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Bánh Cuốn (Vietnamese Rice Rolls)
5 from 24 votes

Bánh Cuốn (Vietnamese Rice Rolls)

Bánh Cuốn are thin steamed rice rolls filled with a savory mixture of ground pork, wood ear mushrooms, jicama, and cooked onions. The rolls are made from a delicate rice flour batter that produces soft, translucent sheets that are then steamed and filled. This dish balances tender, delicate textures with the aromatic, savory filling typical of Vietnamese cuisine. Typically served with fresh herbs, blanched bean sprouts, and a fish sauce dipping sauce, Bánh Cuốn is a layered and nuanced dish with contrasting textures and flavors.

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Additional Time
8 hrs
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Lunch, Dinner
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Ingredients

Rice flour batter
  • 200 g rice flour
  • 40 g tapioca starch
  • 40 g potato starch
  • 1320 g water filtered
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp neutral cooking oil for wrapping cooked bánh cuốn
Filling
  • 15 g woodear mushroom dried
  • water filtered, hot
  • 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil
  • 127 g onion peeled and finely chopped
  • 300 g ground pork
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 /2 tsp monosodium glutamate MSG
  • 1 tsp black pepper ground
  • 172 g jicama peeled and finely chopped
  • 29 g green onions optional
Sides
  • Japanese cucumber or Persian cucumber, crunchy
  • bean sprout blanched
  • shallot fried
  • Vietnamese pork sausage cha lua
  • mint chopped
  • fish sauce used as dipping sauce nước chấm

Instructions

Batter prep
    Cup of Yum
  1. Combine all flours into a large bowl or container with the water. Mix to combine and soak for eight hours or overnight.
  2. With a ladle, carefully remove and discard half of the water (660g if you didn't scale the recipe) making sure to NOT disturb the flour.
Filling
  1. Hydrate the dried woodwear mushrooms in filtered hot water until fully hydrated, about 30 minutes. Rinse and finely chop. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and finely chop the jicama. Squeeze the chopped jicama by hand to remove as much moisture as you can. Set aside in a prep bowl.
  2. Heat a pan over medium heat, then add oil and onion. Saute until lightly browned. Then add pork, salt, MSG, and pepper to the pan then saute on medium, continually separating the pork so it's not clumped and cooks more evenly.
  3. When the pork is 80% done, add jicama and saute until there's almost no more water at the bottom of the pan (this takes a few minutes). Add mushrooms and saute to heat it up, and so it still maintains is slight crunch, about 2-3 minutes.
  4. If using green onions, add now and shut off the heat. Mix to combine and reseason to taste.
Steaming the Bánh Cuốn
  1. Just before you're ready to cook, add the salt to the batter and mix to thoroughly combine.
  2. Place your steamer pot on the stove filled 2/3 of the way with water and get it boiling on max heat.
  3. Stir the bowl of batter EVERY time just before taking a ladle out to make sure the flour and water is mixed evenly. Pour a thin layer onto the steaming screen and quickly spread out the batter out evenly. It may pool in the center if the fabric isn't fully taut, so don't let it. You can tell that you've taken too long to spread the batter if the ladle starts to stick to the steaming cloth.
  4. Close the lid and let it steam for about 40 seconds, open the lid and check. When you open the lid, you know it's done when the cake is starting to bubble on the fabric. Its also more clear after cooking and not as white.
  5. Remove the rice cake. Use your stick to dig under one side of the circle in about 2 inches and lift up from left to right. The first few are typically not as good as the steamer fabric is still priming, so don't judge the result until you get to your 3rd one.
  6. Now's the time to adjust the batter. If the final steamed roll is too thick, add 1-2 tbsp cold water to the batter. If it's too thin you can add 1 tbsp rice flour. It's too thin if you can't spread the batter to make a sheet without any holes. It's too thick if it doesn't spread easily and is unwieldly to remove from the screen.
  7. Lay it on an oiled plate or tray (oiling each time before laying down bánh cuốn so it doesn't stick)
  8. Here's one way to make longer bánh cuốn quickly. Remove the rice sheet from the stick by cutting it along the stick length with a spoon or knife. Add about 1 full tsp of filling into each sheet, and fold about 1/4 of the way in.
  9. Continue folding it over about 3 times total until the sheet runs out. Repeat until you run out of batter, remembering to stir the bowl thoroughly before lading out each batch.