Single-Family Secret · Steamed Shrimp Dumpling
Bánh Bao Bánh Vạc (White Rose Dumplings)
Photo: WT-shared Shoestring / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Every White Rose dumpling in Hội An is said to come from a single Chinese-Hoianese family's kitchen — restaurants across town all serve the same closely guarded recipe rather than making their own.
Thin, translucent rice-flour dough is wrapped around a filling of minced shrimp, then pinched and folded into a shape that fans open like a flower petal when steamed. Restaurants across Hội An serve the dumplings topped with crispy fried shallots and a light dipping sauce, but most buy them from the same family producer.
Why it's made this way: The dish traces back to Chinese steamed-dumpling techniques brought to Hội An by Hoa (Chinese-Vietnamese) settlers, reworked into a form rarely found outside the town; local tradition credits one family with guarding the recipe.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
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