Banh dap or Smashing rice paper is one of specialty foods in Hoi An, Vietnam. It’s simply made with grilled rice papers and wet rice papers with a special dipping sauce. This snack is a popular street food in the afternoon. Now, let’s HoiAn Day Trip Company provide all information about Banh dap or Smashing rice paper in Hoi An Vietnam.
You may also like: Specialty Food in Hoi An, Vietnam
• Content by Tam Le, founder of HOIAN DAY TRIP CO.,LTD
• Designed by Giang Cong Minh, co-founder of LS E&C LTD and his team
• Photo by Dang Cong Loi, Dao Xuan Son, Tam Le & others
Must Knows about Banh Dap (Smashing Rice Paper)
– Other name(s):
– Origin: Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam
– Ingredients: grilled rice paper, wet/fresh rice paper, fermented anchovy fish sauce, fried shallot, red chilli
– Where to find: street vendors around Hoi An
– Served for: the afternoon
– Price: 30,000-60,000 VND/plate
– Calories:
– Gluten free: yes
– Vegetarian: yes if want to use soy bean sauce to replace the anchovy fish sauce
– Travel blog: https://hoiandaytrip.com/banh-dap-smashing-rice-paper-hoi-an
– Fact:
Ingredients & How to Make Banh Dap (Smashing Rice Paper)
Banh dap or Smashing rice paper in Hoi An is made by grilled rice paper and wet rice paper. Before opening the eatery, local people will grill the dried rice paper first at home and then put grilled rice papers into a big plastic bag. This kind of grilled rice paper is without sesame and it’s lighter and thinner than common grilled rice paper (the one used to eat with salads).
When someone wants to eat, sellers will top a grilled rice paper with a layer of wet/fresh rice paper and then place it on another grilled rice paper. After that, they use their hands to chop or smash the cake to be broken into smaller pieces. Some eaters want to do this step by themselves.
Another must have ingredient is mam nem or fermented anchovy sauce. It’s cooked or uncooked, depending on each place. People will add hot oil, fried shallot, Hoi An chilli sauce, fresh chilli to make the sauce more flavourful.
See also:
How to Eat Banh Dap (Smashing Rice Paper) Like a Local
Local people will eat Banh dap or Smashing rice paper by hand. They chop or smash the cake into small pieces which have a soft and wet rice paper layer between crunchy grilled rice papers. After that, they dip a piece into fermented fish sauce (mam nem).
Where to Eat Banh Dap (Smashing Rice Paper) ?
To eat the best Banh dap or Smashing rice paper in Hoi An, visitors need to go to Cam Nam Island. Along Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, it’s possible to see a series of local restaurants serving this dish, together with stir-fried baby clams (hen xao) and sweet corn soup (che bap).
Better to Know about Eating Local in Hoi An
– Local family-run restaurants always serve better local foods than tourist restaurants. Places inside small alleyways potentially are hidden gems. The price is even more affordable at these lesser known spots.
– Restaurants where you can see a queue or crowds, food or drinks there are absolutely better or safer than others. Vietnamese people also avoid places without people eating, such as roadside eateries.
– Hot foods are often safe to eat for non-Vietnamese people. Refuse cold food (especially ones sold on the street, markets) or things you don’t see people cooking.
– Make sure that you learn some basic Vietnamese words or sentences to order foods, such as xin chao (hello, hi), cho toi mot (something) (I want one…), toi an chay (I am vegetarian), khong cay (no spicy), cam on (thank you), tam biet (goodbye) or numbers (mot/one, hai/two, ba/three, bon/four, nam/five, sau/six, bay/seven, tam/eight, chin/nine, and muoi/ten).
– Ask any local people you know (tour guide, driver, hotel receptionists, bellmen, etc) to receive their recommendation for good places to eat local.
– Raw vegetables are popularly used in local dishes, such as noodles or noodle soup or sandwich. They are often washed by tap water or unwashed. If can not drink tap water, remove or refuse them. Likewise, in most iced drinks (such as coffee or herbal tea), people add ice made by tap water also.
– On the 1st day and 14th-15th days of each lunar month, Hoi An citizens eat vegetarians. Many local restaurants and street businesses will be closed by that.
– If you don’t eat pork or beef, due to diet or religious restrictions, be careful when want to try local food here, if don’t see the ingredient description. Pork and beef are very popular meats, so they will be in numerous dishes. Street vendors may say ‘no pork’ or ‘no beef’ for better business, but please check before buying!
– Consider joining a food tour guided by locals who know much better about dishes in the city, including things never mentioned in guidebooks or on the internet.
– If have an allergy (milk, egg, peanut, wheat,…), ask anybody you know before trying or search for ingredients on the internet. By the way, fish sauce is popularly used to marinate Vietnamese foods, so make sure that you know this information if you’re fish allergic.
– Food portion (or size) here is often not really big (locals prefer eating with their family at home). You may try double or some different dishes for main meals.
– If don’t see the price on the menu, please ask in advance to avoid overcharging, especially when you are not a local. In Vietnamese, how much is bao nhieu.
– Most popular cutleries are chopsticks and spoons. To know how to use it, browse here
Local Food & Street Food in Hoi An
– Hoi An specialty food & street food: Cao Lau Noodles, Mi Quang Noodles, Banh Mi (Hoi An Style), Pho (Hoi An Style), White Rose Dumplings, Fried Wonton, Banh Dap (Smashing Rice Paper), Cam Nam Stir-fried Baby Clams, Cam Nam Sweet Corn Soup
– Other food & street food: Banh Beo (Steamed Rice Cake), Banh Xeo (Crispy Rice Pancake), Banh Bot Loc (Tapioca Dumpling), Banh Nam,