Vietnam's banh cuon is one of the ten must-try dishes of the world in 2023, according to Australian daily online Traveller. (Photo: dulich.laodong.vn) According to Traveller, banh cuon is a simple dish and lesspopular with international tourists compared to pho (noodlesoup) and bun cha (vermicelliwith grilled pork and fresh herbs). However, making the dish requires alot of skill.
“There's a certain magic to how these big sheets of steamed rice noodles aremade before they're wrapped around savoury fillings and served with herbs andsauce,” it says.
The famous US magazine, Travel andLeisure, also recommended that banhcuon is one among three must-try dishes on a food tour in Vietnam,besides pho and banh mi.
Nine other dishes were also named on the list are grilled turbot of Spain,Oklahoma smash burger from the United States, mole negro from Mexico, shorteats from Sri Lanka, sushi from Japan, ragu napoletano from Italy, sarawak laksafrom Malaysia, duck sausage sanga from Australia, and tahdig from Iran.
Banh cuon impressed diners with its special cooking style andthe harmony of flavours from its ingredients. The dish can be found across Vietnam,but each region has variations in ingredients, cooking methods and tastes.
The most famed variation is said to be found in banhcuon’s cradle, Thanh Tri, an ancient suburb of Hanoi.
Thanh Tri rolled pancakes are paper thin and look almost transparent. Mincedpork and wood ear mushrooms are rolled in the rice sheet, and the whole dish isserved with dipping sauce.
The sauce served with the rolled pancake is similar to that in bun cha (noodles served with grilledpork) – fish sauce with sugar, water (to lessen the saltiness), chilli andvinegar. They could also be eaten with chaque (orange-hued, roasted cinnamon sausage) or cha lua (Vietnamese classic silkysausages) to boost their taste.
Unlike Hanoi’s version, Phu Ly steamed rolled rice pancakes in Ha Nam province haveno stuffing. This type of banh cuun is eaten cold with charcoal-grilled meatinstead of roasted cinnamon pork. The meat must be both lean and fatty to besoft, fragrant, and not too dry. The pancakes are dipped in diluted fish sauceand served with various herbs.
In the northern provinces of Cao Bang and Lang Son, rolled pancakes are eatenwith pork bone broth instead of fish sauce like in Hanoi. While spreading thewet batter over the steaming basket, cooks would add an egg and then cover thecooked egg with a rice sheet. Diners could add some fermented bamboo shoots andchilli to fortify their broth.
In central provinces like Nghe An and Ha Tinh, banhcuon is also known as banh muot.Here, the steamed Vietnamese rolls often contain only rice batter, without anypork or mushroom.
In Nghe An, locals often serve banhmuot with eel soup, another local delicacy, while in Ha Tinh, the dishis eaten with ram, the local versionof spring rolls. To enjoy this dish, diners wrap the crispy spring roll withthe rice pancake and dip it into fish sauce./.
VNA
