You are BANH in a million.

Hands down Bánh Bột Lọc is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes! You will find it in any Vietnamese bakery or restaurant. It is so delicious and a little bit tricky to make because the dough is a little bit finicky.

If you don’t know Bánh Bột Lọc it’s basically a steamed tapioca dumpling filled with pork belly, shrimp and sometimes mushroom! The thing about this dish is that though a lot of restaurants will have it, it’s not always the greatest. I find that many restaurants usually make the small circular versions of this. And usually includes very little protein. Most of the time it includes one tiny shrimp and that ain’t it.

One of the reasons I loved my mom‘s recipe is that it was always filled to the brim with protein and very little dough ratio. We made it flatter to be able to include some meat into every single bite! We also add mushroom, but a lot of restaurants won’t have that.

To be fair this is a lot of work because the dough is not easy to work with, but the results are so worth it every time! You make a lot of them and if you can’t steam it or eat it all, you can freeze it for later.

As always the video and recipes below! Until next time!

Homemade Bánh Bột Lọc (Vietnamese Steamed Tapioca Dumplings)

Recipe by Jen H. DaoCourse: RecipesCuisine: Vietnamese, AsianDifficulty: hard

Servings

4-5

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• Filling

• 1/2 lb pork belly (cut into 1/2” pieces)

• 1/2 lb shrimp (chopped)

• 1/2 c woodear mushroom (chopped)

• 1/2 small onion (chopped)

• 2 tsp oyster sauce

• 1 tsp fish sauce

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp chicken boullion

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• Dough

• 1 bag/14oz tapioca starch

• 1 1/3 c boiling water

• 1 tsp salt

• Additional Ingredients

• 1 pack frozen banana leaves (rinsed and wiped)

• 2-3 tbsp veggie oil

Directions

• Mix oyster sauce, fish sauce, salt, sugar, black pepper, chili powder and chicken bouillon in a bowl. On med/high heat, add avocado oil to a pan and saute onions for 2-3 mins
• Add pork belly and cook until done (approx. 6-7 mins.) Add shrimp and mushroom and cook for 2-3 mins. Add green onions and sesame oil), cook for 1 min. Remove from heat.
• Add tapioca starch to a mixer and add 1 tsp salt. Mix on low and add boiling water and slowly. Then knead/beat on high speed for 8-10 mins.
• Flour your surface with additional tapioca flour/starch and transfer dough to surface. Cut into small sections and roll out. Place a spoonful of filling and pinch in the sides.
• Cut banana leaves into 4-5 in sections. Place oil on the leaf and fold in the sides. (See Video)
• Steam for 19-20 mins or until translucent. Optional: serve with Nuoc Cham.

Recipe Video