Hoi An’s banh beo (steamed rice pancake) is big and thick compared with its Hue cousin. Its topping sauce is also thick, and brick red, a color that comes from achiote or tomato juice added to a mixture of shrimp and pork.
Some sellers add sugar when mixing the flour to make the cakes, and so they are slightly sweet. The idea of sweet combined with the salt and spice of nuoc mam(fish sauce) – the dipping sauce – might turn some people off. But the fact is that many people are hooked after the first bite.
The town’s banh beo also tastes fatty thanks to fried shallot slices, oil and deep-fried cao lau noodles that are used as another topping.
The distinctive pancake can be found everywhere in Hoi An, but the best is often at street vendors’ and little eateries.
Source: Thanh nien news