Squid Banh Xeo

Squid pancake is inherently a daily dish of the people of this sea city. In addition to the ingredients for making pancakes like Banh xeo in other places, the main ingredient to make a name for this dish is squid caught from the sea, still fresh and iridescent. This dish has long become an irresistible specialty of tourists when coming to Nha Trang.

How to make squid pancakes is also simple. The squid pancake is made from rice flour, and the filling is made of bean sprouts and especially fresh squid. Freshly caught squid, carefully selected, and washed, must be left whole, not pecked to keep the squid’s best taste. Squid pancakes are poured into a small iron mold, not a pan, so the amount of fat is reduced, and when eaten, it will be delicious and less greasy.

Squid pancakes have the same ingredients as pancakes in the central cities, but only the filling is made with squid. Squid is put into the cake mold first until it is almost cooked, then pour in the rice flour, shake well, then add little bean sprouts and set for a few minutes to have a fragrant squid cake. Squid pancakes are not as crispy as other pancakes because the squid comes out of the water, but it has a sweet taste and an unmistakable characteristic aroma of squid.

Eating squid ink pancakes with fresh vegetables and dipping spicy and sour fish sauce will be delicious, creating an extremely rich flavor that makes diners hard to forget. Interestingly, almost anyone who eats squid pancakes will have black teeth and mouth because the ink bag has not been removed. Perhaps, because the squid is small, only about the size of a little finger, if the ink bag is taken out, it will be crushed. Besides, the sea people say that the fresh squid is just beaten up, and eating the whole bag of squid is “cool”, just like the local fishermen.