YummY Vietnam

Banh Cống is one of popular dish in Southern Vietnam, especially in Soc Trang, Can Tho, Bac Lieu…

It’s called with the name “Banh Cong” because people use a “Cong” to cook. A “Cong” has a long handle and looks like small metal milk bottle. In West-Southern area, people still use “Cong” as a unit of measures in dealing at the market. “Cong” has many sizes : ½ “xị”, 1 “xị” ( 4 “xị” equal 1 liter), ½ liter, 1 liter and the biggest size is 2-liters Cống.

The “Cong” used to make Bánh Cong has only one size with diameter 5cm, height 5cm with the handle about 1 span. The “Cong” used to fry Bánh Cống does not have cylinder shape like the “Cong” used for measure, it has the bottom a little smaller than the topping, it helps Banh Cong can float up once it done.

Banh Cong is made rice flour mix with wheat flour to keep Banh Cong soft and crispy. You can use rice flour or soak rice then grind to make Banh Cong. Rice flour grinded is always better than rice flour buy from market because it keeps the fragrant flavor. If you don’t know how to select rice flour at the market you can easily get old, moudy flour and make your cake sour and bitter.

Banh Cong is always served with sweet-sour fish sauce, lime, minced chili. Fish sauce adds more shredded cucumber, carrot, radish. Aromatic herbs are fish mint, lettuce, basil, herb mint…

There is distinctive thing is in Western area Banh Cong is always served with Banh Hoi. The eater can wrap Banh Cong, Banh Hoi and aromatic herbs together to enjoy.

Ingredients to making banh cong recipe

• 100gr grinded mung beans
• 200gr rice flour
• 200gr ground fat pork
• 50gr soy-bean
• 200gr shrimp
• 250ml water
• Spring onion, red shallot
• ½ tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• Cooking oil

Process of making banh cong recipe

Step 1:

Soy-bean soak over night then clean and drain out

Add soy-bean into blender with 50ml water then grind well

Mung beans soak over night also then drain out, steam till being done, Notice do not steam too long it can make mung beans broken.

Mince red shallot and spring onion

Step 2:

Heat the cooking oil in a pan then add red shallot to stir well

Add ground pork to pan then stir-fry with 1 tsp of seasoning

Step 3:

In a big bowl, add all off rice flour, soy-bean flour, water, salt then stir the flour mixture well. The mixture will be more viscous than flour mixture of Banh Xeo.

Step 4:

Prepare a deep saucepan , add cooking oil into the saucepan enough to cover the “Cong”. Wait for cooking oil boiled then dip the “Cong” into the oil till it hot then take out.

Step 5:

Add some flour into the “Cong” then add more some mung-bean

Add some ground pork, then add mung-bean to cover the ground pork

Last, add mixture flour to fill the “Cong” . You can drum bottom of the “Cong” in somewhere to let mixture flour can flow deeply in the “Cong” and mix with mixture below.

Take 1 shrimp and top gently on the surface of mixture.

Step 6:

Dip the “Cong” into boiled oil

Wait till being cooked, use the sharp blade of knife to take Banh Cong out of the “Cong” but still keep Banh Cong into boiled oil till it turns golden.

To make Banh Cong, you need a lot of cooking oil because cooking oil have to cover the “Cong” and after cooking you cannot use the cooking oil again.

Finally, Take Banh Cong out into absorbed paper.

To serve, cut Banh Cong in half and served with sweet-sour fish sauce, aromatic herbs.