Banh Cuon

I'm a bit late on posting this... but I made some Banh Cuon for my family on New Years Day. Banh Cuon is basically Vietnamese rice roll with ground pork inside on it. It is really really delicious. It's not hard to make it but it is tedious work...so actually, not many Vietnamese restaurants in the Bay Area have this dish on their menu.


Here are some step-by-step pictures of how it's done : (the below portions serves 16):


Here are a couple of main ingredients - the Banh Cuon rice flour (4 bags) and wood ear (black fungus) - 1 bag. You would also need ground pork, onions, shrimp, water, oil, salt, pepper and fish sauce.




Chop up wood ear, 1 lb shrimp, 2.5 large onions with food processor. Tenderize 2.5 lbs of ground pork






Mix up all the above ingredients except for the onions. Add salt, a little bit of fish sauce and ground pepper. The seasoning is up to your taste. I like it with a lot of pepper. Remember that you serve this w/ fish sauce so you don't have to make it that salty.

Sautee the onions first until limp and then add in the pork mixture. Cook fully.

For the Banh Cuon skin, use 1 bag of the rice flour and add 4 cups of water, drizzle of oil, and a pinch of salt. The instructions on the bag ask you to add in 3 cups of water, but I find that it tastes much better with 4 cups. The wrap then beccomes much thinner. Mix well until all the lumps are gone.

After you're done mixing the Banh Cuon mixture, scoop 3/4 of a ladle of liquid into a small non-stick frying pan. Depending on the size of your ladle, you may need more or less than 3/4. The goal is to get the liquid to be evenly distribute around the pan thinly. Cover the pan with a lid to cook.



After a 1 minute of cooking or when the skin is loose from the pan, transfer the skin into a non-stick surface (I use a cookie sheet) by flipping the pan in a 180 degree motion. Technique is somewhat tricky but after a while you'll get it. The goal is to have the skin lying flat. Place a scoop of cooked meat in the middle


Fold the skin on the sides then on the top and bottom to form the Banh Cuon into this shape. Be careful, the skin is really hot!! Use a chopstick if necessary.






Repeat the steps and do one Banh Cuon at a time until you finish all your mixture. Place them onto a tray and serve with condiments of your choice.




The typical dish includes the following sides:

1. Sliced Cha Lua (Vietnamese Fancy Pork)
2. Sliced Cucumber
3. Bean Sprouts
4. Fish Sauce
5. Green Onions & oil
6. Fried or dried shallots

You're DONE! Enjoy your dish!!