Bánh nậm is one of the various types of bánh from Huế. It's hard to find an English name for it so I will just leave it as that. It often acts as an appetizer and eaten together with other types of bánh Huế. But since I only cook for myself, I eat this dish as a main course.
For people who have had some experience dining at Viet places, whenever someone else mentions Viet food, dishes like phở, bún bò, bánh mì (Viet sandwiches), filtered coffee, etc. come to mind but not something like bánh nậm perhaps because it is time-consuming and is best served warm, which means the restaurants have to always be on their feet if they put this on the menu.
For people who have had some experience dining at Viet places, whenever someone else mentions Viet food, dishes like phở, bún bò, bánh mì (Viet sandwiches), filtered coffee, etc. come to mind but not something like bánh nậm perhaps because it is time-consuming and is best served warm, which means the restaurants have to always be on their feet if they put this on the menu.
Every time I go home, I make sure to eat this before I leave. I think for most Vietnamese living in the South, this dish is often one of their favorites. (For people living in the North and have never ventured South or into a restaurant that serves this, it's their loss in my opinion ;)) Anyway, my thought has always been that this is hard to make because you have to get the right consistency for the flour mixture. But craving won over in the end and I decided to give it a try. I guess it's not bad for the first time ;) So here is the recipe for it. Even if you are not inclined to attempt something so time-consuming, I strongly recommend it the next time you make your way to a Viet restaurant that does offer it on the menu.
INGREDIENTS:
Make about 30 little "flat cakes"
3/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 cups room-temp water
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 stalks of spring onions, finely sliced
6 oz (200g) large deveined shrimps with heads and shell on
2 oz (50g) cooked lean pork
1 package of banana leaves (can be found in the frozen section of Viet grocery stores)
Cooking oil
Salt and pepper
Cooked Dipping/Sauce For dishes like these, make the sauce with less fish sauce and do not add lime juice.
METHOD:
The photo above is kind of a guide of what you should get at each stage.
Wash the banana leaves carefully to remove dirt. Cut the leaves into pieces about 4-inch long, avoid the broken parts. Tear the ends into small strips to tie the "cakes" together.
Boil the shrimps quickly. Remove, let cool. (I used the water I boil the shrimps in to make my sauce, after straining it of course. It gives the dish extra shrimp flavor and umami.) Remove the shells, heads and tails. Reserve the heads. Pound the shrimps until flaky. (You may choose to use your food processor but there will be a somewhat compromise on the texture.)
In a small bowl, squeeze out the "juice" from the shrimp heads. This gives more color to the final product. (This is completely optional.)
Dice the cooked pork into very small cubes and then give it a few chops. (The reason why I cook the pork before chopping it is because I can't seem to chop uncooked pork as finely as I prefer, perhaps because the muscles are tougher when the meat is raw.)
Heat some oil in a skillet. Add shrimp flakes, turn heat down to low. Use the back of a large spoon to smash the shrimps further until they are dry and look like floss. Remove from heat.
Heat some oil in a skillet. Add the chopped shallot and cook until translucent. Add the pork, season with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp floss and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the juice from the shrimp heads, cook for another 30 seconds. Add the sliced spring onions. Turn off the heat. Stir to mix.
In a sauce pan, dissolve the flours completely in water. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp cooking oil to stop the cake from sticking to the leaves. Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly. When the mixture starts to thicken, cook for another 2 minutes. At this point, there should be some clumps but some watery part is still there. Remove from heat. Keep stirring constantly until you get a smooth mixture, as pictured above.
Spread about 1 Tsp of the flour in the middle of the leave, about 4-in long and 1.5in wide. (Make sure the flour is not too thick.) Spread the filling on top. Fold the sides over and then fold the ends downwards. Lightly press over the top to even out the flour. Tie the ends of two "cakes" together using the banana strips. Repeat until you run out of flour or filling or banana leaves.
Arrange the cakes standing up in a steamer and steam for about 15-20 minutes.
Let them cool down for a few minutes. Peel off the leaves (they are easier to handle once they have cooled down to being warm and not piping hot) and serve with generous amount of sauce over them. Each spoon that's going to reach your mouth should have a bite of the cake, sauce and perhaps a little piece of Thai chilli. Yum!
3/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 cups room-temp water
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 stalks of spring onions, finely sliced
6 oz (200g) large deveined shrimps with heads and shell on
2 oz (50g) cooked lean pork
1 package of banana leaves (can be found in the frozen section of Viet grocery stores)
Cooking oil
Salt and pepper
Cooked Dipping/Sauce For dishes like these, make the sauce with less fish sauce and do not add lime juice.
METHOD:
The photo above is kind of a guide of what you should get at each stage.
Wash the banana leaves carefully to remove dirt. Cut the leaves into pieces about 4-inch long, avoid the broken parts. Tear the ends into small strips to tie the "cakes" together.
Boil the shrimps quickly. Remove, let cool. (I used the water I boil the shrimps in to make my sauce, after straining it of course. It gives the dish extra shrimp flavor and umami.) Remove the shells, heads and tails. Reserve the heads. Pound the shrimps until flaky. (You may choose to use your food processor but there will be a somewhat compromise on the texture.)
In a small bowl, squeeze out the "juice" from the shrimp heads. This gives more color to the final product. (This is completely optional.)
Dice the cooked pork into very small cubes and then give it a few chops. (The reason why I cook the pork before chopping it is because I can't seem to chop uncooked pork as finely as I prefer, perhaps because the muscles are tougher when the meat is raw.)
Heat some oil in a skillet. Add shrimp flakes, turn heat down to low. Use the back of a large spoon to smash the shrimps further until they are dry and look like floss. Remove from heat.
Heat some oil in a skillet. Add the chopped shallot and cook until translucent. Add the pork, season with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp floss and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the juice from the shrimp heads, cook for another 30 seconds. Add the sliced spring onions. Turn off the heat. Stir to mix.
In a sauce pan, dissolve the flours completely in water. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp cooking oil to stop the cake from sticking to the leaves. Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly. When the mixture starts to thicken, cook for another 2 minutes. At this point, there should be some clumps but some watery part is still there. Remove from heat. Keep stirring constantly until you get a smooth mixture, as pictured above.
Spread about 1 Tsp of the flour in the middle of the leave, about 4-in long and 1.5in wide. (Make sure the flour is not too thick.) Spread the filling on top. Fold the sides over and then fold the ends downwards. Lightly press over the top to even out the flour. Tie the ends of two "cakes" together using the banana strips. Repeat until you run out of flour or filling or banana leaves.
Arrange the cakes standing up in a steamer and steam for about 15-20 minutes.
Let them cool down for a few minutes. Peel off the leaves (they are easier to handle once they have cooled down to being warm and not piping hot) and serve with generous amount of sauce over them. Each spoon that's going to reach your mouth should have a bite of the cake, sauce and perhaps a little piece of Thai chilli. Yum!
Can you freeze them? If so, cook before freezing or okay to freeze uncooked?
ReplyDeleteI have not frozen them before but it seems like a great idea considering prepping for this dish is quite time-consuming. I would guess that you would freeze them before cooking and then steam them directly without letting them thaw.
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