Kerbside cuisine

I've passed this stall hundreds of times on the way home, gotten a quick glimpse of some frying going on, been none the wiser and carried on. I'd never even cadged the name of the dish being concocted streetside in District 10 - until now. She serves Bot gao Banh bot chien. She wheels the mobile stall out from her pad opposite to the wider pavement side of the street, casts a few stools and tables around and gets frying. From what I can gather Banh bot chien is a fried savoury rice flour cake mashed up with an egg and served over a bed of shredded raddish with a smattering of spring onions and a soy sauce dip.

All very simple and a savoury snip at 5000VD for the takeaway rendition below. She's a relative newbie by hardcore street merchant standards, having only been in the game for five years. However, on this visit (and inumerable previous flybys) it seems to be a popular stop-off for local schoool kids either on their way home or on their way to that scurge of the affluent Asian schoolkid - extra evening classes. It's a bitch being a kid in Asia, I tell ya.

Was it worth the wait? Well, no, not really. It's pretty bland, however it does benefit from the salty soy sauce supercharger. Without that, we're in stodgey, savoury territory where function rules and the notion of a feast is an aferthought.

Comments

[MrsT]

Ahhhhhhh... looks like our local CTK .. Chai Tow Kway.. in Singapore.. !
I would love to have some .. now that i can't get it.. where i am.. :(

[Shiewie]

We get something similar to Bot Gao in KL too (called Chai Tow Kway or Kway Kak) ... so I guess it's probably Chinese in origin ... Fujian I think.

In the Malaysian (Singaporean too I'd presume) version, the rice cake is added to well sauteed minced garlic, minced preserved radish (chai poh) and chilli paste (optional). A dash of dark soy sauce, salt and pepper is then added before the egg and it's finished off with a large handful of bean sprouts (added at the last minute so they're still crunchy).

I think it's the garlic and preserved radish that does the trick in terms of the taste of the dish.

[MrsT]

I think the Singaporean version is different from the Malaysian ones.
I love the ones in singapore better though.. but maybe it's only because i am so used to eating the ones in singapore.. :)

[pieman]

I never considered a Sing/Malay connection to Vina-nosh, but seems to be pretty strong with this dish from what you guys are saying.

[Reid]

Hi Noodlepie,

I did a post on a Vietnamese restaurant a short while back and they served something like this. On their menu it was listed as tieu chau bahn chien hop ga. It looks quite similar to this dish in your post and the dish that Singaporeans call "carrot cake" or chai tow kway. Apparently, there are a lot of Chinese Vietnamese that speak both Vietnamese and Teochew (a Chinese dialect). You can see my post here. Would like to know if you can tell me if these are Vietnamese dishes, or Teochew dishes adapted for Vietnam.

http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2004/11/golden_river_re.html

Thanks. BTW...sent you an e-mail.

[Linda]

This is my favorite snack... I usually had this when I visited my aunt in cho+. lo+'n. I think it's a chinese dish called 'chou quoe'.. It should always be served with a special sauce (soy sauce mixed with red vinegar & a little big of sugar) to bring out the taste..

[pieman]

Reid - this does look very similar to the dish you had, doesn't it. I really don't know whether they're adapted and my Vietnamese lingual skills could probably get as far as asking the seller 'Is this a Chinese dish?" and then I'd lose the plot on the reply - probably. I'll defer to Linda and here comments above... Cho lon, for those of you who don't know, is the vast chinatown area in Saigon.

[lifegoeson]

it's called "Banh Bot Chien" not "Bot Gao"

[pieman]

Interesting lifesgoeson. I thought so too so I actually asked the stallholder to write the name down for me (I often do this to make sure I have things right) and I copied her word for word in the above post... Things are not always as they first appear in VN and I wouldn't be at all surprised if what you and I think is correct and Mrs. stallholder has it wrong...

[bubba]

Can anyone get a recipe for this, no matter what it is called?

[simply]

I have tried this a few yrs ago, but haven't made it for a long time. Recently, I have a sudden crave for it and I'm trying to re-discover the recipe.. hehe. It's true that the sauce is a very important part in this dish. This is the Vietnamese version and the taste is as I remember it from when I was a kid in VN. The Singaporian version is called Chai Tow Kway and in my opinion, tastes a little different because of the sauce. The recipe is a combination of net surfing and some personal tweaking (to make it taste more like the way I remember it). Oh yea, and it's called Bot Chien or Banh Bot Chien, not Bot Gao.

Try it and let me know how it can be improved!!

Ingredients:

- packet of carrot cake (cut into chunky pieces). (You can get it from any Asian market). It is called carrot cake but it’s actually made from raddish (white carrots?) and rice flour, so it looks white.
- Green onion (chopped).
- garlic (minced).
- Shallots (chopped) if you like.
- Egg.
- sweet dark soya sauce
- light soya sauce
- red vinegar
- chili paste (tuong ot)
- oil

Sauce:
Mix sweet dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, red vinegar together. Adjust to taste. The sauce should taste sweet and tangy. (I am still working on the sauce so any comments will be much appreciated).

Fried carrot cake:
In a heavy non-stick pan or wok, heat oil, garlic, and shallots until fairly hot. Add carrot cake pieces and stir-fry, add sweet dark soya sauce (about 2 Tbsp) and continue stir-frying until the carrot cake pieces are browned. I like them crunchy on the ouside so I fry them until they’re quite crispy but it’s up to you. Break open an egg into the carrot cake pan. Add green onions and fry the egg, green onions together with the carrot cake until the egg is done. At this point, I don’t stir fry it anymore, but instead, I fry it on one side, and then flip it just like when frying a egg.

Serve on a plate with sauce and chili paste (if you like it spicy).

[pieman]

Thanks simply - that's awfully kind of you. Thx also for the name check.

[flyfly]

oh.. this is my most favorite dish ever!!! The ones they sell in the corner of the streets usually taste better than the ones they sell in the restaurant :D

[Tuyen]

This dish has a Chinese origin. In Vietnam it's called Banh Bot Chien. Not Bot Gao. This is one of my favorit. School kids love this too.

[Jane]

I have just discovered 'bot chien' at my local vietnamese bakery in Melbourne, Australia. They put out a whole lot of different little bits and pieces in take away containers, and it varies week by week as to whats available. I was working my way through experimentally but now I'm addicted to bot chien and havnt managed to go past that for the last couple of weeks!. Great to see the recipe, which I will try, but I suspect I'll just keep on going back to Toto's bakery!

[Thuy-duong]

hi, I'm craving for banh bot chien so much but no where around here sell it. So I have to make it from scratch or at least how to make the soy-sauce base sauce for it. Could anyone tell me how to make the sauce for it?

[Finding]

We, "nguoi Sai Gon", call it BOT CHIEN, not BANH BOT CHIEN. Anyway it's one of my favorite dishes!

[cheyenne]

hihi, I love bot chien...but I think, a good taste is contingent on sauce, isn't it ?

[LT]

My aunt makes the best bot chien ever. She used to sell it when she was in refugee camp. LOL she made enough money to spend from this dish when she got to the States.

[Daniel]

Are you sure that it was served with soy sauce? Whenever I get it in District 3, it's with fish sauce

[Graham]

Never ever seen this with nuoc mam, not a once...

[Trần Minh Tài]

Well, i love this too much ... this is my favorite dish i have been eaten till 18 years old ... and now i am staying in india for a few years course of my study ... i remember and i just want to take away for this food ... Thanking for remind ... my memory ...

[myanh]

The sauce is really to make.
Use soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. Chili sauce is optional. Pour soy sauce into a container, then add small amount of sugar. Taste the sauce and make sure it has a bit of sweetness to it. Then add just a small amount of vinegar. Depends on you. If you like it more sour then add more vinegar. Add chili sauce if you want to spice it up. It is reccomended to add just a little bit of chili sauce to give it a boost of spice.