30 Nov

Banh beo (steamed rice cakes with cotton shrimp)

Posted by: angelina  /  Category: Cakes

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 2 bowl of rice flour
  • 2 bowl of hot water
  • 2 bold cold water

For the topping and sauce

  • 10 young onions
  • 100 gr of pork fat (cut out from the pork brisket)
  • 6 tbsp of dried shrimp
  • 2 minced red chilis
  • 4 thinly chopped garlic cloves
  • 5 sugar cubes
  • Nuoc Mam
  • 15 fleshy shrimps
  • 1 big shallot, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, place the rice flour, add hot water and mix well without leaving any lumps forming. When the mixture is completely liquid, slowly add cold water, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Allow the paste to rest for at least half on hour.
  2. Boil three glasses of water in a saucepan and dip the shrimp very quickly, so they are barely cooked. Save the cooking broth for later.Transfer the cooking broth in a bowl and allow the dried shrimps to swell for twenty minutes.Drain cooked shrimps removing the shells and deveining. Keep the shells of the shrimps to improve the broth.With the flat of a knife, crush the shrimps.Heat a non-stick pan, and transfer the mortar content in it. Stir constantly. The aim is to dry the shrimps, not to cook them. If the pan gets too hot, remove from the heat.Transfer the shrimps back to the mortar and crush gently.
  3. Repeat this operation 4 or 5 times, until a the shrimps turn pink and their texture look like cotton. Reserve the shrimps cotton in a bowl. Cover the bowl with cellophane to prevent the cotton from drying, and keep it in the fridge.Remove the dried shrimps from the broth an drained using paper towel.Thinly chop the dried shrimps (eventually with a blender) until it turns into an orange powder. Set aside in a bowl.Chop the pork fat into small pieces.
  4. Transfer to a frying pan and heat (medium heat) stirring constantly until the fat produces oil, and the crispy pork fat get a nice golden-brown color.Drain trough a sieve and return the oil to the frying pan.Chopped thinly the crispy pork fat with a knife, and reserve in a bowl.Remove the white part of the green onions and mince into 5mm long sections.Thinly chop the shallot.Heat the pork fat oil, and when the oil is hot, add the green onions and the shallot. Stir quickly and remove for heat.
  5. Return the broth to a saucepan,add the shrimps shells and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Dissolve 5 sugar cubes in the saucepan,add the thinly chopped garlic. From now on, the sauce must not boil.
  6. Add the Nuoc Mam (10 tbsp should be fine) until it fits your taste.You might as well add one thinly sliced red chili, depending on your taste and experience.
  7. Finally add one tbsp of shrimps cotton, and one tsp of chopped dried shrimps to the broth and reserve.
  8. With a paper towel, grease the pans well with the fat pork oil. It is important to ensure that the cakes won’t stick to the mold after cooking.
  9. Using a small ladle, fill each plate with paste (approximately 3mm height of paste). The dough will rise, and there must be enough place in the plate.
  10. In a large Couscous pot, boil water in the lower part.
  11. Once the water boils, place the steamer on top, and put the small banh beo plates in that upper part. Close the lid and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Cooking is complete when all the cake has become translucent. The cakes must be firm and translucid.
  12. With a small spoon, spread a little pork fat oil on top of each cake.It will help to keep the shrimps cotton in place.Add a little crispy pork fatAdd the cotton shrimpAdd a little bit of dried shrimp powder. Finally add a few slices of young onions from pork fat oil

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