We were on our way to Hang Bo Street to look for banh xeo and as we walked down Luong Van Can Street, we spotted several stalls that were selling steamed buns or banh bao. We stopped by one of them to check it out.
Banh Bao Luong Van Can
Luong Van Can Street
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Vietnam
Tel: +84 985 109 155
They had several kinds of steamed buns – quail egg, salted egg with sausage, vegetarian and plain (mantou style). We only bought one to try as we were going elsewhere for breakfast later.
This was the trung chim cut or quail egg banh bao (15,000 VND). Supposed to look nicer than this but by the time we wanted to eat it, the top had already flattened, oops. By the way, this wasn’t the cheapest banh bao on the same street. You can get the same from elsewhere at around 12,000 VND (only a SGD0.20 difference so not a big deal).
The banh bao was made of unbleached flour so the colour was more yellowish, not as white as the ones we have here in Singapore.
It was quite unique in taste because the exterior was like a sweet mantou but the interior was savoury. I liked that the bao was very soft and fluffy. Filling was a little miserable though. There were 2 quail eggs in it and the meat paste was quite dry.
While I can eat the banh bao again, I wouldn’t go all the way out to look for it. I’m just not used to that sweet and salty combination. Maybe I would try other flavours next time but for now I still prefer my baos to be either sweet (like red bean paste or custard) or salty (char siew or chicken) and not a bit of both.