Hue was the former capital of Vietnam during the feudal era for more than a century. The long history and characteristics of the royal lifestyle eventually made Hue cuisine the most sophisticated of all Vietnamese culinary traditions. The Hue traditional cuisine is the clear reflection of the elegance and courtesy of Hue people. Among a variety of local specialty, the collection of Hue traditional dumpling is the thing you should not ignore when jumping any Hue street food tour.

Hue traditional dumplings are made of the basic types of flour in Vietnam, which are rice flour, glutinous rice flour, cassava flour. The cake's ingredients are very diverse, such as shrimps, pork, green beans, etc. The most popular dumplings can be named as “Banh Loc”, “Banh Nam”, “Banh Beo”and“Banh Ram It”.

Banh Beo is the steamed limber dumpling with the appealing fragrance of rice flour, topped with dried shrimp and pork skin, fried onion that are laid out on tiny ceramic dishes all placed on a round tray. To taste it, you will use a spoon to sprinkle the rice cake with a sweet fish sauce before serving. Banh Beo Hue is a highlight of Hue cuisine and is one of the most popular snacks that you can easily find in any restaurant serving Hue cuisine throughout Vietnam.

Beside Banh Beo, Banh Loc (tapioca dumpling) is also famous to anyone who visits Hue. All would accept that this transparent dumpling looks interesting and stunning, covering an orange shrimp inside. Banh Loc has a chewy and sticky balance. Texturally, the pleasures of this dish are the sensation of a shrimp shell's skin playing against the softness of the pork belly. Not everyone knows that the tapioca starch must be mixed by hand with boiling water before it becomes a fluffy and smooth mixture to make it transparent and chewy. Before put into the dumplings, the shrimp and pork belly portions are stir-fried in caramelized sugar. The dumplings are then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed or boiled.

Banh Nam (flat rice dumpling) is not as famous as the others, it is still a common street dish sold in many places in Hue. It has a white color and a flat rectangular shape with inside fillings of minced shrimp and pork with green onions, all wrapped in a banana leaf. The mixture of rice flour is spread on the banana leaf, with the fillings in the centre, then wrapped and steamed. It is eaten with a spicy and sweet fish sauce.

Banh Ram It was a favorite in the royal family of Hue, but it has been popular ever since. The name stems from the mix of two distinct components: the steamed sticky rice dumpling on the top and the fried sticky rice pancake on the bottom. To make Banh Ram It, it takes a lot of time and requires good cooking skills. Produce a smooth mixture of glutinous rice flour, water and salt. Then split it in two sections. Wrap the dough around the filling - stir-fried minced pork and shrimp for the dumplings, then steam. For pancakes, mold the dough into flat round pieces, and fry them deeply.

From the simple ingredients, but bringing unique flavours, those traditional dumplings of Hue always make anyone who tastes will never forget. Come and hunt those must-try dishes on our special Hue street food tour.