Banh Beo Chay is Vietnamese vegan steamed rice cake.  This savory  Banh Beo  is topped with seasoning cooked mung-bean, scallion oil, chopped carrot, andserved with  Nuoc Cham Chay.

Banh Beo Chay is easy to serve for both vegetarian and regular diet guests.  We can make Banh Beo in advance and warm them up before serving.

Recipe

This recipe is adapted from Emperial Banh Beo by Jennie Tai.   In my recipe, I replaced shrimps with seasoning steamed mung bean,  chopped carrots.  Also, I add coconut cream in the batter to enhance the cake flavor.

Tools 

• 2-4 small non-stick muffin pans, or teacups, or muffin tins
• A steamer or large size electric skillet, or large  pot.

Batter

• 2 cups of rice flour
• 1 tbsp of corn starch (or tapioca flour)
• 1 tbsp. of coconut cream (optional)
• 2 cups of cold water ( reduce 1 tbsp. if add coconut cream)
• 2 cups of boiling hot water
• 2 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of canola oil

Scallion  Oil

• 2 sprigs of scallions, chopped
• In a sauce pan, bring the heat  high, add 4 tbsp of canola oil canola oil.  When oil is hot, add the chopped scallions,  some salt and stir for about 1-2  minutes. Make it in advance, and keep it in the refrigerator. Keep scallions in green color.

Topping

• Cook chopped carrot with 1 tsp of oil  and some garlic powder in microwave for 3 minutes until soft.

Seasoning Mung Bean

• 3 cups of cooked mung bean (about  1/2 bag of raw mung beans)
• 1/2  tsp of black pepper
• 2 tbsp.  of  Scallion oil, use oil only, and keep scallion pieces for topping
• Salt to taste
• Mix all the ingredients and heat in microwave for 5 minutes.  Keep the mixture in the refrigerator. Warm it up before  topping it for Banh beo.

Directions

To save time, Step 1, 2, 3 should do in advance

1. Make  Nuoc Cham Chay
2. Make Seasoning mung bean
3. Make Scallion oil and carrot topping
4. Make and steam  Banh Beo – See below instructions
5. Assemble, decorate cakes with mung bean, carrot and scallion oil. See picture.
6. Serve warm with Nuoc Cham Chay

Making Banh Beo

• Watch this video of making banh beo (from RunAwayRice), if you are a beginner.

The below Instructions by Jennie Tai, thehungrymuse

1. Heat a large steaming pot of 1/4 filled water to boil. (Make sure there is a small rack at the bottom so you can put your muffin tin on top later)
2. In large bowl, combine the rice flour, corn starch, and salt.
3. Add the 2 cups of cold water and stir until the batter is smooth
4. Add in the hot water, oil and stir and set aside.
5. Ladle a spoon full of the mixture into each individual muffin tin, and place the tin in the steam pot for about 8-10 minutes.
6. Take out your muffin tins when the rice cakes become solid.
7. Carefully slip them out with a spoon, and place them on a plate to cool.
8. Repeat steps 1-8 until you’ve made all of your rice cakes.

Cooking Tips

• Banh Beo Chay is vegan dish.  Therefore, it tastes  best with generous amount of Seasoning Mung Bean and Scallion Oil, and good dipping sauce.
• Flour always sinks at the bottom of batter bowl, so mix the batter well, before pour it into the  molds
• “Thin”  cakes taste better after absorbing seasoning and dipping sauce.
• Remove banh beo from the muffin pan, only whey they are solid and can handle.
• To save time, make topping, seasoning cooked mung bean in advance.
• If you are not vegetarian diet, use  regular Nuoc Cham,  and top with extra sautéed shrimps, it’s more savory.

Reference

1. Recipe of Emperial Banh Beo    from Jennie Tai, thehungrymuse.  Good recipe, clear  instructions and beautiful pictures.
2. Recipe of banh beo, by RunAwayRice –  Youtube video.  Must watch.  Good instruction and a lot of tips.
3. Recipe of Shrimp Banh Beo – from Ravenous Couple