Printable Area
Steamed Rice Flour Cakes with Dried Shrimp: Banh Beo
Recipe courtesy Luke Nguyen
- Total Time:
- 1 hr 5 min
- Prep:
- 30 min |
- Inactive Prep:
- 15 min |
- Cook:
- 20 min
- Level:
- Intermediate
- Yield:
- 4 servings
Ingredients
- DIPPING SAUCE:
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup prawn broth
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 chiles, chopped
- 3 1/2 ounces/100 g rice flour
- 1 tablespoon/15 g tapioca flour
- Salt
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 4 teaspoons vegetable oil, for batter
- 14 ounces/400 g small tiger prawn
- 3 cloves garlic, finely diced (1 tablespoon)
- 1 tablespoon finely diced red shallots
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup pork crackling, crushed
- Special equipment: 20 small ramekins
Directions
For the dipping sauce: Add sugar, prawn broth, fish sauce, and vinegar to a bowl. Mix until the sugar is dissolved. Now add the chopped chile. Set aside.
In a large bowl combine rice flour, tapioca flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and pour in 1/2 the warm water.
Using your hands stir the ingredients together kneading the dough until it is well combined. Now add the rest of the water, use a wooden spoon to stir it all together until you achieve a fine liquid batter.
Add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes.
Bring a pot of water to the boil, add prawns and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the prawns, peel and reserve the prawn broth.
Bring a steamer pot to rapid boil, place as many ramekins to the steamer tray as you can. Now fill each ramekin with the batter 2/3 full. Cover and steam for 5 minutes. Repeat this process until batter is finished.
Pound the cooked prawns in a mortar and pestle until crushed.
Put a fry pan on low heat, add the crushed prawns, garlic, and shallots, stir fry for 5 minutes or until prawns are completely dry and floss-like texture.
Turn off heat, add pepper and continue to stir fry for a further 3 minutes. Add some oil to each rice cake and top with prawns, crushed pork crackling, and fish sauce.