Tag Archives: rice

Recipe: Bánh Cuốn

For some reason my family loves bánh cuốn and I mean… loves loves bánh cuốn. A dish from the North Vietnamese region, it literally means “rolled cake”, but in this case it is a rolled rice noodle which is comprised of a thin sheet of steamed rice batter filled with primarily ground pork, minced muschrooms and minced shallots.

Whenever my mother makes bánh cuốn, it was always with some instant batter mix, and although good just didn’t seem great. Then my aunt from Kentucky came up last month and she showed my mother and I her mix for us to taste and see for ourselves how it could be done… and my goodness if I wasn’t so full from the five course meal earlier in the day I would have gobbled the plate up!

Now the Ravenous Couple has their own recipe upon on their site. Note: I will only provide the ingredients and directions for the batter since that is the most important piece of the Banh Cuon… for fillings and condiments feel free to link accordingly.

Ingredients
1 bag of rice flour (16 oz)
1 bag of tapioca flour (14 oz)
1 ts salt
3 qt of water

Directions
1: In a large mixing bowl, combine the rice and tapioca flour with water and salt. Mix well.

2: Heat up a large nonstick pan to medium high heat. Brush on a very light layer of oil and ladle on the well mixed batter and immediately tilt and swirl the pan around to evenly coat the pan. You’ll have to use your judgement on the quantity according to how large your pan/ladle is. Cover for about 30 seconds and the crepe should be nearly transparent. Then invert the pan to your large aluminum work tray that has been lightly brushed with oil.

3: Add a small amount of filling into the center of the crepe and spread it out thinly. Then fold over the sides and place in a serving tray. You can make many banh cuon and stack them on top of one another and it won’t stick due to the very lightly oiled surface that you’re working on. Repeat again and again.

Like all Vietnamese cooking, this is also catered to taste… so below is the recipe that my aunt uses.
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Recipe: Chicken Fried Rice

One of my favorites recipes to make at home is a good old fashioned chicken fried rice. Unfortunately I am a very bad Asian in the sense that I do not like egg in my fried rice… I was raised on a much simpler recipe that I have adjusted from time to time… but for all you people that has to have a recipe here is one that I found that works and you could start with from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups cooked white rice, cold
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup cooked, chopped chicken meat

Directions
1: In a small bowl, beat egg with water. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium low heat.
2: Add egg and leave flat for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from skillet and cut into shreds.
3: Heat oil in same skillet; add onion and saute until soft. Then add rice, soy sauce, pepper and chicken. Stir fry together for about 5 minutes, then stir in egg. Serve hot.

Fairly simple, no? Now, as always I changed it up…
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