YummY Vietnam

Banh bot loc is made from tapioca flour filled with meat, shrimp and served with sweet fish sauce. Banh bot loc is voted as one of the most 30 yummy dumplings in the world by CNNgo of CNN Channel.

Banh bot loc is very popular in every regions of Vietnam, In each regions of Vietnam banh bot lot has different flavors but it always has 2 types: banh bot loc wrapped by banana leaves or naked banh bot loc

Naked banh bot loc is made by kneading tapioca flour with water to make dough, and the filling are always shrimp, belly pork simmered with fish sauce, pepper, sugar, chili. Finally, banh bot loc will be dropped into a boiled water for 15-20 minutes and place to cold water.

The difference between banh bot loc wrapped by banana leaves and naked banh bot loc is with banh bot loc wrapped by banana leaves you can not see the filling inside. Each banh bot loc are wrapped meticulously by banana leaves to keep the typical flavor when steaming them. The process of taking off the wrapping of banh bot loc makes it more interesting. Banh bot loc wrapped by banana leaves can be store for few days, it can be steamed again to enjoy.

Both of 2 types of banh bot loc served with sweet fish sauce.  Sweet fish sauce is made by:

Take the broth of boiling shrimp heads (be cut off to make the filling) , it make the dipping sauce more sweet, add more fish sauce, sugar, sliced chili then mix them well.

In the north, especially in Can Tho people enjoy adding more sugar and chili.

Ingredient for banh bot loc recipe:

• 1 pack of tapioca flour
• 500g fresh shrimp
• 300g belly pork
• Banana leaves, scallions

How to make banh bot loc recipe:

Step 1:

Prepare the shrimp by removing the shell head and the intestine running along the side of the shrimp, clean by water then set aside.

Slice belly pork into small pieces, marinate with soy sauce, seasoning.

Tear the banana leaves into pieces with dimension about 10 cm, rinse by water then soak slightly into hot water. This work to wrap banana leaves more easier.

Step 2:

Heat a spoon of cooking oil and sliced red shallot over the medium heat.

Add marinated belly pork and stir well then add shrimp to stir together.

Step 3:

When shrimps turn to red, add more fish sauce and sugar. Stir well to absorb the seasoning.

When the mixture becomes viscous and crisps that done.

Step 4:

Dissolve the tapioca in water with rate 1:1.5 and add some salt.

Step 5:

Pour tapioca mixture into a pot non stick over the low heat.

Use a big wooden spoon to stir well to avoid curdled. When liquid mixture become viscous, take the pot out and add more 2 tsp cooking oil then stir well to make the dough pliable

Step 6:

Spread banana leaves on a flat, clean surface.

Grease a little oil on the surface of banana leaves to wrap easily and avoid sticky.

Spread the dough to get a thickness on the surface then top a piece of meat and shrimp

Step 7:

Fold the banana leaves to ensure the filling stay in the middle of 2 layers of dough. You can tear a strand  of banana leaves to tie and avoid the wrapping open once steaming.

Step 8:

Pleace banh bot loc into a steamer then pour some water to heat. Steam banh bot loc about 7-10 minutes. When the dough turns to be translucent, it means it is cooked.

Step 9:

Banh bot loc are always served with scallion oil, prepare scallion oil by:

Dice 1 cup of scallion, heat a pan with some cooking oil over high heat.

Add diced scallion into the pan and stir well once scallion turns golden, remove from the heat.

When serving banh bot loc, using a small spoon to scoop scallion oil and drizzle on the surface of banh bot loc. Serving when it is hot is more delicious!!