salt, pepper, chili and lemon.
Don't forget to have a glass of white wine or beer when you enjoy this delicious and healthy prawn dish.