Buzz
Steaming hot cakes, freshly cooked to perfection, are placed on a vibrant green plastic plate. Customers can add a dash of cilantro, sweet and sour papaya, cucumber, roll the cake, and then dip it into a bowl of spicy fish sauce. The cakes are hot, and everyone eating them can't help but blow and savor the flavors. Despite their small size, these cakes are packed with rich tastes: the creamy richness of oil, the chewiness of the cake, the crispiness of pickled papaya, all enhanced by the fragrances of cilantro, meat, and eggs... All blending together to create a unique flavor of pressed cakes. This addictive dish makes customers order more even before finishing one, stacking those green plates high. When it's time to pay, the owner just counts the number of plates and calculates the bill. Counting plates and comparing with friends to see who ate more is also a fun activity for the cake eaters.
Perhaps the determining factor for whether the pressed cakes are delicious or not lies in the dipping sauce and the skill of the owner. Some places use pure industrial fish sauce, mixed with chili powder. Others have ready-made sweet and sour fish sauce with garlic and chili, while some use fish sauce mixed with chili sauce or roasted chili. The spicy and aromatic taste of chili in the fish sauce stimulates the taste buds of the eaters.
The pressing process takes a lot of time, and the owner cannot press them in advance because the cakes will lose their hot crispiness. So, if you come during peak hours, you'll have to wait quite a while and may feel a bit anxious because of the tempting aroma. 'People love this dish because it's easy to eat and affordable. It's also very safe because it's pressed at high temperatures, so you can eat with complete peace of mind. There have been Western customers who come here to eat, asking why they get stomachaches at 5-star hotels but not here. I laugh and say, with such high heat, there's no room for bacteria,' shared Mrs. Kieu, who has been selling pressed cakes in Thuan An, Hue for 17 years. About 17 years ago, after learning from various places, adding her creativity, she started selling pressed cakes made from rice flour with shrimp, rimmed meat, and eggs. Thanks to the delicious 'special' taste, her shop became famous, helping to support the whole family.
This dish is considered a childhood dish for many people in Hue from the 80s onwards. Many students and students often choose pressed cakes as a snack every evening because of their low cost. In the past, traditional cakes only had rice flour, eggs, served with raw vegetables, and sweet sauce. However, with various variations nowadays, Hue pressed cakes have many accompanying fillings such as meat, shrimp, pate, sausage... depending on taste.
Therefore, depending on the preferences of each person, almost every person in Hue has their own favorite pressed cake place. 'Although there are many delicious pressed cake shops in the city of Hue, I have fallen in love with the skill of O Kieu Thuan An, so when I crave it, I will drive 17 km there to eat. When introducing it to friends elsewhere, I often call it the crispy, thin, and elegant version of the traditional Hue rice cake,' shared Nha Trang, a customer.
These pressed cakes are priced at around 2,000 - 3,000 VND/piece for small cakes and about 5,000 VND for larger ones with more fillings. Some suggested addresses for delicious pressed cakes recommended by Hue people are 18 Mac Dinh Chi, Nhat Le Street, 118 Le Ngo Cat, 4 Le Sy...
Written by Ngân Dương/ Vnexpress
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