Bánh bèo

Bánh bèo is a Vietnamese dish originating from Huế, a city in Central Vietnam. The name is sometimes translated as "water fern cake", though "fern-shaped cake" is a more accurate rendering: the plant referenced is a small, round-leaved aquatic plant resembling duckweed or water lily, whose appearance the steamed cake imitates.

The dish's name combines bánh, a Vietnamese term loosely meaning "cake" and applied to a wide range of rice-flour preparations, with bèo, a word for the small floating aquatic plants common on ponds and ditches in Vietnam. The name refers to the cake's resemblance to these thin, round leaves when steamed in its individual saucer.

Bánh bèo is associated with Huế, the imperial capital of the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945, and is part of the city's tradition of small, delicately presented rice-flour cakes. Whether the dish itself originated in the imperial court or among commoners is disputed. Local chef and painter Boi Tran has characterized it as "just a humble snack", while restaurateurs descended from longtime Huế families argue the Nguyễn kings would have appreciated the dish's small portions and refinement. A separate theory holds that dishes traditionally served on or near banana leaves in Central Vietnam, including bánh bèo, may carry influences from the earlier Cham culture that dominated the region before Vietnamese expansion.

The cake is made from a thin batter of rice flour combined with tapioca starch (referred to historically as manioc), poured into small ceramic saucers and steamed. The saucer gives the finished cake its characteristic thin, round shape with a slight central depression. Once steamed, each cake is topped with crumbled dried shrimp, crispy fried pork skin (tép mỡ), and a drizzle of scallion oil, then served with a light dipping sauce of fish sauce thinned with sugar, water, garlic, and chili (nước chấm).