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Bánh xèo |
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Perhaps one of the most typical and loved of southern street foods, bánh xèo is a large folded over pancake, stuffed with mung beans, shrimp, and pork. The pancake is somewhat like a thin latke (potato pancake) or an Indian Masala Dosa, with thin crispy edges and outside, but also pliable and thick enough to soak up the juices from the filling and the dipping sauce. The rice flour and soy bean pancake (called a crepe by some) is flavored with coconut milk and sliced spring onions and colored with tumeric. The bánh xèo pork, shrimp and bean sprout stuffing is first seasoned and fried, then placed in the cooking pancake before it is folded over. Rip apart your bánh xèo, wrap it up in fresh lettuce leaves and stuff in some of fresh herbs from the pile supplied. Then dunk the whole package in the fish sauce dipping sauce with roasted peanuts, chilies and shaved green papaya, and savor the goodness.  Where to find it?
Sadly, bánh xèo is hard to come by in Hanoi now that Green Tomato has closed, and it can’t be found street side. A good place to try it is at Quán Ăn Ngon though you’ll get only a taste of its potential, rather than its most savory goodness. Saigon is the place to really enjoy it.
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Gỏi cuốn |
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 In contrast to the many types of fried rolls in Hanoi, fresh spring rolls are famous in Saigon. The best of these are gỏi cuốn which combine halved shrimp (sometimes sliced pork), mint leaves, cold vermicelli noodles in a slightly moist rice paper wrapper. This fresh and bright tasting bundle is dipped in a light, tart nước mắm sauce, or sometimes a peanut sauce in the south.
Where to find it?
Like bánh xèo, gỏi cuốn are also found in only a few places in the northern capital and not on the street. Hanoi Garden and Quán Ăn Ngon are two restaurants that serve gỏi cuốn, with the former delivering the superior fresh spring rolls.
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