Hanoi’s traditional doughnut

Hanoi’s traditional doughnuts, called banh ran, are cheap and tasty. Street vendors sell a lot as snacks especially in the cold weather.

Deep freid savory doughnuts are a popular snack in Hanoi - Photo: Thanh Huong

It’s not so complicated to make a doughnut.  The ingredients for the dough are sticky rice powder, rice powder and cooking oil.

There are two types of doughnuts, depending on the filling. The savory type has minced pork meat, vermicelli, wood ear mushrooms and some pepper while sweet doughnuts have boiled ground green bean, coconut pulp and white sugar. They also come in different shapes – the savory ones are oval and the sweet ones are round. Once the dough is made and the filling put in the doughnuts are deep fried.

Fried doughnuts smell irresistible. Savory doughnuts are served with fish sauce prepared with vinegar, chili, garlic, sugar and some pepper. Taking a piece of dipped doughnut into the mouth, you can enjoy the delicious combination of greasy sticky rice and pork meat. It is hard to stop at one.

The round doughnuts are delicious in their covering of sesame seeds. They usually sell out quickly. Round doughnuts are special because the crispy cover is completely separated from the core made from green bean – making the donuts rattle when you shake them. Only a few of the banh ran vendors in Hanoi can cook the sweet doughnuts the traditional way so they rattle.

Source: SGT