Entree: Vietnam – Mekong Delta – Banh Cong (Crispy deep-fried rice-and-starch cakes filled with savory pork, shrimp, and mung bean, served with pickles and fish sauce)

Serving Size: 4

Approximate Time

Prep 40 min

Cook 15 min

Additional 30 min

Total 1 hr 25 min

Ingredients

- 6 cups (1.4 L) vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 2 cups (260 g) rice flour
- 1/2 cup (70 g) tapioca starch
- 1 cup (240 ml) coconut milk
- 1 cup (240 ml) warm water
- 1 tsp (5 g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (5 g) salt
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) sugar
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) fish sauce, plus extra for dipping
- 8 oz (225 g) ground pork
- 8 oz (225 g) small shrimp, peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup (100 g) dried split yellow mung beans, soaked 30 minutes and steamed or boiled until soft, mashed
- 2 shallots, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp (1 g) ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) vegetable oil (for sautéing filling)
- Pickled vegetables:
  - 1 cup (120 g) carrot, julienned
  - 1 cup (120 g) daikon radish, julienned
  - 1/2 cup (120 ml) rice vinegar
  - 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
  - 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
  - 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
- Nuoc cham (dipping sauce):
  - 1/4 cup (60 ml) fish sauce
  - 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lime juice
  - 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
  - 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
  - 1 small red chili, thinly sliced
  - 1 clove garlic, minced
- Fresh herbs and garnishes:
  - Lettuce leaves and Thai basil, cilantro, or Vietnamese coriander as desired

Instructions

1. Prepare pickles and nuoc cham: combine pickling vinegar, sugar, salt and water; add julienned carrot and daikon and let sit at least 30 minutes. For nuoc cham, dissolve sugar in water, stir in fish sauce and lime juice, add chili and garlic, set aside.
2. Cook mung beans until very soft, drain and mash to a coarse paste; set aside.
3. Make filling: heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté minced shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add ground pork and cook until no longer pink. Stir in chopped shrimp, fish sauce, sugar, pepper and half the mashed mung beans; cook until shrimp turn opaque and filling is cohesive. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Make batter: whisk rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt, sugar, coconut milk and warm water until smooth. Batter should be fairly thick but pourable; adjust with a little water if needed.
5. Heat oil in a deep pot or wok to 350°F (175°C). If using small metal molds or a greased muffin tin (traditional molds are small and deep), preheat them.
6. To assemble and fry: spoon about 1–2 tbsp (15–30 ml) batter into each mold or a small ladle, add about 1–2 tbsp (15–30 g) of the pork-shrimp-mung filling, then cover with more batter to almost fill the mold. Carefully submerge the mold or tin in hot oil and fry until exterior is deeply golden and crisp and interior is cooked through, 5–8 minutes. If frying freeform, ladle batter and filling into oil and fry until golden, flipping once if needed.
7. Remove cakes from oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining batter and filling, keeping oil temperature steady.
8. Serve hot on lettuce leaves with pickled carrots and daikon, nuoc cham for dipping, and fresh herbs on the side.