A stall at Southern Land Cuisine Festival 2016

A wide range of popular street food in Sai Gon from the past to present will be the highlight of the event this year, according to the organiser, the city’s Department of Tourism.

Nearly 100 kinds of che (pudding) and banh (cake), typical southern desserts, will be cooked and served during the event, such as che chuoi (banana with tapioca pearl pudding), che ba ba (potato, tapioca pearl and cassava pudding), che bap (corn pudding), banh khoai mi nuong (baked cassava cake, banh it tran (sticky rice dumplings) and banh da lon (steamed layer cake).

Chef Vo Quoc, Viet Nam’s culinary ambassador awarded by the World Association of Chefs Society, will conduct a cooking demonstration of traditional southern dishes such as ca kho to (caramelised fish in clay pot) and canh chua ca (sour fish soup).    

Ten troupes of don ca tai tu (Southern folk music) will perform throughout the five days of the event.

The event will also feature a photo exhibition on the multi-sensory cooking of southern dishes.  

The gastronomy festival aims to introduce Vietnamese culinary culture, particularly popular and loved culinary features of the southern region, La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the city’s Department of Tourism, said.

Last year, the event attracted nearly 80,000 visitors.