YummY Vietnam

For a long time, Banh com (Green rice flake cake) has becomes one of the specialities of Ha Noi. If once visiting Hanoi, do not forget to try this cake and buy it to present for your family.

Banh Com is also knew as Bánh Cưới (Wedding cake) because is often appeared in the wedding celebration in Vietnam. Banh com has square shape and wrapped by banana leaf and tightened by a red bamboo string, symbolizing for blessings and close-knit couple.

A good Green rice flake cake has the scent of green rice flake, soft glutinous flour and the filling with buttery mung beans.

Autumn is usually considered to be the season of green rice flake cake; however, you can enjoy this cake all year thanks to modern drying technology.

If you want to buy green rice flake cake in Hanoi, you can visit Hang Than Street- a famous street for green rice flake cake. Almost all residents on this street sell it, so it’s easy to buy and choose. Nevertheless, should you make this cake at home, the following simple recipe will help you!

Ingredients for making banh com recipe

• Dried green rice flake: 300g
• Peeled mung bean: 50g
• Sugar: 80g
• Glutinous flour making sticky rice cake: 3 tablespoons
• Cooking oil: 1 tablespoon
• Water: 300ml
• Pandan leaf: 3-4 leaves
• Grapefruit flower extract
• Plastic bag

Steps for making Banh com recipe:

 Step 1: Remove the unqualified green rice flake seeds then wash with cool water. Soaking green rice flake into warm water for 40-45 minutes to make them soften. Make sure the water just cover the surface of green rice flake.

Step 2:

Soak the mung beans for 3 hours to make it tender then steaming.

After the mung beans are cooked,  add them with 30g sugar, a little water to blend 

 Step 3:

Add blended mung beans, cooking oil and ½ glutinous flour into a non-stick frying pan. Take the low heat to cook the mung beans until they become viscous.

Add some grapefruit flower extract then stir well to get the fragrant scent.

Take the mung beans paste out and cover with cling firm then set aside.

Step 4:

Add 300ml water, 50g sugar and pandan leaves into a pot. Cook to dissolve the sugar then take the pandan leaves out and add green rice flake into the pot.

Stir-fry the green rice flake with low heat, remember stir well to avoid being curdled. When the green rice flake dissolving and getting elastic, turn off the heat

Note: if you add water too much, leading to green rice flake is diluted, to solve this you can sprinkle with some glutinous flour for draining.

Step 5:

Waiting for green rice flake cool down, you can wrap the cake.

When Green rice flake is still hot, it’s difficult to wrap and when pouring green rice flake into plastic film wrapper may harm to your health .

Prepare 1 bowl of cooking oil.

Soaking a spoon into cooking oil then ladle some green rice flake and pour into a plastic bag. Using this spoon to spread a thin layer of green rice layer and shape the cake squared.

The next is a mung beans layer

Finally, spread a layer of green rice flake on top to cover the mung beans layer(using a spoon soaked into cooking oil to avoid being sticky).

Wrap the plastic bag layer and shape corners of the cake to getting squared shape.

If you are unacquainted with wrapping and want to make a beautiful and smooth cake, you can use a square mold. This cake will be tasty when preserving in a cool place for 2 days.