SOUTHERN TAM CAKE

This Southern food is associated with many people’s childhood memories. It has a silkworm like shape and is made from rice flour or tapioca starch with many colors.

Bac Lieu Ngan Dua tam cake: In Ngan Dua, Hong Dan district, Bac Lieu province, there are famous tam cakes made from rice flour mixed with tapioca starch and glutinous rice flour to enhance chewiness. Knead the dough by hand to make every string (today this manual method is hardly used anymore). Rolled by hands, the cake strings will have uneven sizes. The dish has a special sweetness and is served with shredded pork skin, barbecued meat, and meat balls. In some places, meat balls are wrapped in pretty dry tofu paper, served with sweet sour fish sauce, coconut milk, boiled bean sprouts, and shredded cucumbers. A plate of tam cakes carries all the flavors of greasiness, saltiness, sourness, sweetness, and spiciness.

Ca Mau spicy tam cake: Coming to Ca Mau, one must enjoy this strange spicy silkworm-like cake or else he would regret it. There are two main types. The first is Chicken curry tam cake. Besides tam cake, there are chicken meat and curry paste. Add raw bean sprouts and basils in the dish, and mix things up with the curry paste. Then dip a chicken piece into a bowl of salt chili lime juice. The greasy spicy meat and the sour salty sauce will make your mouth water. One is unlikely to stop after his first bite. The second type is meat ball tam cake. It is a colorful dish, a plate of silkworm cakes with two round big meat balls that look like two big limes. These meat balls are made from minced pork added garlic and spices. The dish is served with spicy curry paste on top, raw bean sprouts, lettuce and basils. Dipping a piece into a bowl of salt pepper lime juice and taking a bite, you will feel the tasty pork and the spicy curry paste. In case you are not a fan of spicy food, let the cook know in advance.

Dong Thao compressed tam cake: Delicious soft rice is grinded into powder to make the dough. The dough is next put into molds which are later steamed to cook. The dish is served with sliced boiled meat, roasted meat, vegetables, fish sauce and coconut milk. The rich greasy coconut milk and the chewy tam cakes are blended with the barbecue aroma, which is why Dong Thap people take pride in this dish.

Collected by Linh Trang