How to Make a Banh Hoi Plate
Eating a plate of Banh Hoi is an experience unlike any other in Vietnamese cuisine. A plate of Banh Hoi consists of grilled meats like nem nuong, chao tom, and lemongrass pork paired with your choice of fresh herbs and sheets of woven rice vermicelli. Learn all about this unique dining experience in this post including how to properly prep these unique rice noodles.
I love that in recent years Vietnamese food has become a lot more mainstream. Anywhere I go I can get a pretty solid bowl of authentic pho. But I have to say some of the more niche dishes are ones I tend to gravitate towards the most simply because they’re not as accessible. Banh Hoi is one of those dishes. You can bet I am going to order it if I see it on the menu.
How Banh Hoi differs from normal vermicelli
Banh Hoi is technically a Vietnamese noodle dish, but the noodles are a tad different than traditional vermicelli rice noodles. They’re sheets of thin rice noodles woven together to create this pretty lace-like pattern. I can usually find them on Weee or big Vietnamese grocery stores. They come in dried out sheets of noodles like the one pictured above.
I won’t go into nitty gritty about how to prepare them, but the prep is a bit different than vermicelli noodles. In a nutshell, you’ll need to submerge them in boiling water for 60-90 seconds before stopping the cooking process with cold water. The reason for this cooking process is it helps preserve the delicate texture of the thin woven vermicelli noodles. Alternatively, some Vietnamese markets or restaurants do sell these noodle sheets already cooked, so you can get them pre-cooked.
What I think should be on a Banh Hoi plate
The thing I love the most about this dish is it’s basically anything goes. Everyone has their own version. However, I don’t think you have to serve a specific meat or vegetable for it to be considered banh hoi. As long as you include fresh herbs, grilled meats, mo hanh to top the noodles with, do chua (can be optional), and a dipping sauce like nuoc cham, you’re good to go!
As such, there are so many variations of a Banh Hoi platter with some including more niche Vietnamese grilled meats like Chao Tom and Nem Nuong while others include lemongrass pork, crispy pork belly (Thit Heo Quay), and Vietnamese egg rolls. I asked my mom what she would include, and she said it must have nem nuong. I humbly disagree with her, but that’s the beauty of this dish. Everyone has their own perspective of what it “should” include.
Making your own plate of Banh Hoi
- Prep all your grilled meats. Marinate and cook 3/4 lb of lemongrass pork. Prep and cook 3/4 lb of nem nuong and 3/4 lb of chao tom. You can also purchase all these meats instead.
- Prep 6 oz of vermicelli noodle sheets. Pour boiling water over the noodle sheets. Let them stay submerged for 60-90 seconds. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. If the noodles are still firm, you can steam them to finish the cooking process. Make sure to put them onto the serving plate immediately while still hot or they will stick together. Spoon 2 tbsp of scallion oil over the top.
- Tip #1: Be careful not to submerge noodles longer than 90 seconds or they will get mushy.
- Place all the fresh herbs and grilled meats onto the plate.
- Tip #2: Customize the herbs and grilled meats to your tastes.
- Serve with 1 cup of Vietnamese dipping sauce and enjoy!
How do you eat Banh Hoi
For me, Banh Hoi is a big communal experience more than any other Vietnamese dish out there. My family typically has it at weddings, parties, or big dinners at restaurants. A large plate of Banh Hoi is put in the center. Everyone grabs lettuce, tops it with herbs, noodle sheets, and protein of their choice. They then roll it up before dipping it into Vietnamese dipping sauce.
Did you make this dish?
If you made this dish, I would love to see!
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Get the Recipe:
How to Make a Banh Hoi Plate
Ingredients
- ¾ lb lemongrass pork
- ¾ lb nem nuong
- ¾ lb chao tom
- 6 oz fine rice vermicelli, 6 oz dried
- 2 tbsp scallion oil
- 1 lettuce
- 1 cucumber, julienned
- ¼ cup mint
- ¼ cup picked carrots and daikon
- 1 cup Vietnamese dipping sauce
Instructions
- Prep all your grilled meats. Marinate and cook ¾ lb of lemongrass pork. Prep and cook ¾ lb of nem nuong and ¾ lb of chao tom. You can also purchase all these meats instead.
- Prep 6 oz of vermicelli noodle sheets. Pour boiling water over the noodle sheets. Let them stay submerged for 60-90 seconds. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. If the noodles are still firm, you can steam them to finish the cooking process. Make sure to put them onto the serving plate immediately while still hot or they will stick together. Spoon 2 tbsp of scallion oil over the top.
- Place all the fresh herbs and grilled meats onto the plate.
- Serve with 1 cup of Vietnamese dipping sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- To store banh hoi, store each component separately in the fridge. To reheat, reheat each component separately. Microwave the rice noodle sheets with a wet paper towel on top to rehydrate the noodles. They will be dry when they come out of the fridge.
- Customize the meats and vegetables to your tastes. Use whatever you want!
