Vietnamese Crispy Pillow-Shaped Pasty (Bánh Gối)

A beloved Vietnamese street food with a golden crispy shell

The Vietnamese Crispy Pillow-shaped Pasty (Bánh Gối) is a favourite street food for good reason. Crispy on the outside, juicy and full of flavour on the inside, these little golden parcels are shaped like pillows – very similar to Cornish pasties here in the UK. They’re usually served hot with a generous plate of fresh salad vegetables, crunchy pickles and of course, a small bowl of nước chấm dipping sauce on the side. It’s a complete and satisfying dish, packed with both texture and taste.

My Bánh Gối memories from Hanoi

When I was still living in Hanoi, my friends and I often craved Bánh Gối. Whenever the urge hit, we’d stop by our favourite street stall near the Old Quarter, grab a few pasties fresh from the fryer and enjoyed them right there on the pavement over a chat. Or I’d head to Lương Văn Can street to buy the ready-made wrappers from local stalls.

But since moving to the UK, I’ve grown used to cooking most of my Vietnamese food from scratch and naturally, Vietnamese Crispy Pillow-shaped Pasty is no exception. I took some trial and error to get the dough just right but now I can confidently say it’s actually much easier than you might think!

Making the perfect crispy dough

The secret to a successful Bánh Gối is in the wrapper. It needs to be thin, light and most importantly, crispy when fried. I made mine using a simple dough of:

• flour (cake four works slightly better for fluffiness, but plain flour is perfectly fine too),
• a tiny pinch of banking powder (optional, but I like the texture it gives),
• salt,
• a dash of turmeric powder for that warm yellow hue,
• olive oil, and
• water

Just mix everything and knead into a soft dough, cover and let it rest for at least an hour before rolling out.

Preparing the filling and pickles

While the dough is resting, I get started on the pickles and filling. For pickles, I follow this recipe on my blog, this time I’ve used kohlrabi and carrots but cucumber works just as well.

The filling is a mix of finely chopped:

• carrot,
• kohlrabi (or beansprouts),
• onion
• garlic
• wood ear mushroom,
• glass noodles, and
• pork mince (I use 15% fat so the filling stays juicy)

I start by lightly sautéing the vegetables to bring out their flavour, just a quick fry in a tablespoon of olive oil until fragrant. Then combined with soaked glass noodles, minced pork and salt, ground pepper and oyster sauce.

Everything gets mixed together thoroughly and set aside. I also hard-boil four eggs and cut them into quarters lengthways – each pasty gets a little piece inside for extra richness.

Rolling, filling and shaping the pasties

Once the dough has rested, it’s time to roll. I use a silicon mat to prevent sticking and roll the dough out to about 1mm thin. Using a rice bowl (roughly 5 inches across), I cut out circles for the wrappers. If you have a cookie cutter or cake ring that side, it’s make things even quicker.

I scoop a tablespoon of filling onto each circle, press in a piece of boiled egg, then carefully fold the wrapper over into a pillow shape. I seal the edges by pinching and pleating with my thumb and index finger, but using a fork works just as well (like I do in my gyoza recipe). The Bánh Gối wrappers are slightly bigger than gyoza but the folding technique is very similar.

Deep-frying to golden perfection

Now comes the fun part – frying. I don’t deep-fry often but this is one of those dishes that really deserves it. I’ve tried using an air fryer before and while the result was okay, nothing beats the classic deep-fried crispiness.

I pour half a litre of oil into my Staub work (which I recently treated myself to!), heat it up on high and fry the pasties in a few batches. It only takes a few minutes each side until they turn beautifully golden and crispy. I place them on a wire rack or kitchen paper to drain any excess oil.

A quick dipping sauce and ready to serve

To finish the dish, I make a quick nước chấm dipping sauce using equal parts sugar, lime juice and fish sauce, plus four parts water. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add chopped red chilly and that’s it – simple and delicious.

This recipe makes 16 medium-sized Vietnamese Crispy Pillow-shaped Pasties, which easily serves four people. Feel free to scale it up or down depending on how many you’d like to make. They’re best enjoyed hot and crispy, with pickles, fresh salad and dipping sauce on the side.

Vietnamese Crispy Pillow-shaped Pasty, also known as Bánh Gối, is one of those dishes that brings back fond memories and warm conversations. And now, with a bit of practice, you can bring that taste of Hanoi right into your own kitchen.