White Rose Dumplings: The Hoi An Snack Two Families Have Been Folding for 100 Years

White rose dumplings — banh bao banh vac in Vietnamese — are translucent rice-flour dumplings stuffed with seasoned ground shrimp or pork, pleated by hand into a shape that looks like the petals of a white rose. They are served at room temperature in small clusters of 8 to 12 on a plate, topped with crispy fried shallots and a thin pool of soy-fish sauce dip.

A plate runs 60,000 to 90,000 VND in Hoi An ($2.50 to $3.80). The texture is the centrepiece — the rice-flour wrapper is just thick enough to hold the shrimp but thin enough to see the pink filling through it, which is why the dish is called 'white rose' rather than the more literal 'rolled rice dumpling'.

It is a snack rather than a main course. Most travellers order a plate alongside cao lau or as a between-meal stop while walking the Old Town.

The recipe — specifically the dough-to-water ratio and the resting time — has been kept inside two extended Hoi An families for roughly four generations. Both families live within 600 metres of each other on Hai Ba Trung street, in the area locals call the white rose neighbourhood.

The families supply most restaurants in Hoi An that serve white rose dumplings. The restaurants are not making them in their own kitchens — they receive deliveries twice a day from the family workshops. This is why white rose dumplings taste similar everywhere in town: the source is the same.

The families have refused to teach the full recipe outside the household, including to chefs who have offered substantial money. Cookbook versions exist but are reportedly off — the texture never matches a fresh dumpling from the workshop. It is one of the few remaining trade secrets in Vietnamese cuisine.

White Rose Restaurant (533 Hai Ba Trung street) is the original — owned and run by one of the two families, with a workshop visible from the dining room. A plate of dumplings is 80,000 VND. They open 07:30 to 20:00 and are busiest at lunch. Cash only.

Morning Glory Restaurant (106 Nguyen Thai Hoc street) is the upscale option — same supply chain, plated more elegantly, 95,000 VND a plate. The restaurant is run by Ms Vy who also has a cooking school next door. Worth it if you want the dumplings as part of a sit-down meal with cao lau and other dishes.

Most smaller cafes inside the Old Town also serve them at 60,000 to 75,000 VND a plate, supplied by the same two families. The dumplings are nearly identical wherever you order them; pick based on the restaurant atmosphere rather than the dish.

Avoid Tripadvisor-stickered restaurants that price white rose dumplings over 100,000 VND a plate. That is a markup, not a quality difference.

On the Hoi An food tour I include a 15-minute stop at one of the family workshops. You watch the women — usually three to four of them sitting on low stools — pleat the dumplings by hand. Each dumpling takes about four seconds to fold once your hands know the motion; the women have been doing this since they were ten years old.

The workshop is also where the shrimp filling is prepared. You can see (and smell) the lemongrass, scallion, and fish sauce being chopped. The kitchen is open to the dining room, which is unusual for Vietnamese restaurants and is the family's way of saying: nothing is hidden in this process, only the dough recipe.

If you cannot do the food tour, you can ask at White Rose Restaurant to see the workshop — they usually say yes for one or two visitors at a time, especially in the morning before lunch service.

White rose dumplings are usually eaten as part of a larger meal. The classic Hoi An trio is white rose dumplings, cao lau noodles, and crispy fried wontons (hoanh thanh chien) — all three appear on every menu and together cost around 220,000 VND ($9.30) at a family restaurant.

Morning Glory adds banh xeo (Vietnamese savoury pancakes with shrimp and pork) and com ga Hoi An (Hoi An chicken rice) to make a four-dish tasting. White Rose Restaurant tends to stick to the trio plus a fresh vegetable salad.

Drinks pair simply: Vietnamese drip coffee, fresh sugarcane juice, or a local craft beer (Pasteur Street brewery has a Hoi An tap room). Beer is fine but the dumplings work better with the sweet-and-cold sugarcane juice for cutting through the soy-fish sauce dip.