1. "What are the specialties of Phan Thiet - Binh Thuan ?" I wouldn't dare say for sure, but if it's a favorite dish, something I've eaten since childhood, and something I miss and crave when I'm far away, then I can answer right away: Quang noodles and banh can (rice flour pancakes).
Banh can (rice flour pancakes) can be found in Phan Rang, Nha Trang, Da Lat, and other places, but the one with the most elaborate accompaniments is probably the banh can from Phan Thiet.
To the locals, these are two simple, familiar dishes. To visitors from afar, they are quite "unusual," even somewhat controversial, despite being on the must-try list for a food tour in Phan Thiet.
People in Phan Thiet can eat Quang noodles and banh can (rice flour pancakes) at any time of day. They often cook them themselves instead of going to restaurants, which is ideal for large family gatherings. However, Quang noodles and banh can are... absent from celebrations. For example, at memorial services in Phan Thiet, they make banh xeo (Vietnamese savory pancakes) instead of banh can, and cook curry or stew instead of Quang noodles. Interestingly, despite being a coastal region, these two dishes seem to have little "seafood" flavor.
I want to talk about Quang noodles and Banh Can (rice flour cakes) from Phan Thiet as I know them, within the city limits. Going a little further out, for example to Ham Tien or Mui Ne, which are also part of Phan Thiet, you'll find the dishes are somewhat different, let alone...
2. Phan Thiet Quang noodles are... Quang noodles, not the Quang noodles from Quang Nam province, which is present-day Quang Nam . If "Quang people eating Quang noodles" - as the title of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh's book suggests - are already quite... picky, then you can't imagine what it would be like when "Quang people eating... Phan Thiet Quang noodles"! They share the same name, but are worlds apart. I intentionally capitalized the word "Quang" to distinguish the two noodle dishes.
Some people call Phan Thiet Quang noodles "duck Quang noodles" for easy differentiation, but that's only half right, because the other half is... pork Quang noodles, which is even more common. The duck meat used is usually quarter of the thigh, head, neck, wings, heart, and gizzard... The pork chosen is usually pork leg (pork trotters), ears, nose, loin, and sliced pork (lean pieces with fat and skin attached)... This is quite different from the "toppings" of Quang noodles, which can be made from chicken, frog, shrimp, fish, eggs, etc.
Duck and pork used in Quang noodles are marinated with garlic, chili, sugar, and annatto oil... These garlic and chili ingredients are what clearly distinguish the flavor of Phan Thiet Quang noodles from Quang noodles, which are traditionally cooked using shallots and peanut oil.
The two noodle dishes differ in many ways, but the most notable is the broth: Quang noodles are only lightly topped with broth, while Phan Thiet Quang noodles are a hot, noodle-based dish, similar to pho, bun bo, hu tieu, etc., meaning the bowl of noodles must be completely covered with warm broth; eating it cold will spoil the taste.
I used to firmly believe that Phan Thiet's Quang noodles were influenced by or adapted from Quang noodles from Quang Nam province. However, recently, after trying braised pork ribs in Chinese breakfast restaurants in Saigon, I found them quite similar! Could it be that the "Quang" in Quang noodles doesn't refer to "Quang Nam province," but rather to "Guangdong," meaning the Chinese? It's worth remembering that in Phan Thiet, especially in the city center, there is a long-established Chinese community, and according to one statistic, half of them are of Cantonese origin. Therefore, the hypothesis that Phan Thiet's Quang noodles originated from a Chinese dish has some basis...
3. Banh can (rice flour pancakes) can be found in Phan Rang, Nha Trang, Da Lat, etc., but the one with the most elaborate accompaniments is probably the banh can from Phan Thiet.
To make banh can (a type of Vietnamese pancake), people soak the rice, then grind it into a liquid batter - not too thin or too thick so that the pancake doesn't become soggy or burnt. When mixing the batter, they add a little leftover cooked rice; some say it makes the pancake fluffy, others say it makes it crispy or... chewy (?!).
A banh can (rice pancake) stall in Phan Thiet City.
The clay ovens used for making banh can (a type of Vietnamese pancake) are round like a tabletop, hollowed out with about 10-16 holes. Charcoal burns underneath, and small molds, like shallow cups with lids, are placed on top. Vendors often use teapots to hold the batter and pour it into the molds for easier handling. The banh can stalls look rather low-lying, as the person making the pancakes sits on a low stool next to the oven, rarely on a raised platform.
When the cakes are cooked until they are pitted on the surface and the bottom is golden brown and crispy, they are gently removed from the mold and tossed face down into a basket of finely chopped scallions, ensuring the scallions adhere evenly to the inside of the cakes. Two cakes are placed together to form a pair, with five pairs making a plate. Banh can is a type of "baked" cake, completely different from banh xeo, banh khot, and banh khoai in that it is "fried" in oil.
People in Phan Thiet prefer plain white rice cakes. The type of rice cake topped with beaten egg, like the ones in Da Lat today, which I remember used to be called "special" cakes, still exists but is less popular. The type of rice cake with shrimp, squid, beef, etc., like those in Phan Rang and Nha Trang, is also not common.
Each person is served a bowl of diluted fish sauce, not too salty but slightly sweet, which, in Phan Thiet terms, is so good you can "drink it straight up," with some chopped mango, some restaurants even add star fruit, a little rendered pork fat, or "fake" pork cracklings on bread, which are also quite common in Phan Thiet.
That's not enough. Usually, you need to add half a boiled chicken/duck egg, a few small quail eggs, shumai, steamed pork skin, and also braised fish that's tender and falling apart, usually mackerel, with the gills removed, the head removed and stuffed into the belly, braised in the authentic Phan Thiet style.
As you eat, mash the rice flour cake into the bowl as you go.
In Phan Rang, banh can (rice flour pancakes) are served with four types of dipping sauce: fish sauce, fermented fish paste, peanut sauce, and fish broth; diners can mix them all together as they like. In Da Lat, banh can is served with shumai (steamed pork dumplings) and pork sausage wrapped in leaves. Phan Thiet is different.
4. Both Quang noodles and Banh Can mentioned above have one thing in common: they are quite... sweet. The sweetness is easily noticeable in Quang noodles, especially in the broth, while in Banh Can it's more subtle, perhaps from the fish sauce, shumai, braised fish, etc. And it's not just these two dishes. It's a characteristic sweetness in Phan Thiet cuisine in general; it's present in almost every dish. Everyone finds it sweet, except... the people of Phan Thiet. Because of this sweetness, many tourists "reject" or even "dislike" these dishes, causing considerable annoyance to the locals.
Some have tried to explain this unique sweetness in Phan Thiet's culinary culture, but have been unable to reach a conclusion. It's not "MSG sweetness," nor is it "coconut milk sweetness." Perhaps people eat sweet food to balance the salty flavors of the fish sauce and salt from this coastal region?
I suspect it's that very sweetness that makes people from Phan Thiet miss and crave their hometown food when they're far away. Even in a melting pot of countries like Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City, from what I've observed, it's difficult to find authentic Phan Thiet Quang noodles or banh can (rice flour pancakes)... perhaps only when you go back to your hometown can you truly appreciate their deliciousness! It's probably due to ingrained conservative sentiment.
Writing this, I suddenly crave the Quang noodles and banh can from my hometown...
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