Mainland Southeast Asia · Volume 38, The Broth and the Banquet
Bánh bèo
Huế
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- 45 minutes
- Researched
- 9 sources cited
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
As tradition built it
Makes about 20 small dishes. About 45 minutes.
Ingredients
An outline, not yet a recipe: the tradition's method with its ingredients named but not weighed. Quantities are being added from sources inside the tradition, lead dishes first.
- 250 g rice flour
- 50 g tapioca starch
- 1 tsp salt
- water, to a thin batter
- for garnish dried shrimp (tôm chấy), fried pork skin or crisp bread, mỡ hành (scallion oil)
- to serve sweet-salty garlic-chilli fish sauce, to serve
Method
- Combine the rice flour and tapioca starch, the tapioca specifically credited with giving the finished cake more chew and elasticity, with salt and water to a thin batter.
- Ladle roughly two-thirds full into small individual dishes.
- Steam about 8 minutes, until the batter turns translucent-white and is set.
- Top with tôm chấy, fried pork skin or crisp bread, and mỡ hành.
- Serve with the sweet-salty garlic-chilli fish sauce.
What a modern chef changes
The individual-dish format respected as the whole point, not a fussy inconvenience
Rung 6
Method
- Do not batch this dish into one large steamed sheet to save time. The one-disc-per-small-bowl format is the defining technique, and it is directly what makes the dish's miniaturisation legible on the plate.
- Steam in small batches so each dish gets even heat, rather than overcrowding a steamer basket, since uneven steam produces some discs set and others undercooked.
- Dress each disc individually at the table, rather than pre-dressing a tray, so the topping stays distinct rather than sinking into the batter before serving.