The banana pancake is one of the best street foods in Hoi An Vietnam. It’s often seen in night markets or on pedestrian streets of Hoi An’s Old Town. Many visitors choose it for their dessert because it’s yummy, after having dinner in town. In this article, HoiAn Day Trip Company will tell you everything that you need to know about Hoi An banana pancakes.
You may also like: Street 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 Hoi An Banana Pancake
– Vietnamese name(s): Banh chuoi
– Origin: southern Vietnam
– Ingredients: wheat flour, ripe banana, cocoa spread, chocolate sauce, condensed milk
– Where to find: night markets, streets in tourist areas
– Served for: late afternoon to midnight
– Price: 40,000-60,000 VND/cake
– Calories:
– Gluten free:
– Vegetarian: yes
– Travel blog: https://hoiandaytrip.com/hoi-an-banana-pancake
– Fact:
Ingredients & How to Make Hoi An Banana Pancake
Banana pancake (banh chuoi) is made of wheat flour, ripe banana, chocolate sauce, cocoa spread, and condensed milk. It’s a popularly seen desert around tourist areas of Hoi An. Watching the way the locals make it is interesting, therefore we recommend not taking one pre-made pancake and choose to have the new one. By that, visitors can see the whole process before enjoying its sweet flavour.
Here are steps to make a banana pancake in Hoi An:
Step 1: Mix the wheat flour and water to make a dough
Step 2: Pour the dough over the large and flat hot pan, and then spread it (to make a round pancake)
Step 3: Peel one ripe banana and then use a knife to slice it. Place banana slices on the pancake
Step 4: Fold four sides of the pancake to make a squared cake
Step 5: Turn over the pancake to fry the other surface of the pancake
Step 6: Spread out the cocoa spread to fully cover one surface of the pancake
Step 7: Cut the pancake into 8 squared pieces
Step 8: Add condensed milk or chocolate sauce and then eat
How to Eat Hoi An Banana Pancake Like A Local
Local people in Hoi An will eat the banana pancake as a dessert. They use a bamboo stick to pick up small pieces of the cake to eat.
Where to Eat Banana Pancake in Hoi An
Visitors should go to these places or areas to find and try banana pancake in Hoi An:
– The Hoi An Night Market on Nguyen Hoang Street: the biggest night market in Hoi An with many street food stalls and vendors selling banana pancake
– The area around Hoi An Central Market, including Tran Phu Street, Tran Quy Cap Street
– Night market on Bach Dang Street, between the Museum of Folklore and the Hoi An Central Market (occasionally known as ‘Tran Quy Cap – Bach Dang Night Market’)
– Nguyen Phuc Chu pedestrian street on the south bank of Hoai River
– The Hoi An Lantern Park between the Hoi An Cloth/Fabric Market and the river
– Tran Phu Street in the heart of the Hoi An Old Town heritage area
– Entrance of An Bang Beach, in the end of Hai Ba Trung Street
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
Photos, Videos about Banana Pancake in Hoi An
