More about bánh bèo

I am a gourmet of bánh bèo. I enjoy eating them, preparing them, talking about them, adorably gazing them, and by all means preserving them. Born in Hue, the cradle of bánh bèo, I am fortunate to know all versions of bánh bèo and ways of preparing and consuming bánh bèo.

The dish is so versatile, it can be consumed right from gánh hàng rong (the street vendor's hand)

(Photo taken from the internet)

or at a royal dinner.

(Photo taken from the internet)

Bánh bèo can be prepared either in a small round shallow bowl and consumed right from the bowl

(Photo taken from the internet)

or prepared in round thin moulds and unmoulded and arranged in a plate for serving.

(My home-made bánh bèo)

When it comes to serving method, I prefer a plate of super thin bánh bèo to small round shallow bowls. Despite a big fun of seeing a high pile of bowls getting higher and higher when you eat more and more and possibly the feeling of unmoulding the "cake" and putting it straight into the mouth, I find myself loyal to those super thin "cakes" served from the plate. To me, those super thin "cakes" are really in sophistication, beautification, and simplicity. I may sound 'subjective', but, yeah, it's me.

(My home-made bánh bèo)

A kind of sophistication that may be unique to this kind of bánh Huế is the sauce, nước mắm. Nước mắm bánh bèo is the precise word I must use for its uniqueness because it stands on its own among dishes and sauces on earth. I can decide whether some one's bánh bèo is truly bánh bèo or 100% bánh bèo Huế through looking and sensing its nước mắm bánh bèo. No lime or lemon, no garlic, and especially richly prawn and fish sauce smelling , nước mắm of this "cake" is made from prawn broth, fish sause, water and sugar, in which the prawn broth should be of the biggest importance in terms of quantity and taste. Hot chillies can be added to enhance but not alter the taste of this kind of sauce.

(My home-made bánh bèo)

Nước mắm bánh bèo is not a dipping sauce. The whole plate or small round bowl is often served after being added a good amount of nước mắm, which just goes hand in hand with tôm chấy (prawn flakes).

(My home-made bánh bèo)

Uhmmm! Wake me up when you want to talk more about bánh bèo. :)