(VNF) - Nha Trang City is well known for nice restaurants with hundreds of types of specialties. The most popular of them should be steamed dishes with a long list in the menu. However, people in the city often prefer rural dishes to the seafood specialties such as “banh can”.

Banh can (Nha Trang traditional rice cake with many different fillings) are small round cakes made of rice flour batter, baked over a charcoal fire on a special plate that has rounded hollows and these have little cast iron lids that go over each hollow.

The cakes are then served with a combination of fried green onion, fish sauce and thinly-shredded green mango (you add to your taste) mixed with mouthwatering sauce of lemon juice, garlic, sugar and red pepper.

Banh can comprise crispy rice cake topped with your choice of quail egg, fresh or dried meat and seafood. (Photo: tutocxu)

Found all over Nha Trang, these rice cakes are freshly prepared in circular pans over a coal brazier, and are sold in pairs due to their rather small size. (Photo: jansorandom)

Rice should be ground and mixed with water into a runny white batter. Then pour it into the moulds and cover them with little pottery lids. (Photo: dannuen_)

The round oven is topped with a round cast iron tray about 60cm in diameter that has more than a dozen round moulds to pour the batter into. (Photo: akai_232)

Chicken or quail eggs can be added to the batter for another variation on the cake. The eggs change the color from white to yellow. (Photo: xuongrong296)

The best way to enjoy banh can is by dipping it with sauce that’s made with fish sauce, lime, chili, and garlic. (Photo: trongdat0410)

Some vendors offer banh can with raw vegetables, pork meatballs, and shredded green mango. (Photo: phatnguyen0308)

There can be many fillings. Quail eggs (Trung cut), squid (Muc), prawns (Tom), beef (Bo), chicken eggs (Trung Ga) and small snails (Hen) are some of the combinations. (Photo: tntphung)

There are many places to buy these but only on the streets. It is an afternoon or evening snack or meal. This cake is very popular in Southern Vietnam; you can find it easily in random food street vendors. (Photo: __david_du__)

( Compiled by VNF )