Bánh Chưng (Vietnamese Sticky Rice Cake)

Step 1

Make a square mold out of cardboard: Create a mold out of cardboard. I made mine about 4x4 inches wide and 2 inches high.

Step 2

Soak sticky rice. Wash the sticky rice until the water turns clear. Soak the sweet rice with salt and enough water to cover the rice over night.

Step 3

Marinate the pork belly. Slice the pork belly into about 1/4 inch thick slices. Marinate the pork with salt, sugar, chicken powder, pepper, fish sauce and shallots in the refrigerator overnight.

Step 4

Soak the mung beans. Wash the mung beans until the water turns clear. Soak the mung beans with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and enough water to cover the rice in the refrigerator overnight.

Step 5

Strain the rice. Strain the water from the rice. Set aside.

Step 6

Boil the mung beans. Strain the mung beans. In a medium pot, fill halfway with water, add 1 teaspoon of salt and mung beans. Heat on high until it boils. When the water boils, turn the heat down to simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until softened. Then strain the water and mash the mung beans.

Step 7

Saute the shallots. In a large skillet or wok, heat 3-4 tablespoons of vegetable on high heat. Add the shallots and saute for 2 minutes on high and then reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until caramelized and tender about 10-15 minutes.

Step 8

Mix together. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the salt, sugar, pepper, chicken powder, caramelized shallots and mashed mung beans. Set aside.

Step 9

Line the mold with banana leaves. Line the mold with at least 4-6 strips of banana leaves (~4x 12 inches) layering them in alternative directions like a cross. Make sure to leave 2 inches of banana leaf above the mold to seal the banh chung later. Then using 4 thinner strips (~2x10 inches) line the inside of the mold to seal the corners.

Step 10

Add the rice. Add an even layer of sticky rice, about 1/2 of an inch.

Step 11

Layer the mung beans and meat. Layer an even 1/4 inch layer of mung beans. Make sure to leave 1/4 inch of space around the edges for the rice. Layer the pork belly on top of the mung bean layer. Lastly, layer another even 1/4 inch layer of mung beans.

Step 12

Fill with rice. Fill in the edges and the top 1/2 inch with sticky rice.

Step 13

Fold the leaves over and wrap with string. Using alternating strips, fold the leaves over tightly. Seal with a piece of tape and tightly wrap the banh chung with string like a present. Make sure to wrap the string along the edges as well to keep it all together. See video.

Step 14

In a large pot, if possible, place a small wire rack at the bottom of the pot, then line 3-4 layers of banana leaves on top of the wire rack covering the entire rack. Add the banh chung and fill the pot with enough water to cover. Cover the pot with a lid and bring the pot to a boil on high heat. Once it boils, turn the heat down to medium low heat and simmer for about 7 hours. Every two hours add boiling water in the pot to make sure the water level is always covering the banh chung.

Step 15

Serve after 30 minutes. Take the banh chung out of the pot and let it cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Then serve with chả lụa (Vietnamese cold cuts) and pickled vegetables. If you are not serving it right away, dry the banana leaves and wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store the bánh chưng in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To re-heat simply place them in the microwave with the banana leaf still wrapped on. It may take up to 5-6 minutes depending on the heat of your microwave to thoroughly heat and soften the bánh chưng.