Firewood-baked rice cakes of childhood

The rustic and simple Banh Beo Lo Cui dish is sought out by many diners. Photo: HV

The wood-fired banh beo restaurant attracts customers with its simple decoration with a few tables and chairs neatly arranged. Besides, there are two large wood stoves where the owner is constantly steaming and turning the cakes, making the smoke billow and spicy all over the sky. Surely, anyone who encounters this space will at least once remember their childhood in their hometown.
Mr. Huynh Bin, owner of the firewood-fired banh beo restaurant, said that the restaurant has been in business for nearly 3 years with the main dish being steamed banh beo directly with firewood. Unlike an electric stove, firewood helps the cake retain the consistency, softness, aroma, and stickiness of the rice flour and is always hot when it reaches the customers. The restaurant steams as much as the customers eat, not pre-steamed. Mr. Bin hopes that the restaurant is not only a place for customers to experience the cuisine but also helps them have a quiet moment to return to their childhood with the smoke and firewood stove in their old hometown.

Here, banh beo has two types of fillings for diners to easily choose from: wet and dry. Wet fillings include minced pork, shrimp, and mushrooms, while dry fillings include dried shrimp and green onions soaked in oil. After being steamed, banh beo is displayed on a bamboo tray, eaten with sweet and sour fish sauce, fatty peanuts, and crispy fried onions. Depending on taste, diners can add a little chopped chili to make the banh beo more flavorful on the tip of the tongue. In addition, the restaurant serves sausages to go with the dish, similar to banh beo, the owner makes the sausages himself, wraps them in banana leaves, and steams them on a wood stove. The restaurant opens from 4pm to 12am at 1,800 VND/bowl. Every day, the restaurant sells about 2,000 - 3,000 bowls.

According to Mr. Bin, to keep the banh beo hot and delicious without being too hard or too soft, the steamer must know how to mix rice flour and water in the right proportions. The batter must be poured thinly into each small ceramic bowl and steamed on a wood stove for about 10 minutes. The steamer must keep an even fire, not too big or too small. The rustic and simple Banh Beo dish at the Firewood stove combined with sweet and sour chili fish sauce is sought after by many diners, especially young people.

HUYNH VU

Source: https://baodanang.vn/channel/5433/202505/banh-beo-lo-cui-tuoi-tho-4006940/