Banh cuon (rice flour steamed rolls)

 Banh cuon is a special kind of breakfast for the Vietnamese people. It is made of rice flour, from thoroughly selected grains. The rice is soaked overnight, and then ground with stone mortar.

Secret preservatives are added to the flour to make the sheets of rice softer and smoother. A screen of cloth, used to mould the rice sheets, is placed over the opening of a pot of boiling water. Flour is spread on the screen and then covered with a lid. After a few minutes, a bamboo stick is used to strip the thin layer of flour off the screen, and it is rolled up and sprinkled with fried onions.  Vietnamese people serve it with a dressing of lean meat, shrimp, mushrooms, dried onions and fish sauce. 

Another way to make  banh cuon is to stir-fry lean ground meat, vermicelli and mushrooms, put into each sheet of banh cuon, and then rolled up.

Banh cuon is tastiest when it is very thin, white and sticky. It is even better when dipped in a sweet, sour and spicy sauce, which can be serve with some fresh mint, cucumber and boiled bean sprout..