Siamese mud carp cracker ( Banh phong ca linh) is a specialty food of An Giang province in Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. In Vietnam, Prawn cracker, Squid cracker are famous starters or snacks. Not many Vietnamese people know about Siamese mud carp cracker which only is available in flood season. Every July, local people use nets to catch siamese mud carps from which they make a wide range of delicious dishes such as Braised siamese mud carp with fermented fish, Braised siamese mud carp with sugarcane, Sweet and sour soup with siamese mud carp, Braised siamese mud carp with tomato, etc. In An Giang province, they make a very special dish – Siamese mud carp cracker to gift to their valuable visitors or serve visitors at Tet festival.
Plumpy, silver, fresh siamese mud carp are chosen and prepared (head, tail, guts are removed), well kneaded with egg white, wheat flour in a pounder, seasoninged with spices such as black pepper, garlic, onion, fish sauce, salt. The ratio of the fishes to duck egg white and wheat flour is 1 kg of fishes : 12 duck egg white : 1 kg of wheat flour. Use leaves to wrap the mixture into a cylinder, put into a plastic bag, tie the bag carefully. Steam the mixture for 1.5-2 hours. Wait until it cools down, cut into thin circles, dry the circles under the sun for 4-5 days. The dry siamese mud carp crackers are stored to eat later. To eat, they fry the dry crackers in oil over high heat until they are crispy, airy, yellow and bigger. The crackers taste salty, buttery, greasy, a little hot and smell exclusive. The crackers melt in the mouth easy to dissolve.
Coming to An Giang, you should not miss trying outstandingly tasty siamese mud carp crackers and buy some dry crackers to bring home as a great gift to your family and friend.
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19 Specialty foods of An Giang
