Banh Cuon - Rice Noodle Rolls

Banh Cuon - Rice Noodle Rolls

Bánh cuốn is a rice noodle roll made from a thin, wide sheet of steamed fermented[2] rice batter filled with seasoned ground pork, minced wood ear mushroom, and minced shallots. Sides for this dish usually consist of chả lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage), sliced cucumber, and bean sprouts, with the dipping sauce called nước chấm. Sometimes, a drop of cà cuống, which is the essence of a giant water bug, Lethocerus indicus, is added to the nước chấm for extra flavor, although this ingredient is scarce and quite expensive.

The rice sheet in bánh cuốn is extremely thin and delicate. It is made by steaming a slightly fermented rice batter on a cloth which is stretched over a pot of boiling water. It is a light dish, and is generally eaten for breakfast everywhere in Vietnam. A different version of bánh cuốn, called bánh cuốn Thanh Trì and bánh cuốn làng Kênh, may be found in Thanh Trì, a southern district of Hanoi and Kênh village of Nam Định, an ancient village in the centre of Nam Định city.Bánh cuốn Thanh Trì or Bánh cuốn làng Kênh are not rolls, but just rice sheets eaten with chả lụa, fried shallots, or prawns

Banh cuon - rice noodle rolls filled with pork and mushrooms or vegetarian filling

I made banh cuon yesterday as part of a larger meal of Vietnamese dumplings and I just couldn't put the time or effort into making the banh cuon totally from scratch so I bought the rice noodle sheets in Chinatown after we got dim sum - find them on the corner of Grand and Bowery - there are usually two ladies on the corner selling both the rolled up rice noodles (banh uot in Vietnamese), plain or with bits of scallion and dried shrimp, and then large folded sheets that you can cut apart to fill with your filling of choice.  Some Asian groceries also carry large rice noodle sheets frozen or in the refrigerated section.
I'll make the rice noodle sheets some other time and post the recipe but for now, here are the recipes for the pork and mushroom filling and the vegetarian filling.

Serve with fried shallots and onions, chopped mint, cilantro and basil, steamed bean sprouts (cook them in the microwave for a few minutes), julienned cucumbers, and plenty of nuoc cham or vegetarian nuoc cham chay.  For the pork version, also serve with some gio lua, or Vietnamese bologna.  You can find it in most Asian groceries that carry Vietnamese foods.