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Banh Da Lon is a Vietnamese steamed layered cake that is infused with pandan leaves, coconut milk, and mung beans! It is soft, chewy, and so addictive! Vegan and just 7 ingredients required!
⭐️ Why You Should Try It
- It’s a delicious snack. Its chewy texture and fresh pandan flavor make 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 7 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 1/2 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 It
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:
- Soak the mung beans. Place dried mung beans in a bowl and cover with water. Let them soak for 3-4 hours.
- 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.
- 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:
- Prepare the pandan juice. Blend chopped pandan leaves with water to make juice.
- Strain the juice. Using a fine sieve, strain the pandan juice and discard the pulp.
- 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!
- 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.
- Lightly grease a 3×6-inch pan with oil and place it in the steamer for 2 minutes.
- 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.
- Steam the second layer. Next, pour the same amount of the yellow layer over the green layer. Steam for 4 minutes.
- Repeat. Repeat the process until you have about 7 layers (you can do more). For each layer, increase the steaming time by one minute.
- Finally, after steaming the last layer, let the whole cake steam for an extra 7 minutes.
- Let cool. Remove the pan from the steamer and let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan.
Finally, cut the cake into small rectangles once it has cooled down completely! To prevent the cakes from sticking to the knife, wrap the blade in a layer of plastic wrap.
📔 Tips
- Check the water level. Since steaming will take a total of 45-55 minutes, a lot of water will evaporate. Make sure to check the water level occasionally and add more if needed.
- Be careful not to burn yourself. There will be a lot of steam escaping the steamer basket when you open it to pour a new layer, so be careful when doing so.
- Store at room temperature. Avoid storing Banh Da Lon in the refrigerator as it tends to dry and get harder.
💬 FAQ
Pandan has a slightly grassy, floral, and nutty aroma with notes of vanilla and coconut. Raw leaves tend to taste like grass, but they develop more complex flavors once cooked.
Banh Da Lon will keep for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
You cannot substitute tapioca starch as it is the main ingredient. It provides stretchiness and chewiness.
This recipe is adapted from Vietnamese recipes and has been approved by Vietnamese, so it is as authentic as possible!
If you have never heard of or tried this Vietnamese sweet, you should definitely give it a try! It’s perfectly chewy, not too sweet, and has a fresh, floral, and nutty aroma!
🇻🇳 More Vietnamese Desserts
You can also take a look at all of our Vietnamese recipes here!
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Banh Da Lon (Vietnamese Steamed Cakes)
Equipment
Ingredients
Yellow Layer
- 1/4 cup (50 g) dried split mung beans soaked for 3-4 hours
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water to cook the beans
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) water
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (70 g) tapioca starch
- 2 tbsp (15 g) white rice flour
- 1/2 tsp (2 ml) vanilla extract
Green Layer
- 2 (20 g) pandan leaves
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 6 tbsp (90 ml) full-fat coconut milk
- 5 tbsp (60 g) sugar
- 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp (100 g) tapioca starch
- 3 tbsp (25 g) white rice flour
- 1/4 tsp pandan extract optional
Instructions
Yellow Layer
- Cook the beans: Drain the mung beans and transfer them to a small saucepan. Add the water and bring to a simmer over low-medium heat. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes, covered, until the beans are completely soft. Note: feel free to add a bit more water if no water remains and the beans are still firm.
- Combine: Drain and transfer the cooked beans to a high-speed blender. Add the coconut milk, water, sugar, tapioca starch, rice flour, and vanilla extract. Blend for 10-15 seconds or until smooth. Transfer the batter to a bowl and set aside.
Green Layer
- Prepare the pandan juice: Roughly chop the pandan leaves and add them to a blender. Add the water and blend on high-speed for about 30 seconds.
- Strain the juice using a fine-mesh sieve and discard the pulp, only keeping the liquid. Note: the juice will smell very grassy. It is normal, the flavor will change after cooking.Transfer the juice to a large mixing bowl.
- Combine: To the mixing bowl, add the coconut milk, sugar, tapioca starch, rice flour, and pandan extract if using. Whisk until fully combined. Set aside.
Steam
- 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. Lightly grease a 3×6-inch pan (you will have enough batter for two pans) with oil and place it in the steamer for 2 minutes.
- 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.
- Steam the second layer: Pour the same amount of the yellow layer over the green layer. Steam for 4 minutes.
- Repeat. Repeat the process until you have about 7 layers (you can do more). For each layer, increase the steaming time by one minute.
- Finally, after steaming the last layer, let the whole cake steam for an extra 7 minutes.
- Let cool: Remove the pan from the steamer and let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan.
- Slice: Using a sharp knife with the blade wrapped in plastic wrap (to prevent sticking), cut each loaf into 5 rectangles. Enjoy as a snack!
Notes
- Check the water level. Since steaming will take a total of 45-55 minutes, a lot of water will evaporate. Make sure to check the water level occasionally and add more if needed.
- Be careful not to burn yourself. There will be a lot of steam escaping the steamer basket when you open it to pour a new layer, so be careful when doing so.
- Store at room temperature. Avoid storing Banh Da Lon in the refrigerator as it tends to dry and get harder.
Nutrition
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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