Bánh Bột Lọc Huế: Recipe of Delicious Local Dish in Vietnam

Bánh Bột Lọc Huế (Steamed Tapioca Cake in Taro/Banana Leaf) is one of the special dishes that make many tourists wonder when coming to the ancient capital. The beautiful little Bánh Bột Lọc Huế (Steamed Tapioca Cake in Taro/Banana Leaf) with clear crust highlighting the filling; along with that is the typical flavor that has attracted many tourists when coming to Hue.

Hue cuisine inherently has a great attraction to visitors because of the simple dishes but the taste is always unique. And Bánh Bột Lọc Huế (Steamed Tapioca Cake in Taro/Banana Leaf) is one of them. This cake attracts diners thanks to its delicate transparent appearance and the filling that penetrates through the dough. Up to now, when it comes to Hue cuisine, visitors often immediately mention the flour cake from the ancient capital. It is because of the special taste that Hue flour cake was honored to be in the list of 30 most delicious cakes in the world voted by CNNGo's travel website in 2012.

Bánh Bột Lọc along with other Hue cakes has long become a favorite dish in the morning, afternoon, evening, and light meals of Hue people. Therefore, there is no shortage of Hue cake shops opening to please diners. There are 2 types of Bánh Bột Lọc, each type has its own flavor and is loved by customers.

The main ingredients used to make this specialty are tapioca flour, shrimp and pork. The tapioca flour will be made from the best quality, fresh shrimp will be washed, leaving the shell intact so that when steaming shrimp cakes will have a beautiful red color. The filling of this Hue delicacy will include braised pork. The crispy and fragrant flavor of shrimp, mixed with pork, will make the cake more delicious. In particular, the cake dipping sauce will take advantage of the fried shrimp paste still in the pan.

It is a very delicious cake, suitable for the taste of many diners. However, this cake is made from very basic and easy-to-find ingredients such as tapioca flour, shrimp, meat, spices... It's because of the simplicity and simplicity that must have made it. A unique flavor that captivates even fastidious diners.

The reason the cake is named "Filtered Cake" also comes from its way of making. The crust is made from filtered tapioca flour, the inner part does not contain grit or residue, the flour is filtered clean, so it is called Bánh Bột Lọc.

In order to make a batch of delicious cakes, Hue standard, the process of processing ingredients also needs meticulousness. For example: when buying shrimp, wash it thoroughly and cut off the head and back only inside the shrimp, cut off all the claws and tails; Pork, please diced to fit a piece of Bánh Bột Lọc, bring it to marinate with seasonings to taste... In addition, banana leaves for wrapping the cake must be fresh leaves, still green.

After preparing the ingredients, creating the flavor is an extremely important step. The meat shrimp filling will probably be the soul of this famous Hue dish. Processors need to be skillful in preliminary processing of ingredients, marinating, then bringing shrimp after stir-frying to get a richer filling. After wrapping, the cake will be steamed for about 20 minutes, then enjoy with dipping sauce.

The dipping sauce is also very important to help make the Bánh Bột Lọcthe most flavorful. The Hue people have a very strange sauce recipe, they still use basic ingredients such as fish sauce, sugar, filtered water, minced garlic, chili... However, strangely, the cake dipping sauce in Hue is different. gives diners a more delicious and authentic taste than other places. This is also one of the things that makes this cake unique in Hue.

Recipe of How to Make Bánh Bột Học in Huế, Vietnam:

1. Ingredients for making Bánh Bột Lọc:

• 1 pack of banana leaves
• 400g tapioca flour
• 300g shrimp
• 300g pork
• Minced purple onion, minced garlic
• Seasoning: Salt, pepper, cooking oil, Korean chili powder, seasoning seeds
• Tools: Cake dough mixer, pan, bowl, food wrap

2 How to Make Bánh Bột Lọc Huế?

Step 1 Prepare ingredients:

• After buying banana leaves, you wash them with water, wipe them clean with a towel, and then cut the banana leaves into squares with sides 17-20cm long.
• You put a pan of water on the stove, put the banana leaves you just cut in and boil for 5-7 minutes, wait for the water to boil, then turn off the stove, take out the banana leaves to try. If you don't hear the crunching sound of banana leaves anymore, you can take out the banana leaves.
• After boiling the banana leaves, use a dry towel to wipe the banana leaves one more time!
• 300g pork you proceed to wash, cut into small pieces.
• 300g shrimp you remove the shell and head, remove the back and rinse with water.

Step 2 Make cake dough:

• You put in the flour mixer 400g of tapioca flour, 300ml of boiling water, 1 teaspoon of salt and turn on the switch for the mixer for 15-20 minutes.
• After the dough has been mixed quite smoothly, take out the dough, put 2 tablespoons of cooking oil on your hands and continue to knead the dough for a while to make the dough softer.
• After kneading the dough, cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 2-3 hours.

Step 3: Marinate shrimp and meat to make Bánh Bột Lọc:

• You put 300g shrimp and 300g meat into 2 separate bowls, then add 1 teaspoon of finely chopped shallot, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon Korean chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt.
• Mix well and let the shrimp and meat absorb the spices for about 30 minutes.

Step 4: Stir-fry the meat of cake:

• Next, you put the pan on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 tbsp of garlic and 1 tbsp of minced shallot and sauté until fragrant.
• When the onion and garlic is fragrant, add the pork and stir-fry first. Stir well until the pork is hunted and the fat begins to turn slightly clear, then add the shrimp and stir-fry together.
• You stir-fry until the shrimp turns red, add 1 teaspoon of seasoning, stir once more, then turn off the heat.

Step 5: Wrapping the cake:

• After preparing the cake and baking the dough, let's proceed to pack the Bánh Bột Lọc!
• Divide the dough into equal parts and flatten them. You gently put a sufficient amount of filling including shrimp and meat on it and then fold it so that the edges of the cake stick together so that when boiling, the filling does not fall out of the cake.
• Once you have wrapped the cake inside the whole cake, you start wrapping the cake in banana leaves.
• You brush a thin layer of oil on the banana leaf, put 1 Bánh Bột Lọc in and fold the banana leaf until the banana leaf covers the whole cake.

Step 6: Steam the cake.

• You prepare a steamer, arrange the cake on the steamer and pour in water, you proceed to steam the Bánh Bột Lọc for 15-20 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, you try to take out 1 cake, if the cake turns clear, tastes sweet and soft, then the cake is cooked.

Step 7: Finished Product.

• After steaming, Bánh Bột Lọc is cooked, you put it on a plate to prepare to enjoy with a little sweet and sour fish sauce. If you eat it while it's still hot, it's great!

3. Enjoy the Dish:

The cake is steamed until cooked, the crust is soft, the shrimp and meat filling is fried fragrant, imbued with spices. In addition to this method, you can also make variations with the way to make meatloaf, which is also very delicious! In your free time, try to make this special dish for your family to enjoy.

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See Also:

• Best Things to Do and See in Hue Vietnam
• Best Hue Local Food You Should Not Miss
• Top Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in Hue