homage to bánh
i am crazy about bánh so this is my own personal homage to it. i have been stuffing my face with bánh for as long as i can remember. you just cant avoid bánh in Vietnamese fare.
bánh loosely translates in english as bread or cake. there is a wide range in variety and it comes sweet or savory and is cooked by steaming, baking, frying, deep frying or boiling. bánh also refers to varieties of noodle/noodle dishes. varieties of bánh are named by a descriptive word or phrase, sometimes literal and sometimes metaphorical. here i will explore all the traditional varieties as well as the more obscure that will require some personal pioneering. i will attempt to cook every single variety in existence and every dish with the namesake.
some samples of typical varieties:
- noodles: bánh canh (literally means “soup cake”), bánh phở (the ride noodle in the famous phở soup)
- dumplings: bánh bao (a dome shaped dumpling filled with pork, egg, mushroom and sausage)
- panckakes: bánh xèo (savory pancake/crepe)
- rolls: bánh cuốn (steamed rice roll)
- rice paper: bánh tráng: (used for making summer rolls or fried spring rolls
- sweet: bánh tiêu (hollow doughnut), bánh khoai mì (cassava cake)
- special occasion: bánh chưng (holiday Tết cake, steamed glutinous rice filled with mung bean and pork)
- bánh mi (french baguette sandwich)
this is going to take forever so i hope you enjoy it much as i know i know i will.
during my last trip home, my mom spoiled me with these treats:
bánh cuốn
bánh xèo, bánh bèo and bánh bột lọc
