Bánh xèo giòn và thơm; nước ép hơi chua.

The Vietnamese pancake is crispy and fragrant; the fruit juice is slightly sour.

Breakdown of Bánh xèo giòn và thơm; nước ép hơi chua.

• và: and
• hơi: slightly; a little
• bánh xèo: the Vietnamese crispy pancake
• nước ép: the fruit juice

Questions & Answers about Bánh xèo giòn và thơm; nước ép hơi chua.

Why is there no word for is in Bánh xèo giòn và thơm; nước ép hơi chua?

In Vietnamese, adjectives can often act like the predicate by themselves, so you usually do not need a separate word for is/are.

So:

• Bánh xèo giòn và thơm = The bánh xèo is crispy and fragrant.
• Nước ép hơi chua = The juice is slightly sour.

Using là here would normally sound unnatural. Là is more commonly used to connect nouns, as in Đây là nước ép = This is juice.

What exactly is bánh xèo?

Bánh xèo is the name of a Vietnamese dish, usually translated as a crispy savory pancake or crepe. It is a fixed food name, so learners usually treat bánh xèo as one vocabulary item.

Literally:

• bánh = cake, pastry, pancake, or other flour-based food
• xèo imitates the sizzling sound when the batter hits the pan

So the literal idea is something like sizzling cake, but in real use, bánh xèo just means the dish.

Why do giòn and thơm come after bánh xèo?