Banh Canh (literally Soup cake) is a very popular food in Central and Southern region of Vietnam. It is a kind of noodle that can be made from tapioca flour or a mixture of rice and tapioca flour. Banh canh is cooked with a lot of different materials, from pork, beef to various seafood such as slope, crab, etc. This food is varied to different styles in different areas in Mekong Delta. Here are the best dishes made from Banh Canh.

1.    Banh Canh Gio Heo (banh canh with pork knuckle)

This is the most popular style that you can find in everywhere in Mekong Delta region. It is quite easy to make, easy to eat. The noodle is usually made from tapioca flour, so it looks very transparent. A bowl of banh canh gio heo is pretty simple, with noodle, some pieces of pork knuckle on top, broth and little green onion.

The best feature of this food which mark the difference of Mekong Delta from other regions is big and greasy pieces of pork knuckle. They are big but very soft and tasty. The broth is stewed from pork bone. These make the food very delicious.

Because it is very popular and basic food, you can easily find it in all provinces in Mekong Delta.

2.    Banh canh tom nuoc cot dua (banh canh with shrimp and coconut milk)

As its name, this banh canh style is made from shrimp and coconut milk. Shrimp has to be super fresh, removed the shell and stir-fried with little ingredients, then put coconut milk into shrimp.  The noodle is boiled in water, then put into the mix of coconut milk and shrimp.

The method of cooking sounds quite easy, but to make a delicious and beautiful bowl of banh canh with shrimp and coconut milk, it requires very skillful hands. The bowl has to be colorful with white noodle, milky white broth, pink shrimp and green herbals. This food is featured for Mekong Delta’s cuisine with sweet taste.

You can find this food in a lot of areas, but the most well-known one is Bac Lieu Province.

3.    Banh canh ghe (banh canh with sentinel-crab)

The most famous place for this food is Ha Tien (Kien Giang Province). Fresh and special sentinel-crab found in Ha Tien Sea makes this food more featured. These sentinel-crabs have to be super fresh, then boiled. The broth is also made from crab’s meat. Besides sentinel-crab, the food also has shrimp’s balls, mushrooms, herbals and some special ingredients. It is served with lemon, pepper and chili.

4.    Banh canh vit (banh canh with duck)

This food is a pride of Lai Cay people (a town in Tien Giang Province). The main component of it is local duck which feed on vast paddle fields in Mekong Delta. The duck meat has to be rubbed with white wine and ginger to remove the bad smell, and then boiled in water. The duck boiled water can be kept to make broth.

The food is not so special in decoration, with noodle, some pieces of boiled duck meat and green herbals dipped in broth made from duck boiled water. However, when eating, you will feel the special taste of duck meat in this area.