Bobby Chinn Instagram – This is Chi An, 3rd generation doing just one dish to absolute perfection. This is Banh Cuon. My foodie friend Duyen introduced her to me telling me she was the ‘best’ and honestly having travelled and lived in the country for 22 years, I can honestly say hers are exceptionally better then them all. it took me 8 years of visiting her weekly sometimes vô weekly for her to teach me Banh Cuon. It took two visits with two different translators to get her to share her recipe. Upon visiting her the second time, I humbly told her that it wasn’t the same. She smiled and explained that she didn’t want to give the recipe to the translator especially if it wasn’t assured that he would tell me the minor details. The second translator would be clueless of the missing link. She makes the floss, slices and fries the crispy shallots to perfection, cooks everything from start to finish. She is the cashier keeping a mental count of all the orders.
In the early days I didn’t know the word for egg, so I would order by making sound effects. This is an incredibly difficult dish to execute and this is why you have to come to the source. The rice batter is slightly fermented and needs to be ladled and spread quickly over the tight fabric with a decent amount of steam. If you look at the bamboo stick, it’s flat, and as she pulls it off, the wrist twist slightly as he raises the night of her arm to pull the rice pancake off without ripping it as its easy to stick to the fabric. The surface where she rolls has to be slightly oiled to prevent it from sticking to the table. There is no wasted motion in her preparation and execution. A true master of her craft. I consider a trip incomplete to Hanoi without paying my respect to this lady that works every single day bringing joy to those that appreciate a phenomenal dish. I’ve taken everyone from Charles Pham from slanted door to food critics to Stan Sesser from #asianwallstreetjournal #banhcuon #streetfood | Posted on 22/Sep/2023 07:27:17
