Chao Tom - The Art of Vietnamese Culinary

Ini photo 'menggiurkan' masakan Vietnam bernama Chao Tom, yang bahan utamanya kepiting dan udang cacah, dibumbui bawang dan merica kemudian di lilitkan di batang kecil tebu..(waduuh jadi inget sate buntel nich..!) kemudian digoreng sampai matang, disajikan dengan kacang tanah sangrai, rasanya gurih dan manis, ini menurut penuturan Ms. Rania Moda yang pertengahan Oktober kemarin berkunjung ke Saigon, Vietnam.
Photo diatas adalah salah satu menu yang disajikan di restaurant 'Quan 94',..dien tien Hoang Q1, Saigon.

These fragrant grilled savory-sweet morsels are a classic Vietnamese appetizer/party food. Perfect for noshing with friends along with a cold beer or dry white wine, well for Indonesian, maybe with warm tea. For Chao Tom, a garlicky shrimp or combination with crab paste is wrapped around a stick of sugarcane, briefly steamed to set the paste and shape, and then grilled to finish. Pieces of the shrimp are typically wrapped in lettuce with herbs and dipped in some nuoc cham dipping sauce. The delicate flavors of Chao Tom  are a wonderful mouthful. And, the sugarcane stick functions both as a great skewer that doesn’t easily burn up and after the shrimp has been removed from the sugarcane, you can chew on the sugarcane for a chase of refreshing sweet sugarcane juice. How cool is that?

Chao tom is a central Vietnamese specialty (there are many kinds of chao from that region but this one is most popular in Vietnam) and you may have encountered it on restaurant menus. .

Central Vietnam or Central (Vietnamese: Miền Trung), formerly also known as Trung phần by Republic of Vietnam, Trung kỳ and Annam under French Indochina) is one of the three regions of Vietnam (Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam). Highlands or Tây Nguyên are often included in the Central. Sometimes the Central and the Highlands are collectively referred to as Central-Highlands. Name of Trung Bộ was used by the king Bảo Đại when he established administrative level higher than the province in 1945, instead of the Trung Kỳ which recalled the French occupation. This name was officially used by government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and is popularly used today.
Salah satu kota terkenal di Central Vietnam adalah Da Nang..(kalo ini sich kayak temen jaman SMA namanya Danang..he..he..)
(Source: VietWorldKitchen, Wilkipedia and the lovely Ms. Rania Moda, mom of two teenage boys from Java, Indonesia)