Banh Bot Bang (Tapioca Pearl Cakes with Mung Bean), Sweetened with Monk Fruit
Sweets and drinksSteamed CakesVietnam3 hours soaking, about 1 hour to make and steam
This is country cooking that is easy to like, which is why people go looking for the recipe. The good ones have a translucent, chewy wrapper around a rich mung bean filling, scented with pandan. The difficulty is the tapioca pearls, since pearls that have not soaked long enough leave the wrapper chalky.
The pearls soak about 30 minutes in warm sweetened water split into two colors, and only once soft is the water poured off and the pearls kneaded with tapioca starch. The cakes are done when the wrapper turns translucent.
This batch weighs about 568g, at roughly 324 calories per 100g.
Method
Soak 80g split mung beans in warm water for about 3 hours until swollen, then put them in a pot, cover with water and simmer until soft.
Once the beans are soft, take the pot off the heat, let them cool and blend them with 20g coconut milk and 36g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend until smooth.
Heat 20g cooking oil in a pan, add the blended beans and cook, stirring steadily, until the paste is dry and no longer sticks to the pan.
Chop 5 pandan leaves, blend them and strain out the juice. Boil 30ml warm water and divide it between two bowls, stirring the pandan juice into one. Split the remaining 36g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend between the two bowls. Rinse 100g tapioca pearls, divide them between the two bowls and soak about 30 minutes.
Roll the bean paste into small balls, a little larger than a longan.
Once the pearls are soft, pour off the water, add 250g tapioca starch and knead thoroughly. Roll out each piece of dough, set a filling ball in the middle, close it up and roll it round, then set it on banana leaf or parchment so it does not stick.
Steam the cakes with a cloth laid over the top under the lid so condensation does not drip onto them, until the wrappers turn translucent.
Toast 10g white sesame seeds with 1/8 teaspoon salt and grind them fine, then scatter over the cakes to serve or set them out in a small bowl for dipping.
Tips
One or two teaspoons of glutinous rice flour in the filling keep it from going too soft.
Cook the filling until it is dry and no longer sticks to the pan, which is what lets it roll into neat balls.
Soak the tapioca pearls a full 30 minutes in two separate bowls, since soaking them together bleeds the colors.
Lay a cloth under the lid so water does not drip onto the cakes.
They are done once they turn translucent, and they are eaten with coconut milk and sesame salt.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.