Bánh Cuốn (Rolling Cake)
Among Vietnam’s delicate specialties, "bánh cuốn” ranks top thanks to its softness, sweet fragance of cinnamon, dried onion and the taste of minced meat!
Among other members of the extended noodle family, bánh cuốn almost ranks first. It is a paper-thin steamed rice flour pancake, much like delicate sheets of fresh rice noodles. The pancakes are plucked off of the linen steamer base, and immediately rolled with minced pork and mushrooms, then piled on a plate, sprinkled with deep fried shallots, snipped with scissors into bite sized sections, and topped with fresh herbs such as cilantro or Vietnamese basil. A plate of bánh cuốn is a light dish traditionally eaten as breakfast in Hanoi but now can also be found as a late night snack.
To eat, dip a section of rolled noodle goodness into the accompanying warm fish sauce broth, brightened with a squeeze of fresh lime. You can also pick the leaves off the herbs and add them to the dipping sauce, grabbing a leaf or two as you dip, or you can follow each bite with a chaser of herbs. Bánh cuốn are often eaten with different sides of pork sausages, including sheets of an orange hued, roasted cinnamon sausage called chả quế.
Bánh Cuốn Recipe
Recipe by Marcia Kiesel, http://www.foodandwine.com/
Banh cuon ("rolling cake") are tender rice-flour crêpes filled with a luscious mix of pork and mushrooms and topped with fried shallots. Marcia Kiesel steams the stuffed crêpes in big batches on a baking sheet in the oven to get them on the table more quickly.
Rice Crêpes and Filling
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup tapioca flour (see Note below)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups water
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
2 tablespoons dried tree ear mushroom pieces
3/4 pound ground pork
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Nuoc Cham Sauce
Garnishes
1 large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup fried shallots (see Note)
1/2 cup mung bean sprouts
Make The Rice Crêpes And Filling:
In a large bowl, whisk the rice flour with the cornstarch, tapioca flour and salt. Whisk in the water and 2 teaspoons of the oil until blended.
In a small bowl, cover the tree ear mushrooms with warm water and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain and chop the mushrooms.
In a small skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the ground pork and the onion and cook over moderate heat, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until no pink remains, about 4 minutes. Stir in the chopped mushrooms and the fish sauce and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 425°. Oil 3 large baking sheets. Heat an 8-inch nonstick skillet and brush with oil. Whisk the rice-flour batter well. When the oil is hot, pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the skillet, tilting and shaking the pan to evenly coat the bottom with batter. Cover and cook over moderate heat until the crêpe is firm, about 2 minutes. With a spatula, flip the crêpe and cook for 30 seconds longer. Flip the crêpe out flat onto a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining batter to make a total of 18 crêpes; don't let the crêpes overlap on the baking sheets or they will stick together.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the mushroom filling into the center of each crêpe and fold in the sides to cover the filling and form a neat square. Cover the crêpes with foil and bake until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Arrange the rice crêpe packets on a platter and spoon the Nuoc Cham Sauce over them. Scatter the cucumber slices, fried shallots and bean sprouts all over the crêpes and serve.
Make Ahead: The mushroom filling can be refrigerated overnight. The crêpe dumplings can stand at room temperature, covered, for up to 2 hours before baking.
Notes: Tapioca flour is available at specialty food stores [or grind your own in a coffee mill from store-bought tapioca or tapioca pearls]. Fried shallots are available at Asian markets.
Makes 18 Crêpes
