West Lake Hanoi fritters of small whole shrimp and julienned sweet potato in a turmeric batter, deep-fried, served with nuoc cham and lettuce-herb wrap.
Banh tom Ho Tay is named for West Lake (Ho Tay) in Hanoi, where the fritter has been a lakeside-snack-stall fixture since at least the 1930s. The most famous version came from the state-run Banh Tom Ho Tay restaurant on Thanh Nien Causeway, which served generations of Hanoians and visitors. The pairing of small lake-shrimp with sweet potato is regional: West Lake's fishermen historically sold their tiny daily catch to fritter vendors, and Hanoi's red-clay sweet potatoes were the cheap starch on hand.
Named for West Lake in Hanoi, sold from causeway stalls since the 1930s. Shrimp must be 50-60 count so the batter can carry them; sparkling water is what turns the edges lacy.
A flat amber disc the size of your palm, ridiculous shrimp-on-top dramatic, sweet-potato strands sticking out like a sunburst. First bite is a shower of crackle — the lacy edges shatter, the centre is still soft from the sweet potato. Shrimp shells stay on and crunch like seasoned crisps. Wrapped in cool lettuce with perilla and mint and dipped in nuoc cham, the contrast is the dish's whole argument: greasy-crisp meets cool-bright, every wrap reset.
Three details make this dish: shrimp must be small (50-60 count) so the batter can support them, sweet potato must be sliced thin enough to cook through in the same 4 minutes the shrimp need, and the batter has to be aerated with sparkling water so the fritter goes lacy-crisp instead of dense. Dropping the spoon into the oil for a five-second hold is what releases the fritter cleanly — slide it in too early and the shrimp scatter; too late and the fritter fuses to the spoon.
Variations
The state-run Banh Tom Ho Tay restaurant on Thanh Nien Causeway was the canonical address; modern street-stall versions skip the lake-shrimp for sea shrimp; some vendors add taro strands alongside the sweet potato for double-starch crunch.
On the Palate
Where Banh Tom Ho Tay sits in the Vietnamese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
5 steps · 30 min active + 5 min waiting
- 17 min
Whisk 150g rice flour, 50g all-purpose flour, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder. Add 250ml cold sparkling water and 1 egg; whisk to a thin pancake-batter consistency. Rest 5 minutes — the bubbles in the sparkling water are what give the batter its lacy crisp.
Watch outWhisk to a thin pancake-batter that ribbons off the whisk — the sparkling-water bubbles are what fry up lacy, so use it cold and don't over-mix.
- 210 min
Peel 400g sweet potato and julienne into 5cm matchsticks 3mm thick. Pat very dry. Rinse 300g small head-on shrimp (50-60 count, shells on); pat dry. The shrimp must be tiny — large shrimp will drag the batter down.
- 34 min
Heat 1.5L neutral oil to 180°C in a wok. Toss a handful of sweet potato (about 80g) in the batter to coat lightly. Lay it in a flat 10cm round on a slotted spoon. Press 3-4 whole shrimp on top.
Watch outGet the oil to a lively 180 degrees — a batter drip should sizzle up fast; too cool and the fritter drinks oil and goes greasy instead of crisp.
- 412 min
Lower the spoon into the oil for 5 seconds until the fritter releases, then slide it off. Fry 4 minutes total, flipping once at the 2-minute mark, until deep amber and shrimp are coral-red.
Watch outHold the spoon under the oil about five seconds until the fritter floats free, then slide it off — fry to deep amber with the shrimp gone coral-red.
- 52 min
Drain on a wire rack. Serve with butterhead lettuce leaves, perilla, mint, rau ram, and pickled-carrot-and-daikon. Each diner wraps a chunk of fritter in lettuce with herbs and dips into nuoc cham (fish-sauce-lime-chile-garlic dip).
