Vietnamese Meals/Snacks
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Banh Beo -
Vietnamese Little floppy discs of rice flour, topped with a sprinkling of ground shrimp and chives. Though a little bland, the texture was smooth and rather nice. (A good dose of Nuoc Cham fish sauce punched that flavor back up a notch...) I'll give it a solid 3.0. I'm not in a rush to have it again, but I'll have good memories of the experience... Would I try again? Nah... Where I found it: Pho Tu Do |
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Banh Bot
Loc - Vietnamese Translucent, chewy tubes of steamed tapoica/rice flour, enveloped around a core filled with minced pork or shrimp. The texture provides the magic for this dish - a chewy (but not rubbery) feel, with light, tasty ingredients and the payoff when you bite down. Wonderful! Would I try again? Yes! An instant favorite! 4 stars! Where I found it: Sau Voi |
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Banh Cong - Vietnamese Fried (or baked?) muffins, served with a dipping sauce, and a full (unshelled) shrimp garnishing each top. Would I try again? No - too floury. I'm coming to the conclusion that glutinous rice dishes are my true love...so give me Banh Bot Loc over this any day. But you might like it, so give it a try... Where I found it: Nha Sach Khan Tri |
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Banh Day Gio - Vietnamese A new favorite of mine. Traditionally made for Tet, made daily in Chinatown NYC. Steamed, round glutinous rice patties (that's the Banh Day part), laid over a slab of pork sausage (Gio, pronouced 'yaw'). A strip of banana leaf covers the top and bottom to keep your hands from getting too sticky. The guy at the counter called it a 'Vietnamese Hamburger' - and I call it worth getting repeatedly. No frills, just plain tasty carbs and meat in a portable package. Really. The only negative? I've been told that they're twice as big in California's Chinatown....Four stars! (I like Banh Mi's version best - that's the one that hamburger shaped, not triangular, and not completely covered with banana leaf.) Would I try again? Yes, and have. Where I found it: Banh Mi (on Broome), Sau Voi , and Tan Tin Market |
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Banh Duc -
Vietnamese Very simple in concept - a steamed rice flour cake, dusted with crumbles of dried prawn, and served with nuoc mam dipping sauce. In Hanoi, the dish is often eaten with extras like peanuts, lime juice, mushroom and/or steamed meat. I had it plain - just the prawn powder, the sauce...and nothing more. While the cake itself is nearly tasteless, the overall dish had a special something....it was truly enjoyable to eat (and I imagine, quite low calorie!) Would I try again? Yes. Where I found it: Sau Voi |
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Banh It -
Vietnamese Delicious, little rice flour dumplings - dusted with prawn powder, and filled with a combination of pork and mung bean. These things have a great chewy texture (so chewy that I couldn't cut them with the provided spoon, and was forced to eat 'em with my hands. That's a good thing...really...!) They're served with nuoc cham sauce, but are yummy even without it, thanks to the prawn powder and scallion topping. And the price was perfect... $2.50 for a terrific meal! GOD, I LOVE SAU VOI! A solid 3.5 stars. Would I try again? Yes - very
tasty...and the only time I've ever liked a Vietnamese snack with mung
beans in it... |
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Banh Khot
- Vietnamese Small, bite-sized pancakes made from ground rice, shaped into a hemisphere....and dusted with shrimp powder. Not bad - a little plain tasting...and very much improved with a dousing of nuoc mam fish sauce. Would I try again? No. It was nice, but Goi Cuon beats it any day of the year... Where I found it: Sau Voi |
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Banh Mi - Vietnamese Wow. It's a Vietnamese sandwich, on rich French bread, and Vietnamese spices. They're great. The flavor sort of sneaks up on you. You try it once, and it's nice. But then you have to have another bite...then just one more...and so on. You should try one: toppings and spices include cucumber, daikon, carrot, coriander, and lots of Nuoc Cham, which is a Vietnamese dipping sauce (lots of lime involved.) And best of all, they're only about $2.00! Four stars! Would I try again? Yes! Where I found it: Sau
Voi , Bahn
Mi
and Saigon
Banh Mi |
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Banh Tet -
Vietnamese A cylindrical glutinous rice cake, stuffed with various delicacies (mine had black beans, banana and a large helping of the fermented purple shrimp paste known as Ruoc Mam.) A symbol of fertility (hmmmm), these things are pretty big, and traditionally served at Tet. Would I try again? No. It tasted
okay, but I'm sorry...the purple Nuoc Mam just skeeved me out.
(It wasn't the taste. Just - as an American, I get suspicious
when I find out the inside of my food is purple!) |
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Banh U
(and Banh Chung) - Vietnamese Traditionally made for the Tet Lunar New Year - little packets of steamed glutinous rice, wrapped in banana leaf. How to tell them apart? Banh Chung are square. Banh U are pyramid shaped. Symbolizing earth, the offerings are filled with everything from pork to mung bean paste. So far, I've tried a versions filled with sweet grated coconut and lotus seeds (Nha Dua) and mung bean paste (Dau Xanh). Would I try again? Yes - at least
the Nha
Dua (which had a sweet, tasty flavor). As for the Dau
Xanh...well, mung bean is just not my thing - so no. |
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Banh Uot -
Vietnamese Bundles of chewy, thick rice paper crepes - huddled at the bottom of a bean sprout/pork baloney salad. Doused with a healthy hit of fish and chili sauce...this is one spectacular dish! The only thing better would be a vegetarian version - and given the incentive, I'm definitely going to find one. Recommended - and yummy. 4 stars. Would I try again? Yes - ooooh yes. Where I found it: Pho Tu Do - but their version has pork. If (and when) I go back - my venue of choice will be Saigon Banh Mi, which will do a vegetarian Banh Uot on request! |
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Banh Xeo
(Vietnamese Crepe) - Vietnamese aka Saigon Pancake The version I had was very good. A huuuuuuge soft flour-egg crepe, stuffed with slivers of pork, shrimp, and a heaping serving of bean sprouts, served with a delicate dipping sauce on the side. Very yummy, and yet not that heavy. It made it worth the trip to the restaurant (which was otherwise just average to me.) 3.2 stars. Would I try again? Yes. Where I found it: Thai So'n |
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Bun Xao
Chay - Vietnamese A tangle of rice vermicelli noodles, mixed with steamed vegetables such as broccoli and carrots. Plenty of other toppings are available (for the carnivorous among you) - including beef, pork or shrimp. For this dish, seasonings are sparse, resulting in a mild taste, which sits lightly in the stomach. Would I try again? Nah...too
bland, too average. |
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Cha Gio (Deep
Fried Spring Roll) - Vietnamese Little deepfried spring rolls, another signature dish of Vietnam. They're crispy, but nothing special to anyone who has had Chinese American take out Spring Rolls. The same thing, only smaller. Also, I'm not a great fan of deep frying, anyway. Would I try again? Nah. Where I found it: Any Vietnamese restaurant. |
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Che Tao Xoan
(Green Bean with Coconut Milk) - Vietnamese It's your average coconut milk porridge type dish - see Pilut Hitam for further verbiage - iinteresting, but no great shakes. Would I try again? Nah. Where I found it: Sau Voi |
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Gio Cuon (Fresh
Summer Rolls) - Vietnamese Now, we're talkin'! Unlike Cha Gio (see above), these spring rolls aren't deep fried - they're fresh! And very, very good. A steamed rice "paper" wrapping, stuffed with shrimp and vegetables. Very refreshingly light and good. (The wrapping was a touch chewy...) Four stars! Would I try again? Without a doubt. Where I found it: Sau Voi |
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Goi Du Du
(Green Papaya Salad) Vietnamese Similar in concept to Thai Som Tam - a shredded papaya salad, mixed with dots of dried pork or beef, bits of shrimp ...and flavored with a vinegary version of Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) Would I try again? Not from Boi (which seemed a little bland) - but somewhere else? Maybe. Where I found it: Boi |
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Kho (Ca
Kho To) - Vietnamese Casserole rice dishes, distinguished by their rich, caramel fish sauce. Mixed with pork, beef or fish (as with Ca Kho To), the sauce has a deep, amber color - heady with a complex blend of seasonings....resulting in a taste that's salty, sweet - and utterly delicious! (Although I haven't found it yet, I hope to discover a restaurant serving vegetable-only Kho. Then I'll really be in heaven!) Would I try again? Yes!!!
Now this is what Vietnamese
cuisine is all about! 4 stars! |
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Pho - Vietnamese Pronounced Fur, Pho is a spicy signature dish of Vietnam, eaten as breakfast food or comfort food - rice noodle soup, with (usually beef), star anise, bean sprouts, fish sauce (Nuoc Mam), lime and several other seasonings. It's filling, spicy and good, although not quite as amazing as Richard Sterling (of the Lonely Planet Food Series) claims. If you have any interest in Vietnamese food, you should try it at least once. Would I try again? Not in a hurry. Where I found it: Nha Trang One, (87 Baxter Street). (Since I've only had the Pho to-go, I don't feel qualified to review this restaurant. For what it's worth, the man at the counter was very friendly and helpful.) |
| The Cheat Sheet Essential Vocabulary Banh = Portable snack For further information - see Alice's Guide to Vietnamese Banh and Let us Eat Cake (by Richard Sterling) |
