This post may contain affiliate links. See disclosure for details.

Print Pin

Vietnamese Steamed Vegan Rice Cakes | Banh Beo Chay

(0)
Click stars to rate now!
By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 75 pieces
Banh Beo Chay is the vegan version of a traditional Vietnamese dish, consisting of small, steamed rice cakes topped with tofu, carrots and wood ear mushroom. Drizzle vegan fish dipping sauce over it and you will experience a burst of flavor in every bite!

Ingredients 

Banh Beo mix:

  • 2 cups rice flour
  • 2 Tbsp tapioca starch
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 2 ½ cups water
  • ½ cup coconut milk

Topping:

  • 1 Tbsp avocado oil, or any neutral oil
  • 1 leek, white part only, chopped
  • 1 cup carrots, peeled, finely chopped
  • 14 oz firm tofu, crumbled
  • ½ cup dried wood ear mushroom, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes, then finely chopped
  • 1 tsp kosher salt

Garnish:

  • 1 cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil
  • 4 large shallots, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 10 green onions, thinly sliced

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, add rice flour, tapioca starch and salt.
  • Mix dry ingredients together, then add water and coconut milk.
  • Using a whisk, stir until batter is smooth and there are no more lumps.
  • Brush ramekins with oil.
  • Place ramekins in hot steamer and heat them for 3 minutes.
  • After 3 minutes, pour banh beo mix into each oiled ramekin, about 1 ½ tablespoon. I usually use a squeeze bottle for this.
  • Let it steam for 5 mins until the banh beo is nice and firm, not too hard and not sticky.
  • Repeat the process until banh beo mix is finished. If you don't have enough ramekins, wait until Banh Beo cools, then take a butter knife, scrape and remove Banh Beo from ramekin and place on a plate (like food image).
  • For the topping, heat a pan on medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil.
  • Add leek and sauté for 30 seconds.
  • Then add carrots, crumbled tofu, mushroom and salt to the pan. Stir fry for a few of minutes until carrots soften a little and the tofu is slightly brown.
  • To make the fried shallots, heat 1 cup of oil in a saucepan.
  • Add shallots and fry until they're right about to turn light brown.
  • Remove the pan from the heat, then remove the shallots and put them on a paper-lined plate.
  • While the oil is still hot, away from the heat, add your thinly sliced green onions.
  • Add a pinch of salt to green onion oil.
  • Garnish each banh beo with a tablespoon of the topping mix, then top it with green onions in oil and fried shallots.
  • You can either eat the banh beo directly from the ramekin by pouring the fish dipping sauce onto the ramekin, or you can wait for the ramekins to cool off, scoop out the banh beo and stack them up nicely onto a serving plate.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 54kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 49mg | Potassium: 23mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 0.3g | Vitamin A: 321IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.2mg

Equipment

  • steamer
  • ramekins
  • squeeze bottle

Did you make this recipe? Give it a star rating below!