Hoành Thánh Chiên: The Fried Wontons We Grew Up Snacking On
★ As featured in Glam Adelaide — 2025 SA Restaurant & Catering Awards finalist
Hoành thánh chiên are little parcels of seasoned meat wrapped in thin wonton pastry and deep-fried until the wrapper puffs, blisters and turns deep gold. At Bà Năm on Grote Street, they land six to a plate with a red chilli dipping sauce, fresh lettuce and pickled carrot and daikon — $14, made the way Bà Năm Lời has cooked for family since the 1970s in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh. This is the starter people order "for the table" and then quietly wish they'd ordered two of.
What Is Hoành Thánh Chiên?
Hoành thánh is the Vietnamese take on the wonton — a tradition that travelled south with Chinese communities and settled comfortably into Southern Vietnamese home cooking. “Chiên” simply means fried. Instead of floating in soup, these wontons go into hot oil, so the thin wheat wrapper crisps up around the filling like a crackly golden shell.
The result sits somewhere between a dumpling and a chip: savoury meat filling inside, shatter-crisp pastry outside. In Vietnam you’ll find them at street stalls, family celebrations and everywhere in between — they’re an easy, generous snack, which is exactly the spirit we serve them in.
Fried Wonton vs Soup Wonton
Same parcel, very different personality. A soup wonton (hoành thánh nước) is boiled and served slippery and soft in broth. Hoành thánh chiên is the crunchy cousin — deep-fried, served dry, and built for dipping. If you’re picturing delicate soup dumplings, adjust course: these are crisp, puffy and unapologetically snacky.
That crunch is the whole point. The frying blisters the wrapper so it catches sauce in every fold, and the contrast between hot crisp pastry and the sharp, cool pickles alongside is what keeps hands reaching back across the table.
How Bà Năm Serves It
Six wontons arrive on a white oval plate, wrappers puffed and blistered golden-brown, with a small ramekin of red chilli dipping sauce flecked with chilli flakes. Around them: crisp green lettuce leaves, shredded carrot and white pickled daikon strips. No garnish theatrics — just the things that make fried food eat well.
We’re not a luxury venue, just very genuine, and the wontons reflect that. They’re fried to order in a busy kitchen, which is also why we’re upfront that at peak times you might wait 15–30 minutes for the full spread. The wontons usually land first, which is rather the idea.
Starters Lineup & the Stone Bowl Set
Hoành Thánh Chiên (6 pieces, $14) shares the starters page with strong company: Bánh Mì Tôm Chiên prawn toast (3 pieces, $14), Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt fresh rice paper rolls (3, $14) and Chả Giò Thịt fried spring rolls (4, $14), with Gỏi Cuốn Chay and Chả Giò Chay (both $14) for plant-based tables. Committed spring-roll people can add Extra Chả Giò (2 rolls, $6). For sticky-sweet heat, add Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm (5 fish-sauce wings, $16).
The wontons also earn a spot in The Stone Bowl Set ($39): your choice of stone bowl — phở or bún bò Huế — plus chả giò (2 rolls), fried wontons (3 pieces), and a cà phê đá or nước dừa. It’s the easiest way to try the fried snacks alongside our signature sizzling stone bowls without ordering half the menu. Full rundown: the Stone Bowl Set guide. More on the stone-bowl ritual lives at Phở Tái.
A little recognition: Bà Năm was a finalist in the Vietnamese Restaurant category at the 2025 Hostplus SA Restaurant & Catering Awards, and Glam Adelaide featured the story behind grandma’s recipes — later covering us in their 2025 Adelaide restaurants roundup as a finalist, not a winner, and we’re happy to say it straight. We’re not a luxury venue, just very genuine — but it’s nice when people notice.
How to Eat Them
The simple approach: pick one up, dunk it in the chilli sauce, eat, repeat. The slightly more Vietnamese approach: wrap a wonton in a lettuce leaf with a pinch of pickled carrot and daikon, then dip. The lettuce cools things down, the pickle cuts the richness, and suddenly six pieces between two people feels like an argument waiting to happen.
They’re best eaten hot, while the wrapper still crackles. If you’re ordering for a group, they make a natural “while we decide” plate — out fast, gone faster.
What to Order Alongside
For contrast, pair the wontons with something fresh and sharp: the lime-cured Gỏi Bò Tái Chanh ($25), or the crunchy lotus-stem salad Gỏi Ngó Sen Tôm Thịt ($25). If you’re going full crispy-things mode, the sizzling Bánh Xèo ($22) is the logical escalation — and a cool bún thịt nướng bowl keeps the table balanced.
Then there’s the main event. Classic Phở or Bún Bò Huế runs $20 small / $22 large, and the stone bowl versions are $25 — our Phở Tái “red coin” style lays paper-thin rounds of rare, locally sourced beef in the bowl so the boiling 18-hour bone broth cooks them at your table. More on that at best phở in Adelaide and the 18-hour broth & red coin guide. A cà phê đen đá or nâu đá ($8) rounds things off — the full story’s at Vietnamese iced coffee.
A Chinatown Snack, an Adelaide Address
Fried wontons feel right at home at 65 Grote Street, in the middle of Adelaide Chinatown and a short stroll from Central Market. The dish itself is a piece of Chinese–Vietnamese food history, and eating it here — surrounded by the market crowds and grocers — connects a few dots on the map. For the wider picture of what we cook, start with Vietnamese food in Adelaide CBD.
The recipes trace back to Bà Năm Lời’s home kitchen in Trảng Bàng, Tây Ninh, where she’s been cooking for family since the 1970s. Her grandson Huynh Nguyen and owner Thi Gai Vo opened the Adelaide restaurant in 2023 to serve that same food — right down to Huynh’s Sunday farm runs for the beef.
Visiting Bà Năm
We’re open seven days, 11am–9pm (until 9:30pm in summer, October to March), public holidays included. Walk-ins are always welcome; fair warning that peak times can mean an honest 15–30 minute wait, because the kitchen doesn’t rush the fryer.
You can book via OpenTable, and groups of eight or more should call (08) 8151 0106 so we can set things up properly. Prefer to order ahead? The app at order.phobanam.com.au has the full starters lineup ready to go. If you go for a stone bowl tái, ask about the TÁI Club — there’s a monthly lucky draw for regulars.
Pair the wontons with something cool and fresh: Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt (three prawn-and-pork cold rolls, $14) is the classic soft counterpoint to fried crunch.
Frequently asked questions
What is hoành thánh chiên?
Hoành thánh chiên are Vietnamese fried wontons — thin wonton wrappers folded around a seasoned meat filling and deep-fried until golden and crisp. At Bà Năm they're served six to a plate ($14) with red chilli dipping sauce, lettuce, and pickled carrot and daikon.
Are these the same as soup wontons or dumplings?
No — soup wontons are boiled and served soft in broth, while hoành thánh chiên are deep-fried and served dry with dipping sauce. Expect a puffy, blistered, crunchy wrapper rather than a soft steamed or boiled dumpling.
How many pieces come in a serve, and how much is it?
The standard serve is 6 pieces for $14. You can also get 3 pieces as part of The Stone Bowl Set ($39), which includes a stone bowl phở or bún bò Huế, 2 chả giò spring rolls, and a cà phê đá or nước dừa.
What should I order with fried wontons at Bà Năm?
They pair well with fresh rice paper rolls (Gỏi Cuốn Tôm Thịt, $14), the lime-cured beef salad Gỏi Bò Tái Chanh ($25), or a bowl of phở — including our Phở Tái "red coin" style, where paper-thin rare beef cooks in the boiling 18-hour broth at your table.
Where is Bà Năm and do I need to book?
We're at 65 Grote Street in Adelaide Chinatown, near Central Market, open seven days 11am–9pm (until 9:30pm October–March) including public holidays. Walk-ins are welcome, bookings are via OpenTable, and groups of 8+ should call (08) 8151 0106.