Banh cuon is one of Hanoi’s most popular “traditional” food– it’s up there with the city’s most famous signature dishes, like pho or bun chu.
For those who don’t know, the steamed rice-flour crepes are wrapped around ground pork and finely chopped woodear mush-rooms, herbs and spices and usually topped with hanh phi (fried shredded onion) and mac tom (salt-ed shredded shrimp). The dish is served with nuac chum (a mixture of fish sauce, vinegar, peppercorn, lime, sugar and chili) as a dipping sauce and with a plate of fresh green-ery – typically mint, bean sprouts, coriander – to add another layer of texture and flavour. Often you will have a choice ofprocessed pork meat to compliment the dish – cha lua or gio.
You can find banh cuon right across the city but don’t assume everyone produces a perfect rendi-tion. My tip is Banh Cuon Gia An as there’s a network around town with restaurants in Hai Ba Trung, Cau Giay, Ba Dinh and Dong Da dis-tricts. Besides hanh phi and ruoc tom at Gia An restaurant you will can choose thit Nuong (roasted pork) or trung hap (steamed eggs) as a top-ping. One serving costs VND 20,000 to VND35,000 depending on your topping and whether or not you add cha lua or gio.
So how can you tell if your serving of banh cuon is just right? The rice sheets should be shiny and sweet – and almost buttery. The restaurant will have carefully soaked the rice flour but they will have made sure to not to leave it too long otherwise the . Banh cuon would be sour and broken. In some restaurants apparently mix in a little borax (a food additive) or pearl powder o polish up the texture. But at Banh Cuon Gia An only high qual-ity rice and skillful techniques are to answer for the perfect texture.
The Hanoi Department of Health have even given the thumbs up to Banh Cuon Gia Anis methods, con-ferring a special seal of quality on the restaurant: “Nguyen chat tu gao” (Made from refined rice). So rest assured, this is top quality stuff.
Also, Banh Cuon Gia An offers nuoc cham nong – a hot sauce made from purified pork broth, which is stewed for over four hours and filled with incredible layers and flavours. It’s rich, nutritious and utterly deli-cious. l have cravings for its taste. In fact I’m craving some right now!
Although Banh Cuon Gia An first opened in October 2008, already the restaurant has won the acclaim and trust of connoisseurs around town for its commitment to quality and exquisite banh cuon.
You can find Banh Cuon Gia An at 25 Thai Phien 114A Yet Kieu, Hai Ba Trung district, 62 Tran Dang Ninh/ 337 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay district, l08A6 Tran Huy Lieu, Ba Dinh district, and lll/S Lang Ha, Dong Da district.
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