That thin disc of rice paper called 'banh trang,' a staple Vietnamese souvenir, is now spreading across Chinese social media transformed into a matcha sweet. The plain supporting player used to wrap fresh spring rolls (goi cuon) is dressed in matcha powder and milk, baked to a jade green, and has become a 'photogenic' talking point on Xiaohongshu (RED) and Douyin (China's TikTok). Along with 'banh trang tron,' a street snack that shreds and tosses the same wrapper,Gen Z–Born Banh Trang Street Food You Dip in Water Before EatingThis matcha version sits on the continuum of a trend that has been catching on locally. For travelers, it means a few-hundred-yen sheet of rice paper at the supermarket turns into "a photogenic dessert kit you can take home and make yourself." Here's what happened and how to enjoy it on the ground.
The ease of just dipping it in matcha mixed with milk and grilling it
The spreading recipe is remarkably simple. Dissolve matcha powder in milk to make a thick paste, and dip dry banh trang through it. Layer several moistened sheets, fold them, and heat for a few minutes in an air fryer to finish. Add sugar to taste.
Baked, it takes on a two-layer texture—crisp outside, chewy inside—in a deep jade color. Because banh trang's signature sun-dried lattice pattern dyes straight to matcha green, both the cross-section and the surface photograph well. The faint toastiness of the rice wrapper carries matcha's gentle bitterness, giving a mouthfeel unlike any existing sweet. Needing no special mold or oven and coming together with a home air fryer and supermarket ingredients is the biggest reason it was copied so explosively.
Banh Trang Was Always an Ingredient That "Transforms Easily"
This phenomenon isn't a sudden mutation. Banh trang is one of Vietnam's most versatile ingredients, changing name and form by region and by how it's eaten. In the south it's "banh trang," in the center the "banh trang nhung" softened in water for hot pot, and the northern fried-spring-roll type is called "banh da nem." Beyond the plain thin sheets, it long had a rich range of colored varieties — black-sesame, chili-kneaded orange, turmeric yellow, and more.
The cooking methods are wide-ranging too. At stalls it has been served both sweet and savory—“banh trang tron,” cut into strips and tossed with dried shrimp, peanuts, lime, and chili, and “banh trang nuong (Da Lat pizza),” grilled over a net with egg and scallion, born in Da Lat. The matcha version brings an international ingredient, Japan-derived matcha, into this game of “what to dress a single sheet in.” Precisely because the base is cheap and nearly flavorless, any taste or color can be layered on freely. Its strength as a foundation supports this transformation.
In numbers: the ground where the matcha version took hold
That a matcha sweet went viral by way of Vietnam is no accident. Inside Vietnam, matcha lattes caught fire from late 2024, and beverage chains have rolled out all-green menus across the board. In Ho Chi Minh City, in fact,A Giant 2-Liter Matcha Latte to Share Among Three or FourMatcha had become something to "share and shoot," with lines forming at some spots. Line up the matcha-drink prices at the major chains and you can see they sit in a range young people can reach for on an everyday basis.
| Chain / metric | Details | Price (10,000 dong ≈ 60 yen) |
|---|---|---|
| Katinat | Matcha latte / matcha tofu pudding | 69,000 / 59,000 dong (about 410 / 350 yen) |
| The Coffee House | Nine matcha items launched | 59,000–69,000 dong (about 350–410 yen) |
| Cheese Coffee | The “Zentle matcha” collection, 4 varieties | 55,000–95,000 dong (about 330–570 yen) |
| Market size | Matcha-product sales on Vietnamese e-commerce (the 18 months from January 2024 to June 2025) | 226.4 billion dong (about 1.36 billion yen) |
| Penetration rate | Vietnamese F&B companies that adopted matcha in their products (2024) | 29.6% |
The figure of about 1.36 billion yen in 18 months shows that matcha is taking hold in Vietnam beyond a passing fad. The groundwork was already laid for the green powder to spread sideways—not just into drinks but into cakes, noodles, and rice paper.
The Online Reaction: "I Tried Making It" and "Don't Show This to Vietnamese People"
The temperature of the spread shows clearly in the reactions to the posts.
- On Xiaohongshu and Douyin, posts praising both the look and the texture chained together—“the jade color is beautiful,” “crisp outside, chewy inside, you could eat it forever”—and copycat “I tried making it” videos were mass-produced.
- Matcha's green is considered one of the strongest colors in the world of sweets, and layered over banh trang's mesh pattern, many say it makes you “want to photograph it first, before it even looks tasty.”
- At the same time, wry comments from the Vietnamese side—'a Vietnamese person would cry seeing it eaten this way,' 'our country's rice paper is being wildly modded'—also spread, giving the topic a second push.
An ingredient normally rolled, tossed, or grilled being pushed toward Western-style confectionery with milk and matcha—that gap itself functions as content.
How travelers can "take this trend home"
This buzz brings two practical benefits for those traveling in Vietnam.
First,You can update the star of your hand-out souvenirs. Banh trang from Trang Bang in Tay Ninh Province is known as a specialty, available at local supermarkets and markets from a few dozen yen a bag. It's a staple souvenir that doesn't take up space and is easy to bring into Japan, but until now it could only be explained as 'for fresh spring rolls.' Attach the matcha-version recipe on a single note, and whoever you give it to can recreate a photogenic sweet in their home air fryer. The same bag becomes a 'souvenir you hand out with an experience.' In Japan too, Vietnamese ingredientsIt's spreading enough to fill suitcases under #snackvietnamflow, and it's easy to ride as a make-it-yourself move.
Second,The resolution of your grazing on the ground goes upis that. When you eat banh trang nuong or banh trang tron at a stall, knowing the backstory that “this sheet has become a matcha sweet in China” lets you compare it as a different version of the same wrapper. At stalls in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Lat, the fillings and sauces differ by shop. Combine a tour of matcha-latte chains with a banh trang stall taste-off in one day, and you can experience two Vietnam-born trends at once—“green powder” and “rice wrappers.”
The basics for enjoying it locally or at home
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Ingredient name | Banh trang (rice paper) — the plain, thin type suits the matcha version |
| Renowned production area | Trảng Bàng, Tay Ninh Province |
| Where to buy | Local supermarkets and markets (from a few tens of yen per pack) / in Japan, imported-food shops and some mass retailers |
| How to make the matcha version | Dissolve matcha in milk → dip the wrappers → stack a few and fold → a few minutes in the air fryer |
| Cousin dishes to try at the stalls | Banh trang nuong (Da Lat pizza) / banh trang tron (tossed) |
| A well-matched set | Compare it with a chain's matcha latte (about 350–570 yen) |
Summary: Travel Fun That Unfolds from a Single Wrapper
Banh trang, once a supporting player in goi cuon, went viral across borders wrapped in matcha. What makes this move interesting is that it needs no expensive gear or specialty shop — a traveler can carry it home simply by "buying the ingredients and taking them back." Next time you visit Vietnam, try this three-part play: secure a bag of plain banh trang at the market, chow down on freshly toasted banh trang nung at a stall, and try the matcha version with an air fryer after you get home. You should be able to carry home, in both taste and photos, the moment two booms — the green powder and the rice sheet — crossed paths.
Sources
- Hết làm gỏi cuốn, bánh tráng Việt giờ còn thành “siêu phẩm” bánh ngọt matcha（afamily.vn）
- What is the “rice paper” of Trang Bang, Tay Ninh Province, a Vietnamese specialty? (iconicjob)
- The matcha latte craze is turning cafes and bubble tea shops green（Vietnam.vn）
- The complete guide to Vietnamese rice paper! A thorough rundown of types, dishes, and recipes (Danang.Style)
