Banh Cuon in Hanoi: Steamed Rice Rolls and the Thanh Tri Tradition

Bánh cuốn looks simple on the plate: soft, almost translucent folds of steamed rice sheet, scattered with crisp fried shallots. Making it well takes a practised hand, and in Hanoi the dish is closely tied to one place, the old village of Thanh Trì. This guide to banh cuon in Hanoi covers what it is, how it is made, its recent heritage listing and how to eat it.

What banh cuon is

The base is a batter of ordinary rice, ground with water. It is spread very thinly over a cloth stretched above a pot of boiling water, covered for a moment to steam, then lifted off with a flat bamboo stick. If the batter is too thin the sheet tears; too thick and it turns coarse.

There are two main kinds:

• Plain sheets (bánh cuốn lá). Folded, brushed with spring onion fat and topped with fried shallots. Thanh Trì villagers regard this plain version as the original.
• Filled rolls (bánh cuốn nhân). Each sheet is rolled around minced pork cooked with wood ear and shiitake mushrooms. Filled rolls are usually made to order and served hot.

Hanoi’s tourism department describes the result as soft and light, with the crunch of mushroom and fried shallot against the smooth rice.

How it began

The name Thanh Trì comes from a riverside village in the south of the city, now part of Vĩnh Hưng ward. The dish’s exact origin is unclear; Báo Văn hóa describes it as something shaped over generations rather than invented on a known date.

Women from Thanh Trì once carried trays and baskets of bánh cuốn into the city to sell. Makers traditionally began steaming in the late afternoon and let the sheets rest overnight, so that by morning the raw smell of the batter had gone and the sheets were soft and fragrant.

Hanoi writers have long praised it. Thạch Lam called Thanh Trì bánh cuốn a true Hanoi snack, with sheets as thin as paper and as clear as silk. Vũ Bằng, in Miếng ngon Hà Nội, wrote that every country version he tried made him miss Thanh Trì’s even more.

A national heritage craft

In 2025 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism added the craft of making Thanh Trì bánh cuốn to the national list of intangible cultural heritage, in the category of folk knowledge and traditional crafts. The certificate was presented on 18 March 2026 at a ceremony in Vĩnh Hưng ward.

The listing recognises the whole process as knowledge passed down through families: choosing the rice, grinding and filtering the batter, steaming the sheets, presenting the plate and mixing the dipping sauce. At the ceremony, the deputy minister noted that the rolls are still made entirely by hand.

How to eat banh cuon in Hanoi

• Use the dipping bowl. Each plate comes with a small bowl of dipping sauce: fish sauce mixed with sugar, vinegar and water, with slices of chilli and fried shallot. Each maker keeps their own ratio.
• Add something savoury. Bánh cuốn is eaten with slices of Vietnamese pork sausage (chả), including cinnamon-scented chả quế, or with fried tofu.
• Add herbs. Láng basil, mint, coriander and kinh giới are common.
• Look for cà cuống. Traditionally, a drop of essence from the giant water bug (cà cuống) was added to the sauce for its sweet, spicy scent. It is now hard to find, so many shops leave it out.

Locals mostly eat bánh cuốn for breakfast, all year round, and some have it as a light bite in the evening.

Where to try it

Bánh cuốn is sold across Hanoi. If you want to taste it close to where the Thanh Trì style began, Việt Nam News notes that eateries still operate on Ngũ Nhạc, Thanh Đàm and Thanh Lân streets in the old Thanh Trì area.

Local tip Other northern provinces have their own versions. In Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn, for example, bánh cuốn can come with a pork bone broth instead of a fish sauce dip.

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Good to know before you order

• Pork and fish sauce. The filling and the chả are pork, and the dip is made with fish sauce. Even plain sheets are brushed with spring onion fat, so ask before ordering if you avoid meat or fish.
• Insect essence. If you prefer not to eat cà cuống, ask whether it has been added to the sauce.
• Herbs. Herbs are served raw.