Banh hoi

Bánh hỏi is a Vietnamese dish consisting of rice vermicelli woven into intricate bundles and often topped with chopped scallions or garlic chives sauteed in oil, served with a complementary meat dish. The strings of noodles are usually only as thin as a toothpick; the texture is firm enough so the noodles do not fall apart but is not at all sticky to keep the dish light. Bánh hỏi originated from the Bình Định Province of Vietnam's South Central Coast region. People in Bình Định eat bánh hỏi for almost any meal during the day, instead of rice or noodle soups. Making bánh hỏi is a multistep process. First, good rice is soaked in water overnight, then washed with water again three or four times until the water comes out clean. Then the rice is either ground with water into a mixture, or ground without water, but mixed into the water three or four times afterwards to leaven it without using any additional agent. The flour mixture is then either steamed and kneaded, or cooked in a pan, stirred continuously until it starts to coagulate, but no flour gets stuck on the stirring tool. This step is crucial in making bánh hỏi soft, light, and not sticky, but the strings of noodles will still have a firm texture. When the experienced bánh hỏi maker feels the dough is done, it is ready for pressing.

Source: Wikipedia