bánh bèo — Vietnam

Bánh bèo are small, saucer-shaped steamed cakes made from a thin batter of rice flour and tapioca starch, poured into little dishes and steamed until barely set and slightly translucent. Each disc is topped with ground dried shrimp, crisped pork or pork skin, and a spoonful of scallion oil, then eaten with a light, sweet-sour fish sauce. The cakes are reported chiefly from central Vietnam, especially the city of Huế, and are counted among the most widely sold street foods in the country. Small stalls and home cooks alike turn them out by the dozen in stacks of tiny molds, and they are eaten as a snack, a light meal or an accompaniment to other dishes. To make them, a thin rice flour and tapioca batter is rested, then ladled into small greased molds and steamed briefly until set. While the cakes steam, dried shrimp is toasted and crushed, pork or pork skin is fried until crisp, and oil is poured hot over finely chopped scallions. The dipping sauce is mixed separately from fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, garlic and chili, and the unmolded cakes are topped and served together with it. The toppings mark the main difference between regions: cooks in Huế commonly favor dried shrimp with crisped pork skin, while other areas, such as Quảng Nam province, lean toward minced pork mixed with shrimp instead. The size and thinness of the cakes, the strength of the scallion oil and the balance of the dipping sauce also shift from one stall to another, though the steamed rice disc and its savory toppings remain the dish's core.