* The features of water area

As many tourists commented, Can Tho cuisine is a crystallization of many local specialties in the Mekong Delta. Each dish is made in a unique way, but they all share a common thing which brings the "flavor" of the cuisine cultures of the Mekong region. The specialties in Can Tho have different flavors and tastes, and they all attract customers.

In Can Tho, referring to Le Lai (Ninh Kieu District), many people know that this street is popular for selling very cheap foods. In particular, Le Lai small steamed savory rice cakes become the brand name for over 20 years with the familiar name called “ Banh beo Le Lai” of Ms Nguyen Kim Suong. Tasting this kind of cake makes customers feel the taste of the cuisine of this Western area which is different from other regions, especially compared to the same kind of cake made in the Central region. The recipe to make such the small and soft cakes which are in good flavors stems from how to mix its powder ingredients which are available in nature like pandanus and coconut milk... Reducing the salty and sweet taste makes “Banh beo Le Lai” special and popular to everyone. A dish has only a few pies, little fried bread, shredded pork, thinly shredded pork skin tossed with powdered toasted rice, and coconut milk coved on the top. Depending on each person’s preference, people can enjoy it with little or much fish sauce and some chili to have a spicy taste. It is so simple that customers can ask and try one dish after another and they become addicted to this dish! In addition to this special cake, the restaurant also serves many other different cakes such as rice cakes, banana cakes, spring rolls, rice noodle with shredded pork and thinly shredded pork skin tossed with powdered toasted rice, sweet chewy sponge cakes, silkworm cakes, ... with affordable prices from 4000 -15 000 VND per dish.

With the typical feature of the Western water area cuisine, Hoi Do restaurant on Tran Binh Trong street, beside typical side dishes (rice cake, leaf cakes, dumplings,…) also serves a typical Western water area meal with some dishes: fish cooked with fish sauce, sour soup, vegetable soup, boiled vegetables, baked eggplant, braised fish sauce, three-striped crab mixed with garlic and chili… Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Dao, the owner of Hoi Do restaurant, states "To have typical Western water area dishes, it is required to have ingredients from the countryside and it is cooked by an old countryside lady”. This restaurant has about 30 dishes, from main courses to side dishes which have countryside and simple styles so that tourists can fully enjoy and feel the typical cuisine cultures in the Mekong Delta.

Besides, Quyenn cuisine on Mau Than Street serves tourists with its specialties from rice noodle: fish vermicelli soup, shrekked pork and meat ball vermicelli, vermicelli soup mixed salad with shrimp, slice pork meat and soybean jam… For over 30 years of cooking experiences, Ms Le Thi Thu Hoa- the chef of Quyenn never stops collecting local recipes in the Southwestern areas. For instance, vermicelli soup with shrimp, slice pork meat and soybean sauce has tiny shrimp as the main ingredient in the soup to create its special taste. Soybean jam with minced fried peanuts and fried garlic are mixed with its soup, creating a special flavor for this soup.

Tourists visiting Can Tho can not refuse to enjoy the countryside specialties in this area. Especially, in recent years, Can Tho cuisine is more and more various in comparisons with other foods from other countries in the world.

* Colorful World Cuisine

Can Tho is considered as the capital, the economic and culture centre of the Mekong Delta, so Can Tho is also a place where has the interference among different kinds of cuisine all over the world. Since 2013, Can Tho is popular for Japanese and Korean dishes such as spicy noodle, conveyor hotpot, sushi, kimbap, tteokbokki, bibimbam… To enjoy these dishes, tourists can visit some restaurants such as Kichi kichi, King BBQ in Vincom Hung Vuong Trade Centre or some restaurants on Ly Tu Trong Street, Le Lai Street, 30/04 Street,…

With the Korean style, the restaurant of Omega 3-6-9 on Mac Dinh Chi Street serves spicy noodles and conveyor hotpot. Compared to Kichi Kichi hotpot conveyor, the price here is cheaper, only 149,000 VND / person. The buffet hotpot ingredients are plentiful. The restaurant owner of Omega 3-6-9, Ms Tran Thi Diem Kieu says the unique Korean cuisine is to ensure spicy taste, good smell and use a variety of vegetables, fresh mushrooms. Bibimbam attracts customers by its harmony of colors including red sliced carrot, green cucumber and vegetables, white mushroom, and yellow egg mixed with fried garlic. When you eat, you just mix things together and add a little soy spicy sauce to make quite strange and wonderful taste. With spicy noodle, it is usually divided into each level (typically 7 levels of hot), so visitors can choose their own tastes. If you do not like Korean spicy foods, you can enjoy Singapore frog porridge on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, Dinh Tien Hoang Street. The special feature of this dish is its recipe, its tasted flavor according to Singapore cuisine style which consists of the mixture of salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, Mai Que Lo and Kung Pao wine- a Chinese flavor style.

Recently, Can Tho has other restaurants such as Pattaya Taste Restaurant on Mau Than Street where always serves Thai foods: roasted chicken in pandanus, rice in baked pineapple, Tom Yum hotpot, Som Tam ( salad made from papaya)… Mr. Vo Quoc Tuan- the owner of Pattaya Taste Restaurant states: "Thai cuisine is usually spicy, a bit sour, and creamy from Thai lemons, lemon grass, and gatangal…”. The dish should be well mixed among spices and herbs”. For example, Tom Yum hotpot must have Thai lemons- a kind of tree growing in Thai coastal areas with sour, a bit spicy taste and good smell; or Cha Yen- a typical Thai tea with a good light smell and cool taste mixed with creamy milk taste. Currently, Pattaya Taste Restaurant has about 30 dishes and it is going to include some new dishes such as Khao niew ma muang (mango sticky rice), Panang curry. To cook Thai dishes with their own tastes, Mr. Tuan exported ingredients from Thailand and the recipes were also learnt from the Thai chef.

Can Tho cuisine is not only various and creative in using different kinds of ingredients to cook delicious dishes, but also closely connected to different cuisine cultures in the world. This contributes to Can Tho tourism development to attract more visitors in the future.