A Hue specialty that pairs two cakes into one bite: a soft, chewy steamed glutinous-rice dumpling (banh it) filled with seasoned shrimp and pork, set on top of a thin, crisp deep-fried glutinous-rice cake (banh ram). The contrast of the sticky, tender top against the brittle, golden base is the entire idea. It is served small, two or three to a plate, topped with dried shrimp floss and fried shallot and eaten with a sweet-savory fish-sauce dip.
Banh ram it belongs to Hue's repertoire of small, refined cakes, the kind of carefully made finger food associated with the city's former imperial-capital food culture. It is widely described as a dish rooted in Hue's court-influenced cooking tradition, though it is eaten today as an everyday street and restaurant snack across the central region. Its defining feature is the deliberate marriage of two textures that are usually kept apart — a steamed cake and a fried cake served as a single unit.
The top dumpling is glossy, soft, and stretchy, yielding to a savory shrimp-and-pork center; the base shatters and crackles, oily and toasty where it met the fryer. Eaten together the two cancel each other's extremes — the fried cake keeps the sticky top from being cloying, the soft top tempers the fried crispness. Dried shrimp floss adds a sweet-salty fluff on top, and the dipping sauce brings the sour-sweet lift that ties it together.
Two separate doughs do two jobs. The banh it dough is glutinous rice flour worked with hot water into a soft, pliable paste that steams up tender and chewy; the banh ram is a stiffer glutinous dough pressed thin and deep-fried so it puffs slightly and crisps. The fried base must be cooked first and well-drained so it stays crisp under the moist steamed cake, and the dumpling is set on it only just before serving — leave them assembled too long and steam from the top softens the base, collapsing the contrast the dish is built on.
Variations
The standard filling is shrimp and pork, but some versions use shrimp alone or a mung-bean paste for a vegetarian cake. Sizes vary from bite-sized to larger; some cooks fry the base flat and crisp throughout, others leave it slightly chewier in the middle. Toppings are usually dried shrimp floss and fried shallot, and the dipping sauce ranges from a clear sweet-sour nuoc cham to a thicker, slightly sweet fish-sauce glaze.
On the Palate
Where Banh Ram It sits in the Vietnamese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 55 min active + 35 min waiting
- 112 min
Saute minced pork and chopped shrimp with shallot, fish sauce, sugar, and pepper into a dry, savory filling; cool.
- 28 min
Mix glutinous rice flour with hot water into a soft, smooth dough for the steamed dumplings.
- 310 min
Make a stiffer glutinous dough for the fried base; divide and press into thin small discs.
- 410 min
Deep-fry the discs until puffed, golden, and crisp; drain well on a rack.
Watch outFry the discs until puffed, golden and crisp, then drain them well on a rack — a soggy base collapses under the steamed dumpling.
- 512 min
Portion the soft dough, fill with the pork-shrimp mixture, and seal into small dumplings.
- 612 min
Steam the filled dumplings until the dough turns glossy and translucent.
- 74 min
Set each steamed dumpling on a fried base, top with dried shrimp floss and fried shallot, and serve with the dipping sauce.
Watch outSet the steamed dumpling on the fried base only just before serving — leave it too long and steam softens the base, killing the crisp-soft contrast.
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