Homemade Vietnamese Steamed Rice Rolls (Bánh Cuốn)

Steamed rice roll is Vietnamese typical breakfast, with the thin and soft rice crepes outside and the savory fillings inside. What makes the dish special is the crunchy fried shallots on top and the sweet and sour fish sauce on the side. Banh cuon is one of my top fave food back when I was in Hanoi - my hometown. Since I came to Melbourne, there's no way I can get a Banh Cuon portion for 2 dollars every week like in the good old days. Thus I had to learn how to make it myself because I often craved for it so bad. Of course the rice rolls served at the shops in Vietnam are super thin and soft thank to the special "steaming" technique that we cannot do at home; but if you are satisfied with a bit thicker rolls to comfort your homesickness while u're abroad, then this is the recipe for you.

Ingredients:

- "Banh cuon" flour (1 pack 400g): you can find this one in Vietnamese grocery. If you cant find it, just mix 200g rice flour with 200g tapioca

- 300g minced pork

- Mushrooms and black fungus (optional)

- 2-3 shallots

- Vietnamese ham "Cha lua"

Making:

The rice crepes:

- Mix flour with 1l water, a pinch of salt and few drops of cooking oil. Let the mixture sit for at least 1 hour

The fillings:

- In the meantime, soak the mushroom and black fungus in warm water for 15mins. Take them out, cut the mushroom stems and wash them again. Chop finely.

- Chop shallots

- Stir fry shallots until fragrant, put in mince pork, then mushroom and black fungus. Add in a bit fish sauce and stir fry until well cooked. Sprinkle a hint of pepper for a bit of spice. Put aside.

- Use a non-sticky pan to make the rice crepes. Use a brush to brush cooking oil into the pan. Stir the flour mixture once again, and use a big spoon to pour in the pan. Make sure it spead evenly. Cover the pan with a lid for 30sec. Open the lid and check if the crepes turn translucent, then take the pan out of the stove and flip it onto a chop board. The point is to make sure the crepes transferred beautifully to the chop board.

- Scoop a spoonful of fillings and put into the middle of the crepes. Start rolling into a beautiful, delicate roll.

- Repeat the steps.

*Note: Since we're using a pan not a steamed pot, the crepes will be thicker compared to the dishes served in restaurants. And the first 2-3 times, the crepes will turn out very very thick because the pan has not been used to the heat. It will work well after the first few broken crepes.

Topping:

- Slice shallots finely into 1cm-thick slices.

- Fry shallots. Turn off the stove when the shallots start turning a bit white, dont wait until it turn yellow. We have to be very careful or else they will be easily burned.

- Take the shallots out of the pan and garnish them on top of the rice rolls.

The dipping sauce:

- Vietnamese fish sauce with a bit of lime juice, sugar, pepper and chopped chillies

This dish is often served with Vietnamese ham "Cha lua". If you cant find it in your neighborhood, try to substitute it with similar things like Gio lua.

It is very easy to make at home,it just take a few tries before turning out appealing.

That's it. Thank you for reading and see you in the next post! <3

#Cooking