White Rose Dumplings (or banh vac, banh quai vac, banh bong hong trang) is the specialty food and a family heirloom cake in Hoi An Old Town. It’s made of rice, and has a filling of pork & shrimp. Locals serve them on a plate with fish sauce and fried shallot. In this article, HoiAn Day Trip Company will tell you everything that you need to know about white rose dumplings, and reveal the best places to eat it.
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 White Rose Dumplings
– Other name(s): white rose cake, banh quai vac (Vietnamese jiaozi dumpling)
– Origin: Hoi An Vietnam
– Location: Hoi An Ancient Town, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam
– Ingredients: rice (rice flour), pork, shrimp
– Time: anytime of the day
– Price: 40,000-150,000 VND/plate
– Serve for: lunch, dinner
– Calories:
– Travel blog: https://hoiandaytrip.com/white-rose-dumplings-hoi-an
– Fact: White rose dumpling is one of the dishes that are found in Hoi An only
Ingredients & How to Make White Rose Dumplings
White rose dumplings (cakes) are made with rice, pork & shrimp as filling. It will be served with crispy fried shallots and fishing sauce.
The first step is grinding the rice into the rice milk. Rice is the most important ingredient, so locals will buy good-quality rice, carefully sifted by a round bamboo tray, to remove the dirt, husks, and grass seeds. After that, they soak ‘clean’ rice in fresh water taken from Ba Le Well, a 1000-years-old well in the Hoi An Ancient Town. This step lasts at least 1 hour. In the past (when the electricity wasn’t available yet), locals used a stone grinder to grind these rice into the milk. Nowadays, they use the machines to save time.
On the next step, the rice milk is mixed with fresh water, and stirred well. After that, people wait for the flour in the rice milk to settle in the bottom of the pot, and release the water above that flour layer. Then, they do this 15-20 times. The final flour will be the dough to make the cakes/dumplings.
While someone grinds the rice, other family members will prepare the filling. It’s made with lean pork, fresh shrimp, and some vegetables. All are bought at local markets in the morning, and washed carefully then. Shrimps are peeled, and grinded well with lean pork, to make a smooth paste. Vegetables (wood ear, bamboo shoot, bean sprout, spring onion,…), are chopped into small pieces, and mixed up with the meat paste. After that, spices (black pepper, purple shallot), fish sauce, sugar, and seasoning powder are added into this mixture, once it’s stir-fried on the pan. If don’t stir fry the paste in advance, when steam, the cakes will be cooked earlier than the meat, making them not eatable yet. If wait the meat is cooked, the cake is too overcooked. Filling making step is done!
The next step is molding the cakes, and female members in the family often do this. There are 2 to 4 people needed. They put the rice dough on a large metal tray, and put the cooked filling in a pot next to them. To mold the cake like a white rose flower, they must use their hands and have experiences.
In workshops where white rose dumplings are made, people also make banh bao (steamed buns). They use the exact same dough and filling to make the buns. One thing different from the white rose cake is its shape.
History of Hoi An White Rose Dumplings
In the mid-19th century, a concubine who served food for the king’s family, retired (because she’s old) and then came to Hoi An to live. Here, she opened a class in which she would teach girls from high-classes and rich families, about cooking skills and household arts.
One of her students is Pham Thi Dien, from the Pham family – one of the most reputable families in town. Many people said that this girl was skillful and creative. Later, she married Mr Trinh Trieu Tam, and they lived together in present-day Hoi An old town. Her husband Mr Tam was a Chinese Fujian businessman who imported silk products from China and then brought them to Hoi An for preliminary processing and then sold them in Hanoi capital. Because of having successful business throughout the year, one day, they decided to make a special meal to thank ancestors.
Getting married with a Chinese woman, Ms Dien knew Chinese steamed cakes/dumplings, but instead of using wheat, she used rice to make the cake for ancestors. She also used shrimp and pork to make the filling (please see how to make it in the below section of this article). By her creativity, two kinds of cakes/dumplings were ‘invented’: banh bao which looks like a small monkey bag and banh vac which has the edge like a hanger of the cauldron. After that, these steamed dishes were presented on special occasions to the Trinh family only (Mr Trinh Trieu Tam’s family). Meaning that both weren’t for sale.
Later, Ms Trinh Thi Hue – the daughter of Ms Dien and Mr Tam asked for permission to sell the dumplings to earn money for living (when she married). However, this lady made around 100 pieces only everyday, and didn’t make more although many people told her to do that.
All of Ms Trinh Thi Hue’s children continued their parents and grandparent’s craft in making banh bao and banh vac dumplings. Mr Tran Tuan Ngai was the most successful person when he introduced these tasty and special foods for tourists across the world. His family is the owner of the White Rose restaurant today.
In 1999, Hoi An became a Unesco world heritage site. Quickly after that, it attracted lots of foreigners. One of the restaurant owners in town introduced them to the dumplings, but when they asked about their names, he felt it was so difficult to say. Therefore, he came up with a nickname for banh vac dumpling that is ‘white rose’ (because it looks like a white rose). Up to date, this awesome name is still in use.
How to Eat White Rose Dumplings like a Local
In local restaurants, white rose dumplings (cakes) are fresh or dried (and then boiled again in hot water). Fresh cakes are made in families who keep the heirloom recipe, such as the house at 533 Hai Ba Trung street or the house at 77 Tran Phu street. If visit during the daytime, visitors have the chance to see female family members making the dumplings by hand, and have some photos with them. To visit the house at 533 Hai Ba Trung street (White Rose Restaurant), it’s free. To visit the house at 77 Tran Phu street (Quan Thang Ancient House), visitors can use ‘Hoi An old town ticket pass’ (ensure that the number of sightseeing places you came to is not over 5).
To eat, white rose cakes are steamed for 10-15 minutes, and then placed on a dish. For more flavours, locals will add homemade fried shallot, and dipping fish sauce (the fish sauce is mixed with lime juice, garlic, fresh chilli). This food is served without vegetables and herbs, making it different from other Hoi An’s specialties.
People will use chopsticks or spoons to take white rose dumplings from the plate. In local restaurants of Hoi An, a plate often has 4-7 pieces.
Where to Eat White Rose Dumplings in Hoi An?
Here are places where visitors can try the best white rose dumplings at Hoi An:
– The White Rose Restaurant (533 Hai Ba Trung St, opening from 7:30 am to 8:30 pm)
*Owned by the family keeping the secret recipe to make white rose dumplings
– Quan Thang Ancient House (77 Tran Phu St, opening from 9:30 am to 6 pm)
*Owned by the family keeping the secret recipe to make white rose dumplings
– The Hoi An Central Market (19 Tran Phu St, opening from 6 am to 6 pm)
Families at the White Rose Restaurant and Quan Thang House have kept the heirloom recipe in making white rose dumplings. For that reason, they serve the best cakes! To see the old house (inside the Ancient Town), visitors need to buy an entry ticket. See more information & details
Food Tours in Hoi An Vietnam
– Hoi An Old Town Food Tour with Lantern Boat Ride (5:00-8:00 PM)
– Hoi An Private Food Tour with Local Expert (3:00-6:00 PM, 4:00-7:00 PM, 5:00-8:00 PM, 6:00-9:00 PM)
– Hoi An Night Food Tour – Best Walking Food Tour in Hoi An (5:00-8:00 PM)
– Hoi An Night Markets Food Tour with Lantern Boat Ride (6:00-9:00 PM)
– Hoi An Morning Food Tour with Local Coffee (7:00-10:00 AM)
– Hoi An Afternoon Food Tour (3:00-6:00 PM)
– Hoi An Street Food Tour (4:00-7:00 PM)
– Hoi An Vegetarian Food Tour – Hoi An Vegan Food Tour (4:00-7:00 PM)
– Hoi An Food Tour by Bike
– Hoi An Motorbike Food Tour
– Tan An Market Food Tour (4:00-7:00 PM)
HOIAN DAY TRIP CO.,LTD organizes guided tours and transfers everyday in Da Nang and Hoi An. Contact us by +84968009827 (hotline/whatsapp/line/zalo) or browse www.hoiandaytrip.com to see tours & make a reservation. Thank you very much!
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,
