I really had no idea why we call this deep fried savory cake "Cóng", also no glue about the name, the meaning, the origin...until one of my many trips to Cần Thơ, to try this speciality and to discover the name's origin! People probably named the cake Cóng, after the cake's mold!
Bánh cóng - a speciality from Mekong Delta
The cake's mold is quite unique, it looks like a ladle - big serving spoon for soup, but the handle has been designed specially long with a hook at the end ... for deep frying function!
By the way, in Vietnamese, to call this big serving spoon we have different words: in North - we call "môi" or "mui", in South - "vá" and it causes a big confusion between people from North and South when we talk to each other.