A central-Vietnamese noodle soup built around fat, slippery noodles cut from tapioca-and-rice dough, swimming in a thick, gravy-like broth simmered from pork bones and shrimp. Unlike the clear, delicate broth of pho, banh canh is deliberately starchy and clinging, studded with pork hock, shrimp, and fish cake.
Originates in central Vietnam, where the name literally means 'soup cake'; the tapioca noodle gives it a chewy, udon-like bite distinct from northern rice-noodle soups.
The noodles are plump and almost bouncy, the broth thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Sweet shrimp and savory pork play against the starchy richness, while fried shallots and black pepper sharpen every mouthful.
Tapioca starch in the noodles and a touch of slurry in the broth gelatinize on heating, giving both the signature chewy noodle and the clinging, gravy-like soup. Long bone simmering extracts collagen for body.
Variations
Banh canh cua (crab), banh canh gio heo (pork hock), banh canh cha ca (fish cake, central coast), banh canh Trang Bang
On the Palate
Where Banh Canh sits in the Vietnamese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 30 min
- 190 min
Simmer pork bones and pork hock with onion for at least 1.5 hours to build a rich stock, skimming foam.
Watch outKeep it at a lazy simmer and skim the grey foam as it rises — a hard boil clouds the stock and won't clear.
- 220 min
Mix tapioca flour and rice flour with hot water, knead into a stiff dough, then press or cut into thick short noodles.
Watch outKnead to a stiff, smooth dough with hot water — too wet and the noodles slump and dissolve into the soup.
- 35 min
Blanch the fresh noodles briefly in boiling water until they float, then rinse.
- 45 min
Saute shallots and a little annatto oil, then stir into the stock for aroma and color.
- 58 min
Add peeled shrimp and sliced fish cake to the broth and simmer until just cooked.
- 64 min
Thicken the broth slightly with a little tapioca slurry so it turns glossy and clinging.
Watch outTrickle in the tapioca slurry a little at a time until the broth turns glossy and just coats the spoon — overdo it and it goes gluey.
- 72 min
Season the broth with fish sauce, salt, sugar and pepper to taste.
- 83 min
Ladle noodles and broth into bowls, top with pork, shrimp, scallions and fried shallots.
