Chris and Shayna Dufresne, a Canadian couple and travel YouTubers with nearly 20,000 followers, document their adventures around the world as a family of four.

Recently, the couple visited Vietnam and explored the culinary wonders of Hoi An, Da Nang. Two signature dishes left them raving: “Honestly, just cao lau and white rose alone are enough reasons for us to come back to Hoi An again and again.”

They discovered this uniquely named dish - “white rose” - at a famous family-run restaurant on Hai Ba Trung Street in Hoi An. Upon entering, they were greeted by a group of women skillfully crafting thin, white dumpling wrappers, smiling warmly at the guests.

The "white rose" is actually a combination of two types of steamed dumplings - banh bao and banh vac - arranged on a plate to resemble a blooming white rose. The dish originated from the fusion of Vietnamese and Chinese culinary traditions in Hoi An over a century ago. It is known for its meticulous preparation and carefully selected ingredients.

To international visitors, this iconic dish is commonly known as “white rose.”

The main ingredient is high-quality fragrant rice. The rice is ground into a fine powder, repeatedly filtered to ensure purity, and kneaded into a smooth, elastic dough. The dough is rolled into long logs, pinched into small portions, and shaped by hand into delicate wrappers that resemble white rose petals.

The filling of banh bao includes shrimp, lean pork, wood ear mushrooms, bean sprouts, and a bit of green onion. These ingredients are finely chopped and stir-fried with a well-balanced seasoning. Banh bao is wrapped in an ultra-thin layer of dough and shaped like rose petals, while banh vac is slightly larger, molded to resemble a crescent or small pouch. The latter is typically filled with finely pounded shrimp paste.

After shaping, the dumplings are steamed for about 15 minutes. Once cooked, they are plated and topped with golden crispy shallots and a spoonful of fragrant peanut oil, creating an inviting and glossy finish. When eaten, diners experience a combination of sweet shrimp and pork filling, the gentle aroma of white rice, and the richness of the crispy shallots.

As soon as the steaming hot plate arrived, the Canadian couple dug in eagerly.

“It’s absolutely incredible,” Chris exclaimed.

They described the pork as tender and well-seasoned, enhanced by mild black pepper. The dumpling skin was chewy yet soft, not mushy like many others. Shayna compared it to pierogi - a traditional Polish dumpling - due to the dough's texture.