It began as a way to use the delta's two biggest crops at once, wrapping bananas from the region's plantations in sticky rice made rich with milk from its equally abundant coconut palms.
A ripe banana is wrapped in glutinous rice, bound in banana leaf, and grilled over charcoal until the leaf chars and the rice turns lightly crisp at the edges, then sliced and drizzled with sweet coconut sauce and crushed peanuts. Mekong Delta street carts, especially around Bến Tre and Cần Thơ, grill it fresh over open coals as customers wait.