Binh Duong-located Banh Beo – famous delicacy of Vietnam

Binh Duong-located “Banh Beo” (literally ‘water fern cake’) has just been approved to be listed in 50 delicacies of Vietnam.As introduced by Director of Thuan An Town Center for Culture, Information and Sports, Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung, we tread the paths to home of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ba, born in 1935 and owner of Beo Bi My Lien located at No. 189, DT745 Street, Thanh Hoa A Quarter, An Thanh Ward, Thuan An Town – the craddle of the mentioned delicacy.The 4-generation family have lived with the profession but the exact date of making is still unknown. All just know that the cakes were first made in bowls as the mound and sold on the street side.“As retold by my mother, my grandmother made the living by making Banh Beo before my mother was born. After that, the fame flourished and more and more people got to know the vendor of my grandmother,” said Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ba.Thus, the nameless seller was later given a name by combining two names of family members.“When the name My Lien was born, customers came to the shop more often. We have made a brandname,” asserted Mr. Nguyen Thanh Danh, born in 1972 and son to Mrs. Ba.My Lien Shop was previously inside Bung Market in cooperation with state-own regime; however, in 1991, the family removed the shop from cooperation and run on their own on DT745 Street as now.To make the cake look delicious and eye-catching, strict procedures should be followed. The rice should be soaked for about 4 hours before being ground into flour with salt added. The fresh flour shall be left for one night to settle and then water is removed.After the flour is well-prepared, boilt water should be added to mix up the flour. The ground green bean shall be added as the core of the cake.“The flour should be well-prepared by soaking to make smooth and milky cakes which should be medium cooked,” said Mrs. Ba.The taste depends on added meat and fish sauce.For the time to come, the provincial authority shall offer more promotional and advertisement programs to broadcast the top 50 approved product to new market.Reported by Thien Ly – Translated by Vi Bao