Square Rice Cake with Mung Bean and Pork Belly

(Bánh Chưng) - Holiday is Square Rice Cake with Mung Bean and Pork Belly is one of most popular and deliicous Vietnamese Dish Recipes. 

It is the soul of Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Making Banh Chung is the way to express gratitude to ancestors and homeland. It was invented by the 18th Prince of Hung Emperor in the contest of looking for new King. Moreover, the process of making Banh Chung is the opportunity to all members of family come together. Sitting around the warm fire, share past stories and prepare for New Year with many best wishes to each other.

Ingredients

- Sticky rice: 4kg 

- Mung bean (no cover): 1,5kg 

- Half lean half fat pork meat; 1,5kg 

- Spices: 10gr Purple onion, pepper, fish sauce, salt, sugar, vegetable oil

- Square moulds (16x16)

- Phrynium leaves (Lá Dong)

Process

- Clean sticky rice in water added a little salt. Soak through over night. Next, pour out water and wait to dry.

- Peel off the cover of purple onion. Slice small and bring to fry with hot oil. When it is fragrant, turn off the heat and separate into equal parts.

- Soak mung bean until they are soft. Bring to steam. Then, mix well with 1 part of fried purple onion (in step 2) and a little vegetable oil + salt + pepper. Next, use spoon to scoop this mixture and roll into small balls.

- Clean carefully pork meat (halt lean, half fat – you should choose this part of pig to create one of stunning Vietnamese Dish Recipes on Tet Holiday). Next, slice until square pieces and marinate with one left part of fried purple onion + 1 teaspoon salt + 1 tablespoon pepper + 1 tablespoon Maggi’s stuff + 1 tablespoon fish sauce. Wait about 30 – 45 minutes to absorb all spices and bring to fry quickly in 4 – 5 minutes.

* For Covering Square Cake Process

- Clean phrynium leaves carefully. Wait to dry. Cut each leaf with width 32cm. Put 2 - 3 leaves on the bottom of mould.

- Next, pour 2 bowls sticky rice into mould. Add in turn mung bean => pork meat => mung bean => 2 bowls sticky rice again. Then, cover the face by phrynium leaves and fold all leaves around edges of mould. Use dried bamboo ropes (Dây Lạt) to cover firmly. Here is also the important step to create a stunning cakes. Cover carefully to make sure water will not absorb inside when boiling. See the process through photos below.

- Continue until all ingredients are done. Cover some phrynium leaves in the bottom of pot. Put cakes inside, pour water into pot, make sure it covers all cakes. Boil in 8 – 10 minutes. After 3 hours boiling, you should change water, and continue boiling. When boiling, water in pot will run out, you should pour more hot water into pot.

- When cakes are cooked, put them on basket and clean in cold water to maintain the green color of leaves. Then, use something heavy and straight put on cakes to press all water in cake out.

- Finally, your cakes are ready finished. Because the boiling process is quite long, so many Vietnamese people have to wake up thought one night to cook them. However, day by day it becomes one special traditional in their minds and hearts. When boiling cakes, they can share everything in the last year and their wishes when new year comes. Through of this, the relationship in family is better and better.