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Bánh cốm (Hanoi green rice-flake cake with mung bean filling)
Squares of chewy green young-rice flakes around sweet mung bean and coconut
When the new crop of young glutinous rice comes in, in early autumn, Hanoi smells of cốm: green, flattened rice flakes from the village of Vòng. The shops on Hàng Than street press them into bánh cốm, square cakes that are still carried as betrothal gifts in their paper wrappers. The outside is soft, chewy and jade green, tasting faintly of grass and pandan; the inside is a mellow paste of mung bean and coconut. Serve them at room temperature with green or lotus tea. Bánh cốm is naturally egg-free: a hot sugar syrup and a spoonful of tapioca starch turn the rice flakes into a sticky mass that binds itself, and the mung bean paste is bound by its own starch. Use frozen or dried cốm from an Asian grocer; soak dried flakes briefly first. Chef's tip: the common mistake is cooking the cốm too hard; stop as soon as it pulls together into a sticky ball, or the cakes go rubbery when cool.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 10
Ingredients
For the filling
- 5 ½ oz split peeled mung beanssoaked 1 hour
- 3 ⅛ oz sugar
- 2 tbsp neutral oilplus extra for the mould
- ½ tsp vanilla extractor a few drops of pomelo-flower water
For the green layer
- 7 oz cốm (green young rice flakes)fresh or frozen; dried flakes soaked 5 minutes and drained
- 4 ½ oz sugar
- ¾ cup water
- 4 pandan leavesor 1 tsp pandan extract
- 2 tbsp tapioca starchmixed with 3 tbsp water
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Drain 5 ½ oz split peeled mung beans and steam for 20 minutes until the beans crush easily between two fingers.
20 minStep 2: Mash the hot beans until smooth. Cook in a non-stick pan over a low heat with 3 ⅛ oz sugar, 1 ¾ oz freshly grated or desiccated coconut and 2 tbsp neutral oil, stirring, for 10–12 minutes until the paste pulls away from the pan and holds its shape.
12 minStep 3: Stir in ½ tsp vanilla extract, cool, then roll the paste into 10 flat squares about 4 cm across.
Step 4: Blend 4 pandan leaves with ¾ cup water and strain. Heat the green water with 4 ½ oz sugar in a wide pan over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup bubbles.
4 minStep 5: Lower the heat, add 7 oz cốm (green young rice flakes) and stir for 5–6 minutes until the flakes absorb the syrup.
6 minStep 6: Stir in the 2 tbsp tapioca starch slurry and keep stirring for 2–3 minutes, until the mixture turns glossy and pulls together into one sticky ball. Take it off the heat at once.
3 minStep 7: Oil a 6 cm square mould or a small square box. Press in a 1 cm layer of warm cốm, add a square of filling, cover with more cốm and press firmly.
Step 8: Turn out and repeat with the rest. Wrap each cake in cling film or a piece of banana leaf.
Step 9: Leave to cool to room temperature for 30 minutes before eating. Keep them out of the fridge, which makes them hard, and eat within 2 days.
30 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 240 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bánh cốm (Hanoi green rice-flake cake with mung bean filling) take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 80 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 10 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of vanilla extract?
- Vanilla bean paste, same amount.
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