Hoi An’s little towns serve up tasty treats

The UNESCO World Heritage listed town of Hoi An is known for its centuries-old streets, lanterns, tailors, Chinese temples, beaches and the Hoai River, which snakes its way through the emerald patchwork of paddy fields before discharging itself into the ocean.

But one equally important, but often overlooked cultural foundation is starting to gain traction with those in the know. The food from this central coast tourist centre is winning a reputation as some of the best in the country; and some of the cheapest.

Cam Nam Village, just a stones throw from the heart of Hoi An’s Old Quarter, typifies the sort of gastronomical experience available to people not afraid of straying from the uninspired menus of the lollipop cute cafes dotting the river’s banks.

This tranquil spot, at the lower section of the river, is home to dozens of little restaurants. The one thing they all have in common is that they all serve great local rustic fare.

Three of the most common local dishes served up to punters are: banh dap (smashing rice paper), hen xuc banh trang (clams served with crispy rice paper) and che bap (sweet corn soup).

Banh dap or smashing rice paper derives its name from the action needed to produce the dish. It is made from two pieces of rice paper – the first piece is crispy, the second is wet. To join them together, they must be smashed on to the table.

The two freshly joined pieces are then draped in oil cooked with onions and served with nuoc mam, a pungent fish sauce.

That’s it. A seemingly simple rice paper with contrary tastes: sweet and salty, crispy and soft.

Hen xuc banh trang is a combination of clams and crispy rice paper. The clams are fished up from the Hoai River, which runs through Cam Nam village.

The clams are boiled and then fried with dozens of fragrant vegetables and spices, including onion, spring onion, pepper, chilli, ginger, sugar water and peanuts.

When the clams are ready, crispy rice paper is set on the table, which is also used as a spoon for the dish.

Finally the desert: che bap (sweet corn soup). Hoi An’s sweet and sticky corn is perfect for this soup. Locals swear that one bowl is not enough and visitors that return are the first in line, ready for another helping.

Whether this is true or not is a matter of conjecture. What is true, is that no trip to Hoi An is truly complete without sampling the culinary spectacles that small village’s like Cam Nam have to offer.

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Rice paper village

In the small village lying along the beautiful Ba River in the southern coastal Phu Yen Province, it was supposed to be a quiet  day.

Dong Binh’s renowned rice paper factories were not working at full capacity but still columns of smoke were rising up into the sky and bamboo grids filled with rice paper lined its roads.

The smell of rice flour pervaded the air and armies of trucks carrying rice paper passed in and out of the village.

Local residents don’t know when rice paper was first made here; they only know they learnt the craft of making it from their parents who learnt it from theirs.

But they think it started with one or two households making it to sell during the Lunar New Year, funerals, and death anniversaries before it gradually caught on.

Now, every household in Dong Binh makes rice paper.

Phu Yen people are very proud of the village’s savory white rice paper which has become popular all over the country. It is made from rice grown in Tuy Hoa city and irrigated by the Ba.

Like everything else, making good rice paper requires hard work. The rice must be soaked in water for up to five hours and then ground into flour. A normal work day starts at three in the morning. A wood fire is lit, water is boiled, and flour is kneaded.

Besides rice flour, wheat flour is also used to prevent the rice paper from breaking during transportation or becoming sticky when softened in water for use as a wrap. Two kilograms of wheat flour is added to every 10 kg of rice flour.

When the flour is kneaded, the right amount of water must be added; too little makes the paper thick, and later, when steamed, causes it to cook unevenly. Too much, on the other hand, makes the rice paper brittle.

Once the flour is kneaded, it is rolled into a very thin round on a flat pan and steamed.

This job is mostly done by women since they are considered to be more dexterous and meticulous, essential qualities for making nice, round rice paper.

They work in teams of at least three -- one spreads the flour, another spreads the rice paper over a bamboo grid, and the third carries the grid to dry under the sun and removes the rice paper when dried.

Spreaders are often likened to drivers since their hands never stop working. One hand stirs the flour and the other mixes it or adjusts the heat. Every move has to be quick and precise.

Even drying the rice paper in the sun requires experience -- if it is dried for too long, it will either become brittle and break or bend.

Nature’s blessing

Spreading the rice paper needs nature’s cooperation in the form of sunny weather. Most producers do not work on wet days. If it suddenly starts to rain while the flour is being rolled, the work is halted.

But on sunny days, every household in Dong Binh rolls 30 to 40 kg of rice on average (1kg of rice makes 20 to 25 pieces).

During the Lunar New Year, almost the whole village works through the night to make enough to meet the demand within and outside the province.

At night or when it rains, people use fire to dry the paper.

Dong Binh makes rice paper in various thicknesses, with the thickest being the most expensive. Prices range from VND3,000 for a pack of 10 pieces to VND7,000.

Though every household has its own secrets in mixing the flour and adding ingredients, they all make rice paper that is different from anything else made elsewhere in the country.

Dong Binh rice paper is popular as a wrap to roll up food since when soaked in water it does not stick or melt. It is also added to fried chopped meat and fried shrimp cakes.

It has a slightly tough taste and the fragrance of young rice stalk. If stored in a dry place, it keeps for several months.

In Phu Yen, there is a simple dish locals dearly love and show off to visitors: pork and vegetables wrapped in Dong Binh rice paper.

A few of the papers, a little chopped pork, and fresh vegetables, and a very delicious dish is ready.

Getting there: From Tuy Hoa city, drive along Highway 25 until you reach the 2km highway marker. Follow the small road off the highway until you reach the village.

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