When I travel, one of my favourite things to do is to visit the local food market to look, see, smell, listen and, of course, eat there. More often than not, it turns out to be the highlight of the trip - the food markets of Hue are no different. My first taste of Hue banh khoai at Chuồn Village Market is a memorable foodie experience, I highly recommend it to you too.
The imperial city of Hue in central Vietnam was the capital of Đàng Trong Kingdom (1738 - 1775) and Nguyen Dynasty (1802 - 1945). To appreciate the history of Vietnam, a visit to Hue is a Must. The food is great too as many Hue dishes were influenced by imperial court recipes. The monuments of Hue were accorded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1993 - I think Hue food should be considered for UNESCO Intangible Heritage status too. (Source: UNESCO.)
Our guide Nguyen Ngoc An of Connect Travel brought us to Chuồn Village Market which is less than 30 minutes drive (10 km) from downtown Hue.
It's just a small market with fresh vegetable, fruit, poultry, meat, seafood, and hawker stalls. There are many markets just like this throughout Vietnam, serving the villagers. Most of the stall holders and customers are women as An pointed out to us.
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There were several hawker stalls selling different forms of noodle and rice dishes. At least 3 or 4 stalls were selling banh khoai.
Banh khoai or banh xeo?
I struggled a bit trying to pin down what this is at Chuồn Village Market.
Both banh khoai and banh xeo originate from Hue and have similar vegetable, seafood, and meat topping. Banh khoai means "happy pancake" because it is always served folded into a semi circle shape to look like a smiley face. According to legend, banh khoai is shaped this way for the king's pleasure as it is first served in the palace. Banh xeo means "sizzling pancake" and is served either open faced or folded.
Banh khoai batter is thicker to make it foldable while banh xeo batter is thinner, crispier.
Banh khoai is eaten with an elaborate thick sauce of grounded peanut, minced pork and grounded pork liver held together with soy sauce. Banh xeo is eaten with a simpler watery sauce made with fish sauce, cut chili pepper and chopped garlic.
The version at Chuồn Village Market is a hybrid form known to locals as Bánh Khoái đầm Chuồn - the pancake is crisp, served open faced and eaten with watery fish sauce and cut chili.
Every banh khoai hawker have their own fans. The customers sit or squat on small, low plastic stools around a low table. The hawker cooks the banh khoai in a battery of small pans or skillets over small gas stoves with low, slow flames. The hawker lands the freshly made banh khoai in front of the customer, much like an omakase or teppanyaki chef. They exchange banter about the latest happenings in the village. It feels very intimate like the relationship with your regular hairdresser or barber.
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Banh khoai is a thin crisp rice pancake with toppings of bean sprout, spring union and seafood, meat, liver etc. It is a very versatile dish as there can be many possible toppings. The rice pancake is like a white canvas on which the hawker and customer paint with different textures, flavours, and aromas.
There are also many variations of banh khoai, some pancakes use thicker batter, often turmeric powder is added, while others are like the thin plain ones at Chuon Village Market.
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Customers can get their toppings from the banh khoai hawker or buy them from the fishmongers at the market. We got ours (with the help of An's wife) from the market stalls as we can handpick our uber fresh ingredients and it is also more fun.
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I struggled a bit trying to pin down what this is at Chuồn Village Market.
Both banh khoai and banh xeo originate from Hue and have similar vegetable, seafood, and meat topping. Banh khoai means "happy pancake" because it is always served folded into a semi circle shape to look like a smiley face. According to legend, banh khoai is shaped this way for the king's pleasure as it is first served in the palace. Banh xeo means "sizzling pancake" and is served either open faced or folded.
Banh khoai batter is thicker to make it foldable while banh xeo batter is thinner, crispier.
Banh khoai is eaten with an elaborate thick sauce of grounded peanut, minced pork and grounded pork liver held together with soy sauce. Banh xeo is eaten with a simpler watery sauce made with fish sauce, cut chili pepper and chopped garlic.
The version at Chuồn Village Market is a hybrid form known to locals as Bánh Khoái đầm Chuồn - the pancake is crisp, served open faced and eaten with watery fish sauce and cut chili.
Every banh khoai hawker have their own fans. The customers sit or squat on small, low plastic stools around a low table. The hawker cooks the banh khoai in a battery of small pans or skillets over small gas stoves with low, slow flames. The hawker lands the freshly made banh khoai in front of the customer, much like an omakase or teppanyaki chef. They exchange banter about the latest happenings in the village. It feels very intimate like the relationship with your regular hairdresser or barber.
👆Follow me on Instagram
Banh khoai is a thin crisp rice pancake with toppings of bean sprout, spring union and seafood, meat, liver etc. It is a very versatile dish as there can be many possible toppings. The rice pancake is like a white canvas on which the hawker and customer paint with different textures, flavours, and aromas.
There are also many variations of banh khoai, some pancakes use thicker batter, often turmeric powder is added, while others are like the thin plain ones at Chuon Village Market.
👆Follow me on Instagram
Customers can get their toppings from the banh khoai hawker or buy them from the fishmongers at the market. We got ours (with the help of An's wife) from the market stalls as we can handpick our uber fresh ingredients and it is also more fun.
👆Follow me on Instagram
The hawker makes banh khoai by splashing some watery rice batter onto a small lightly greased pan. She then adds in the fatty pork and/ or seafood toppings which can be prawns, fish, oysters, squid etc. These are complemented by bean sprouts and spring onion. We went to the banh khoai hawker with the shortest queue but still waited at least 45 minutes before our sizzling pancakes were ready.
We ate our banh khoai like locals - squatting on tiny stools and on a small low plastic table.
It's
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We had squid, prawns and rabbit fish (pek tor herr). Everything was delicious and I especially like the rabbit fish as the white tender, juicy sweet flesh went really well with the savoury crisp pancake.
Banh khoai is served open faced but I ate mine by folding the thin crisp rice pancake over like a ban chien kueh. The crisp pancakes broke when I did that as they were very thin and light.
It is eaten by dipping it in savoury fermented fish sauce with cut chili pepper. I love the combination of crisp and tender textures in the mouth and savoury sweet flavours with a subtle bit of spicy heat. Don't try it 😜 It's really addictive 😋 I lost count of how many I ate that morning at Chuồn Village Market.
Recommended for you 👍 When in Vietnam, do include the imperial city of Hue in your visit itinerary. The ancient city has many unique dishes including Hue banh khoai which are hard to find outside of Hue.
Attraction: Chuồn Village Market
Address: Phú Thị, Phú Vang District, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam
Hours: 4:00am - 11:00am
Our food tour to Hue was arranged by Nguyen Ngoc An of Connect Travel.
I flew to Hue by VietJet Air (via Danang).
Date visited: 4 Mar 2020
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