In Vietnamese, the term bánh (Hanoi:[ɓaʲŋ̟˧˥] or Saigon:[ɓan˧˥], Chữ Nôm: 餅) translates loosely as "cake" or "bread", but refers to a wide variety of prepared foods that can easily be eaten by hands or chopsticks. With the addition of qualifying adjectives, bánh refers to a wide variety of sweet or savory, distinct cakes, buns, pastries, sandwiches, and other food items, which may be cooked by steaming, baking, frying, deep-frying, or boiling. Foods made from wheat flour or rice flour are generally called bánh, but the term may also refer to certain varieties of noodle and fish cake dishes, such as bánh canh and bánh hỏi.
Each variety of bánh is designated by a descriptive word or phrase that follows the word bánh, such as bánh bò (lit.'cow cake') or bánh chuối (lit.'banana cake'). Bánh that are wrapped in leaves before steaming are called bánh lá (lit.'leaf cakes').
In Vietnamese, the term bánh is not limited to Vietnamese cuisine: it applies equally to items as varied as fortune cookies (bánh may mắn), pudding (bánh pudding, bánh pútđinh), caramel custard (bánh caramen, bánh flan), sacramental bread (Bánh Thánh), Hamburger (bánh Hamburger, bánh Hămbơgơ), etc.
In some cases, the word can also refer to inedibles that have a cake-like shape, such as wheels (bánh xe), bath soaps (bánh xà phòng, bánh xà bông), and compressed tobacco wheels (bánh thuốc lào).
Varieties
There is a nearly endless variety of named dishes with the prefix bánh. What follows is a list of the most typical traditional varieties of bánh.
Noodles
Bánh canh – tapioca noodles which are cut from a large sheet.
Bánh hỏi – extremely thin noodles that are woven into intricate bundles and often topped with chopped scallions and a complementary meat dish
Bánh phở – The steamed flat and thin cake made from rice flour and water before being cut into strips. The strips are not only called Bánh phở but also "sợi phở" or "cọng phở," and are noodles used in phở. The width of the strips is usually around 1 cm or less.
Dumplings
Bánh bá trạng or bánh ú – the Vietnamese term for zongzi
Bánh bao – ball-shaped bun filled with pork and/or other ingredients
Bánh bột lọc – tapioca cake packed with shrimp
Bánh bột lọc trần – dumplings with wrappers made of tapioca starch
Bánh bột lọc lá – tiny rice flour dumplings stuffed with shrimp and ground pork and wrapped in a banana leaf; from Hue
Bánh cam – deep-fried glutinous rice sesame balls filled with sweetened mung bean paste; from southern Vietnam
Bánh ít – small stuffed glutinous rice flour balls
Bánh nậm – flat rice flour dumpling from Hue stuffed with minced pork and wood ear mushroom, and seasoned with black pepper and spices; wrapped in a banana leaf
Bánh phu thê – (lit.'husband and wife cake"; a sweet cake made of rice or tapioca flour and gelatin, filled with mung bean paste; also spelled bánh xu xê)
Bánh phu thê bột bán (husband and wife cakes made with tapioca pearls)
Bánh rán – deep-fried glutinous rice sesame balls filled with sweetened mung bean paste; from northern Vietnam
Bánh tẻ, small steamed rice cake wrapped with Lá dong leaves into a long, thin cylindrical shape, and boiled thoroughly.
Pancakes
Bánh bèo – small steamed savory rice cakes
Bánh căn – a southern specialty consisting of small pancakes made from rice batter cooked in small clay pans
Bánh đúc, rice cake or corn cake is eaten as a dessert or savory meal
Bánh rế – deep-fried pancake
Bánh khọt – a southern specialty consisting of small, fried rice flour pancakes
Bánh xèo – a fried rice cake with shrimp and pork
Bánh bột chiên – fried rice cakes with eggs
Rolls
Bánh cuốn – steamed rice roll
Bánh tôm – shrimp patties
Bánh tôm Hồ Tây – a shrimp patty made from deep fried julienned sweet potatoes – specialty originating from the area around West Lake (Tay Ho), Hanoi
Rice paper
Bánh tráng – rice paper
Bánh ướt – steamed rice paper
Breads and sandwiches
Bánh mì – refers to both bread and the Vietnamese baguette
Bánh mì Pháp – baguette
Bánh mì Việt Nam - specifically a Vietnamese style baguette
Sweet cakes
Bánh bò – "cow cake," made from glutinous rice flour and coconut milk, with a honeycomb-like texture
Bánh Bò Rễ Tre (Steamed Rice Cakes, Vietnamese Bak Tong Koh)
Bánh Bò Khoai Lang (Sweet Potato Fatt Koh)
Bánh Bò Lá Dứa - Pandan Coconut "Bak Tong Koh'
Bánh Bò Mã Lai - Hong Kong Style Malaysian Steamed Sponge Cake
Bánh Bò Nướng - Vietnamese Baked Honey Comb Cake
Bánh Bò Nướng Chay - a vegetarian version of bánh bò nướng
Bánh cáy, rectangular-shaped sweet dessert made by roasting and grinding glutinous rice and other ingredients
Bánh da lợn – colored steamed layer cake made from tapioca starch, rice flour, coconut milk and/or water, sugar, and other ingredients
Bánh đúc – rice cake or corn cake eaten as a dessert or savory meal
Bánh chuối – banana cake
Bánh gối – a type of bread originating from Chinese fried dumpling
Bánh khảo – a sweet cake made from glutinous rice flour and sugar
Bánh khảo sữa – a sweet cake made from glutinous rice flour, sugar, and milk powder
Bánh khoai mì – sweet cassava cake
Bánh khoai môn – taro cake
Bánh tiêu – hollow donuts
Bánh trung thu – mooncake
Dishes for special occasions
Bánh chưng – square-shaped steamed glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in a dong leaf (lá dong)
Bánh tét – log-shaped cylindrical glutinous rice cake, wrapped in a banana leaf and filled with a meat or vegetarian filling
Bánh trôi photo (lit.'floating rice cake') – served together with bánh chay
Bánh tổ – a round, golden/taupe colored, sticky cake served for new years. It's made of glutinous rice flour, sugar, water, and soybean oil. Like the Chinese new year cake, nian gao, the bánh tổ is cut into thin slices then dipped in egg and fried before serving. This is an uncommon pastry and it is said the shape represents a wheel. It is sometimes decorated with white sesame seeds and red food coloring. (cf. kue keranjang in Indonesia)
Bánh bác - a round, origin Hoài Đức district, Hanoi
Others
Bánh bông lan, called bánh gatô in northern Vietnam – sponge cake
Bánh Bông Lan Bơ - Fruit/Butter Cake
Bánh Bông Lan Cuốn - Swiss Roll
Bánh Bông Lan Phú Sĩ - Mountain Fuji Cake
Bánh Bông Lan Rễ Tre - Honeycomb Sponge Cake
Bánh chay – served together with bánh trôi
Bánh cốm – green rice cake made using cốm with mung bean filling
Bánh cuốn
Bánh cáy
Bánh căn
Bánh đa (Northern) or Bánh tráng nướng (Southern)- rice cracker
Bánh đậu xanh – sweet mung bean paste
Bánh dừa
Bánh gai – made from the leaves of the "gai" tree (Boehmeria nivea) dried, boiled, ground into small pieces, then mixed with glutinous rice, wrapped in banana leaf. The filling is made from a mixture of coconut, mung bean, peanuts, winter melon, sesame, and lotus seeds.
Bánh giầy, also written as bánh dầy – white, flat, round glutinous rice cake with tough, chewy texture filled with mung bean or served with Vietnamese sausage (Giò lụa)
Bánh giò – pyramid shaped rice dough dumplings filled with pork, shallot, and wood ear mushroom wrapped in banana leaf
Bánh hoa hồngphoto – rice cake that is shaped like a flower and made with mung bean paste
Bánh kẹp – Vietnamese waffle cookies made from rice flour, like a Pizzelle
Bánh kẹp lá dứa – pandan waffle
Bánh mật – Molasses-sweetened glutinous rice cake - filled with green bean paste or groundnut
Bánh lá dừa – Cake wrapped in coconut leaf
Bánh phồng tôm – prawn crackers
Bánh phục linh – cookies made from tapioca flour, coconut milk, and sugar
Chè lam Phủ Quảng
Bánh quế
Bánh tráng mè
Bánh bà lai hoa hồng
Bánh xếp bột gạo
Bánh xếp bột loc
Bánh bèo ngọt
Bánh bèo nhân tôm thịt
Bánh bèo xiêm
Bánh tầm bì
Bánh bao ca dé - Coconut Custard Bao
Bánh pía - a Teochew Pastry
Bánh Chuối Hấp - Steamed Banana Cake
Bánh Chuối Nướng - Baked Banana Bread Pudding
Bánh Cốm - Rice Flake Cakes
Bánh Đập - Rice crackers stuck together
Bánh Dẻo - Vietnamese Ping Pei Mooncakes
Bánh Dẻo Cuộn - Ping Pei Rolls
Bánh Flan - crème caramel
Bánh Gan - "Liver" Cake
Bánh Hạnh Nhân - Vietnamese Almond/Peanut Cookies
Bánh Hoa Mai/Hoa Đào - Cherry/Plum Blossom Cookies
Bánh Hoa Sen - Lotus Pastries
Bánh in - Print Cakes
Bánh Men - Yeast Cookies
Bánh Quai Vạc - Coconut/Mung Bean Puffs
Bánh Quế/Bánh Kẹp - Vietnamese Love Letters
Bánh Sát Phu - Husband Killers
Bánh Thuẫn Hấp - Steamed Cup Cakes
Bánh Ú Nước Tro - Lye Water Dumplings
Bánh Bao Nương Nhân Xá Xíu - baked char siu bao
Bào Ngư Xào Nấm Đông Cô - Braised Shitake Mushrooms with Abalone
Bánh Hoa Hồng - Rose Dumplings
Bánh Khoai Môn Tàn Ong - Dim sum Taro Puffs
Bánh Mì Chiên - Fried Baguettes
Bánh Mì Hấp - Steamed Baguettes
Bánh patê sô – A French-inspired meat-filled pastry. Characterized by flaky crust and either pork or chicken as the filling.