Banh trang nuong, the grilled rice paper Da Lat sells after dark

Banh trang nuong is the snack Da Lat eats on cold evenings. A vendor lays a dry sheet of rice paper on a charcoal grill, cracks an egg onto it, spreads the egg with spring onion and dried shrimp, and folds it into a hot, crisp half-moon. It takes two minutes and costs less than a dollar.

What is banh trang nuong?

Banh trang nuong is a sheet of dried rice paper grilled over charcoal with toppings spread across it, then folded and eaten hot. The name means grilled rice paper. It comes from Da Lat, where the cool highland evenings made a hot street snack popular, and it has spread across the country.

Banh trang nuong is often called Vietnamese pizza, because it is flat, round and topped before cooking. The base is a thin, brittle sheet of rice paper, though, and it cooks in two minutes over coals.

Makers across the south and centre spread rice batter thin and dry it in the sun on bamboo racks. The same sheets wrap fresh spring rolls once softened in water. Here the sheets go on dry, which is why they crisp on the grill.

What goes on a banh trang nuong?

Each sheet starts with a beaten egg, usually quail eggs, spread over the rice paper as it warms. The vendor then adds chopped spring onion, dried shrimp and minced pork or sliced sausage, and finishes it with chilli sauce and a sweet mayonnaise-style sauce.

Variations add cheese, beef jerky, corn or seafood, and vendors in the cities list a dozen options. The simple egg, onion and shrimp version is still the best.

How is it cooked and eaten?

The cook works over a small charcoal grill, often a clay brazier on the pavement. The vendor presses the toppings flat with a spoon as the sheet crisps, turning it constantly so it browns without burning. When the egg sets, she folds the sheet in half or rolls it.

You eat it immediately, from a paper sleeve, while it still crackles. Waiting even five minutes turns the rice paper chewy, so it is not a snack to carry back to the hotel.

What does one cost at a Da Lat stall?

One costs about 15,000 to 30,000 dong at a street stall, depending on the toppings. At roughly 26,000 dong to the US dollar that is well under a dollar and a half. Extra eggs, cheese or seafood add a few thousand dong each.

Pay in cash and small notes, as the money guide explains. The cheap eating guide sets it among the other snacks that cost less than a coffee.

Where is the best banh trang nuong?

The best banh trang nuong is in Da Lat, at the stalls around the night market and along the streets near Xuan Huong lake in the evening. The cold air is part of the experience, and the vendors there have been making it for the longest.

Ho Chi Minh City has stalls outside schools and in the evening markets, and most tourist towns now have a vendor or two. The street food guide covers what else to eat from a pavement, and the Da Lat guide explains why the town's evenings are so cold.

How is it different from banh xeo?

Banh trang nuong and banh xeo are both crisp and folded, and they are made in completely different ways. Banh xeo is a batter of rice flour and turmeric fried in a pan with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts, then wrapped in leaves at the table.

The grilled version starts with a ready-made sheet of dried rice paper and meets the charcoal dry. The pancake guide sets out the fried and griddled family, and xoi is the other cheap evening snack in the highlands.