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Bot chien
Bột chiên: Saigon's crisp fried rice-flour cake cubes with egg, tangy soy sauce and pickled papaya
Bột chiên came to Saigon with the Teochew Chinese community of Chợ Lớn and is now an after-school snack sold from street pans across the city in the late afternoon. Cubes of steamed rice-flour cake are fried in a wide pan until crisp outside and soft inside, then an egg is poured over and stirred until it binds them in golden scraps. It is eaten with shredded pickled green papaya and a sweet, sour soy dipping sauce. Chef's tip: make the cake the day before and chill it overnight; cold, firm cake cuts into neat cubes and crisps far better.
- Total time
- 70 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 3
Ingredients
For the rice cake (make ahead)
For the pickled papaya
For the sauce
To fry
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Whisk 7 oz rice flour, 1 ⅜ oz tapioca starch, 2 ¼ cups water, ¾ tsp salt and 1 tbsp vegetable oil together in a non-stick pan until smooth. Stir over a medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes; it will suddenly thicken into a heavy, sticky dough that pulls away from the pan.
8 minStep 2: Press the dough into an oiled 18 cm square tin with a wet spatula, smoothing the top. Steam over a high heat for 25 minutes until the cake looks translucent and feels springy.
25 minStep 3: Cool, cover and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Common mistake: cutting the cake while it is warm; it smears and the cubes stick together in the pan.
Step 4: Toss 5 ½ oz green papaya and ½ carrot with 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt and leave for at least 20 minutes. Stir 3 tbsp tamari, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp water and 1 red chilli until the sugar dissolves.
Step 5: Turn the cold cake out and cut it into 2 cm cubes. Heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil in a large non-stick or cast-iron pan over a medium-high heat until it shimmers.
Step 6: Spread the cubes in one layer, not touching. Fry for 4 to 5 minutes without moving them, until the undersides are golden and they release easily; turn and fry 4 minutes more. They should sound crackly and look blistered.
9 minStep 7: Pour 3 eggs evenly over the cubes, scatter in 3 spring onions and leave for 1 minute until the egg sets at the edges. Flip in sections and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more until the egg is golden and clinging to the cubes.
3 minStep 8: Tip onto plates, grind over ¼ tsp black pepper and serve hot with the pickled papaya on top and the sauce spooned over.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 470 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbs
- 70 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bot chien take?
- About 70 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 3 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- 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 carrot?
- Parsnip or sweet potato, same weight.
- What can I use instead of rice vinegar?
- Cider vinegar with a pinch of sugar, same amount.
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