Bánh da lợn ou Gâteau vapeur au Pandan et haricots mungo

There’s nothing like setting yourself up a challenge. From time to time, with JC, a member of the family, we get together around a themed meal. Everyone brings a dish prepared in the spirit of the theme.

Themed meal

I love this kind of meal because it requires research and creativity to come out of the ordinary. Once, we used coffee as a theme. We all managed to put coffee in the spotlight both in the zakouski (appetizers), the soup, the main course and in the dessert. And, it wasn’t the Tiramisu we all know!

This time, our theme is Vietnamese Cuisine and I have the mandate to make the dessert. So, I did several searches and the layered steam cake called Bánh da lợn came up often as a very common typical dessert. It is a popular cake that can be found everywhere; it’s street food par excellence. The texture is gelatinous and is made up of several successive layers of two colors and therefore two flavors.

2 colors = 2 flavors

The two colors correspond to two traditional flavors found in Asian cuisine; mung beans and pandan.

Mung beans

The mung beans make the beige layer. You must use their peeled or shelled version also found under the name Mung beans dhal. These are more digestible than whole, green ones.

Pandan

Pandan is a plant whose leaves are used and mixed to extract a lightly scented green juice. This is our green layer! This extract is used especially in desserts and sometimes in poor quality rice to enhance its taste. It’s Asian vanilla even if its taste has nothing to do with it!

The two ingredients are therefore commonly found in Asian cuisine, they are classic flavors.

Long live the discoveries!

To make this dessert, I used the recipe from Hop dans le wok, the Quebecer Christina Potvin and her Vietnamese lover Quy Tâm. Once both preparations are done, it’s a question of time and patience!

Bánh da lợn or Steamed Cake with Pandan and Mung Beans

For 10 small cakes (cm depths)

Beige layer (with beans)

115g peeled mung beans
230 ml coconut milk
100g sugar
40g tapioca starch
20g rice flour
¼ c. tsp salt

Green layer (with pandan)

50g pandan leaves
250 ml hot water
100g sugar
170g tapioca starch
50g rice flour
¼ c. tsp salt
170 ml coconut milk

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Rinse the mung beans 3 times and put them in a saucepan. Add water to 2 inches above the beans and boil over medium-high heat until tender (the beans will look a little burst when ready). When cooked, drain in a sieve.
In a blender, mix the cooked beans as well as all the ingredients for the “beige layer”. Grind to obtain a homogeneous mixture and transfer to a container with a pouring spout. Note: the texture of the batter may vary depending on how the beans are cooked. Ideally, you should obtain a pancake batter texture. If you obtain a more solid result that is difficult to pour, add a little water and mix.
Prepare the pandan extract by grinding 50g of pandan leaves with 250ml of hot water. Filter the mixture by passing it through a cotton cloth, pressing well to extract as much liquid as possible from the fiber. You have to press enough to obtain between 230ml to 250ml in total.
In a bowl, mix all the dry elements of the “green layer”. Add pandan juice and coconut milk and stir. Strain through a sieve to ensure all lumps are removed.
Boil water in a steamer over medium-high heat.
Oil small ramekins and place them in the steamer for 2 minutes to reheat them.
Stir and pour about 2mm of green mixture into each of the ramekins. Close the lid and cook for 3 minutes. Increase the cooking time if the layer of dough is thicker.
After 3 minutes, when the green paste has become darker, add 2mm of beige mixture to the green layers. Close the lid and cook for 3 minutes. Cooking time may increase if the dough layer is thicker.
Repeat the 2 steps above until there is no more dough. Finish the cakes with a green layer.
Take the cakes out of the cooker, leave to cool for 30-45 minutes and remove from the mold using a spatula.

In Health!

Chantal

Rien de tel que de se lancer des défis. De temps à autre, avec JC, un membre de la famille, on se réunit autour d’un repas à thème. Chacun apporte un plat préparé dans l’esprit du thème.

Repas thématique

J’adore ce genre de repas parce que cela exige de la recherche et de la créativité pour sortir de l’ordinaire. Une fois, nous avions utilisé comme thème le café. Nous avons tous réussi à mettre le café à l’honneur tant dans les zakouski (hors-d’œuvre), le potage, le plat principal que dans le dessert. Et, ce n’était pas le Tiramisu que l’on connaît tous!

Cette fois-ci, notre thème est le Vietnam et j’ai le mandat de faire le dessert. Donc, j’ai fait plusieurs recherches et le gâteau vapeur à étages nommé Bánh da lợn est revenu souvent comme étant un dessert typique très répandu. C’est un gâteau populaire que l’on retrouve partout ; c’est le Street food par excellence. La texture est gélatineuse et est constituée de plusieurs couches successives de deux couleurs donc deux saveurs.

2 couleurs = 2 saveurs

Les deux couleurs correspondent à deux saveurs traditionnelles que l’on retrouve dans la cuisine asiatique ; les haricots mungo et le pandan.

Haricots mungo

Les haricots mungo font la couche beige. Tu dois utiliser leur version pelé ou décortiqué aussi trouvé sous le nom d’haricots Mungo dhal. Ceux-ci sont plus digestes que les entiers, verts.

Pandan

Le pandan est une plante dont on utilise les feuilles que l’on mixe pour en extraire un jus vert légèrement parfumé. C’est notre couche verte! Cet extrait est utilisé surtout dans les desserts et parfois dans le riz de mauvaise qualité pour rehausser son goût. C’est la vanille asiatique même si son goût n’a rien à voir!

Les deux ingrédients se retrouvent donc communément dans la cuisine asiatique, ce sont des saveurs classiques.

Vive les trouvailles!

Pour faire ce dessert, j’ai utilisé la recette de Hop dans le wok, la québécoise Christina Potvin et son amoureux vietnamien Quy Tâm. Une fois les deux préparations faites, c’est une question de temps et de patience!