When the temperature starts to drop to 20 degrees Celsius, little sidewalk furnaces are fired up to cook winter snacks: pancakes with banana, sweet potatoes, and in recent years, sweet corn.
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| Photo by collect on the internet |
The recipe for pancakes could not be simpler with cheap ingredients used to create crispy, comforting and affordable snacks for the city's school children, struggling students and even successful adults longing for their more modest student past.
The Vietnamese pancakes should be golden crispy while the banana and potato should be soft.
So what makes the perfect apple pancake? A little crispy round the edges, of course, but the cooked dough should also be soft. The use of sour apples balances with the sweet batter.
You can serve the pancakes hot with powdered sugar, strawberry jam or vanilla ice cream, and it's perfect for dessert.
The Vietnamese sisters of apple pancakes are mostly sold on the street as snacks.
But the same batter can be used for a Hanoian delicacy, which is still the signature dish of the city's West Lake area: bánh tôm Hồ Tây, or Hồ Tây shrimp cakes.
Originally served at lake restaurants famous for this delicacy, shops in the Old Quarter also offer the dish now, but a true treat of shrimp cakes should be enjoyed contemplating the lake on an autumn afternoon.
Sweet potatoes are julienned and mixed into the batter, and two fresh shrimp are placed on top before frying. The shrimp used to come from West Lake, but today it's illegal to fish in the lake, so the shrimp are sourced from other parts of Hanoi. They must be small and cooked with the heads and shells intact.
The cakes should be served hot with sweet sour dipping sauce and fresh vegetables.
Don't be afraid to try if you're at Vietnam, it will definitely surprise you! A few small suggestions can also make your trip happier, so what are you waiting for without contacting us if you are planning to explore Vietnam.
