Banh Da Lon (Vietnamese Steamed Cakes)

⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe

• It’s a delicious snack. Its chewy texture and fresh pandan flavor makes this Vietnamese-inspired snack a real treat! Plus, it’s fun to eat, as you can peel each layer and eat them separately.
• It’s not too sweet. As opposed to the traditional ones you can find in Vietnam, this cake is not overly sweet, letting the mung bean, pandan, and coconut flavors really shine.
• It’s interesting to make! This sweet snack is prepared by pouring and steaming each layer alternatively. It’s quite a unique process!

📘 What is Banh Da Lon

Bánh da lợn is a sweet Vietnamese cake that is steamed in layers. The green layers are flavored with pandan leaves, while the yellow ones are flavored with mung beans. This sweet snack has a chewy and soft texture resembling mochi dough.

Bánh da lợn literally translates to “pig skin cake”, as each layer has a chewy and slightly fatty texture, resembling pig skin. Worry not, this sweet snack is completely plant-based!

🌿 Ingredient Notes

These steamed cakes rely on just 6 ingredients. Here is what you will need:

• Pandan leaves – Use fresh pandan leaves. You can usually find them in the refrigerated section of any Asian supermarket. If you can’t find pandan leaves, replace them with about ½ teaspoon of pandan extract.
• Coconut milk – Preferably full-fat coconut milk. It adds richness to the batter and brings a delicate nutty flavor.
• Tapioca starch – Tapioca starch gives the cakes their chewy and stretchy texture.
• Rice flour – To make the texture a little bit firmer. You want to use regular white rice flour, not the sweet kind.
• Sugar – To sweeten. I recommend using granulated white sugar to avoid altering the main flavors.
• Mung beans – We are using dried split mung beans for the yellow layer. It brings nuttiness and natural sweetness.
• Vanilla extract – Optional. I like adding half a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the batter to enhance the overall flavor.
• Salt

🥣 How to Make Banh Da Lon

As previously explained, this cake consists of two different batters, each one bringing its own flavor and color. Hence, we will have to prepare the two batters separately.

Yellow Layer (Mung Beans)

It starts with the yellow layer. To prepare it:

1. Soak the mung beans. Place dried mung beans in a bowl and cover with water. Let them soak for 3-4 hours.
2. Cook them. Drain the soaked mung beans and transfer them to a saucepan. Add the water and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the beans are completely tender.
3. Blend with the remaining ingredients. Once the beans are cooked, transfer them to a high-speed blender and blend them with the sugar, coconut milk, water, tapioca starch, rice flour, and vanilla extract. The batter is now ready to use!

Green Layer (Pandan)

Next comes the green layer that consists of pandan leaves blended with the rest of the ingredients. To prepare the green layer:

1. Prepare the pandan juice. Blend chopped pandan leaves with water to make juice.
2. Strain the juice. Using a fine sieve, strain the pandan juice and discard the pulp.
3. Mix with the remaining ingredients. Finally, transfer the pandan juice to a mixing bowl and whisk together with the sugar, coconut milk, tapioca starch, rice flour, and pandan extract if using.

Steaming

Once your two batters are ready, it’s time to steam the cake!

1. Prepare your setup. Fill a saucepan with 2-3 cups of water and place a bamboo steamer on top. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Lightly grease a 3×6-inch pan with oil and place it in the steamer for 2 minutes.
3. Steam the first layer. Pour one layer of the green batter into the pan and steam for 3 minutes. I went with 3 tablespoons of the batter to get thin layers. Adjust depending on the size of your pan.
4. Steam the second layer. Next, pour the same amount of the yellow layer over the green layer. Steam for 4 minutes.
5. Repeat. Repeat the process until you have about 7 layers (you can do more). For each layer, increase the steaming time by one minute.
6. Finally, after steaming the last layer, let the whole cake steam for an extra 7 minutes.
7. Let cool. Remove the pan from the steamer and let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan.

💬 FAQ

• How does pandan taste? Pandan has a slightly grassy, floral, and nutty aroma with notes of vanilla and coconut. Raw leaves tend to taste like grass, but it develops more complex flavors once cooked.
• How long does Banh Da Lon keep? Banh Da Lon will keep for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
• Can I substitute the tapioca starch? You cannot substitute the tapioca starch as it is the main ingredient. It provides stretchiness and chewiness.
• Is this recipe authentic? This recipe is adapted from Vietnamese recipes and has been approved by Vietnamese, so it is as authentic as possible!