Attractive Khot Cake in Vung Tau

Khot (khọt) cake is a very popular dish in southern Vietnam. The cake is easy to cook and suitable for the taste of many people, usually made for desert or treating guests.

Formerly, the main ingredients of khot cake were rice powder and well-grinded pork.The cake was served with flavour sauce, snack vegetable and cucumber. After that, people have made changes on the recipe creating the special features of the cake in different places.

People in the West usually mix rice powder with saffron and put more fresh shrimps when putting in the pattern. In the Centre, khot cake is served with cucumber, thin-sliced young papaya, big egg-plant…which are all soaked in weak shrimp sauce. In the North, people just use rice powder, some eggs (to make the powder more soft-rise) and dry shrimps instead of fresh ones...

In the khot cake making process, powder making is the most important. Chosen rice must be good to generate the cake powder. The ingredients of cake powder are wet grinded rice, steamed rice and grinded solid cool rice noodle.

The different parts of powder are mixed mainly according to the makers’ experience. In the next step, powder is steadily stired with the water, little vinegar, coconut juice; there may be more eggs to increase cake softy or more saffron to make the cake having attractive color. The cake is treated with spice, salt, sugar, glutamate, small sliced onion... People usually use pork or shrimp, small shrimp, crab which are minced well then sauteed to make the cake filling.

They put the circle pattern in the pan, coat the pattern with hot fat, pour powder in the pattern, put the filling into the centre  then cover waiting until done to take out. After being done, cake powder becomes opaque yellow, the filling is brown-red, onion and chives which are in the fat stick to the cake making the green color.

There are also sauce and raw vegetable to be served with khot cake. Raw vegetables usually includes mint leaves, lettuce and cucumber... and the sauce can be flavour sauce or salted fish with garlic,lemon juice... depending on regions.

Mesmerizing Beauty of Hang Rai

Stone tufts cluster prominently on the blue water and sky, showing off its wild and majestic beauty as well as the precious tranquility.

Located to the south of Vinh Hy Bay and being one of the places included in the exploration of Ninh Thuan’s beauty, Hang Rai (Otters Cave) in Thai An village, Vinh Hai commune, Vinh Hy district, where used to focus the plethora of otters, are always the best destination draws tourists who go to “phuot thu” (the travelers who love traveling by themselves), photography enthusiasts or those who love fishing.

It is really difficult to explain why tourism agencies do not consider this place as a destination for their tourists though it is nearby Vinh Hy Bay, because once setting the feet here, no one can resist the alluring and charming beauty of the stones clustering into groups, scattering on the coast as the animals dancing with waves and the wild as well as the imposing beauty of the rocky beach without human intervention.

Some explanation may be thought of includes the fact that this place is not suitable for many guests, but it is not true. In addition to the beauty of the stones, the tourists traveling here have the rare chances to soak themselves in a small beach beside and contemplate the poetic swamp poured down from the God Mountain or the pure clear streamline.

Looking from the mountain peak, the tourists can get the whole peaceful Binh Tien sea image on their eyes or the lively picture of the goats lounging on the cliffs and admire the opposite beauty between the barren cliff and green trees.

Those who desire to discover or love thrills are also pleased by numerous attractive challenges such as conquering low and high stones, lurking in the big and small caves, diving and watching the herds of colorful swimming fish.

After getting tired with these games with stones, the tourists can select a seat and enjoy the breeze, cast the baits or visit the fishing villages behind the cactus bushes blooming all year round, contemplate the astonishing picture of the boats drifting on the waves or enjoy the fresh seafood processed by the villagers.