A few days ago, my friend Terrence Khuu came over for dinner with these beauties here. His mom, a cook at Le Colonial in San Francisco, makes these not for the restaurant, but for family and friends. I was luck to be among the "friends" category.
The skin is soft and supple like banh cuon steamed rice flour sheets. But they didn't harden in the fridge. She makes them in a nonstick skillet and fills the crepe with chopped shrimp, which she seasons lightly and includes the roe pulled from the shrimp head. Mang is bamboo shoot in Vietnamese but she opted for thin shreds of jicama, which is more delicately flavored.
Each one was about 4-inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Accompanying sauces included lightly sweetened coconut milk and a light ginger, fish sauce, vinegar and sugar sauce. You can eat banh mang with one of the sauces or combine the two.
Terrence and his family are from the Can Tho area in the southern region of Vietnam. He says this kind of food is popular there. Though Terrence is a chef, his mom isn't willing to let him in on the secret. I'm not familiar with this little treat, which we only served half of to guests and saved the rest for ourselves!
Any of you heard of banh mang or know how to make it?
Ahah! You kept a stash for yourself and the hubster. Very sneaky! I was one of the lucky guests who got to try these scrumptious dumplings at Andrea's house. It was my first time eating them, too. Wow! I wish I could find these at a restaurant because I could definitely make an entire meal of them.
Posted by: Carolyn Jung | July 20, 2008 at 11:22 AM
Carolyn, we ate them and we still can't figure out how Mrs. Khuu made them. They are exceptional and at a resto, you could charge a whopping amount for them!
Posted by: Andrea Nguyen | July 22, 2008 at 10:32 PM
I double checked with my very reliable staff and have answers for you:
"Cindy",lived in Can Tho till the age of 46, says that they call this Can Tho specialty, "Bánh Dùm". Dùm, meaning to wrap, bundle or gather up. Hence, the name.
It is made just like you would banh cuon and the pre-cooked fillings will vary in combination with shrimp, pork, green onions and jicama. She says that she has never seen any with bamboo filling, but there are many variations that cooks will use. Coconut milk is usually always offered with Bánh Dùm, as well as the cooks choice of some type of nuoc mam based dip.
She says:
1. Steam banh cuon like you normally would and make them smaller, or if larger, split them into 2-4 sections . As soon as the rice sheets are finished steaming, leave them on the cloth.
2. you add cooked filling in the middle and gently gather up sides of rice sheet to the center of the dumpling, forming the round shape. If the rice sheets are still very hot, they will automatically gather around and cling to the filling.
3. Some cooks will allow the dumplings to steam on the banh cuon cloth for a few more seconds to further cook the filling if necessary. She says some cooks may add raw fillings, but has never seen this technique. Usually it is always cooked fillings.
4. When she makes this, she prefers to pour the batter just a little thicker than you normally would the rice sheets because they will be stronger.
5. She has always seen them made like steamed banh cuon rice sheets and never on a non stick pan. The non stick process would be easier but thinks the pan would not be able to create the banh cuon sheet like , soft consistency.
That's what I've been able to research, hope it helps. I think I'm gonna work on a batch of this next week, it sounds awesome!
Posted by: White On Rice Couple | July 27, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Oops, I should have proof read my post first. It's Bánh Đùm. Just the slightest change in one diacritic makes all the difference!
Posted by: White On Rice Couple | July 27, 2008 at 05:29 PM
First I'm jealous of Ms. Caroyln Jung for being able to try these!
Second, just as I was about to ask about rolling these up, I sxee that you (Andrea) already followed up with more helpful info in that regard.
Are you saying that she makes the wrapper also? I'm not sure I'm skilled enough to make good ones- I'll look for a recipe. But maybe, if there's a good pre-made wrapper brand that can be soft and smooshy like hers seem to be, I'm not sure if you can publish that here but if you could pass that on to me I'd love to know.
Peace.
Posted by: MIKO | August 23, 2008 at 10:16 PM
These looks and sound delicious. I have a weakness for anything Banh Cuon related.
Posted by: Michelle | August 27, 2008 at 09:20 AM