How to Make Banh Tam Khoai Mi (Steamed Cassava Coconut Strands)
Sweets and drinksSteamed CakesVietnamCassava prepared a day ahead, 15 minutes steaming per batch
Banh tam khoai mi gives you chewy, springy strands in three colors, white, yellow and red, all drawn from carrot and dragon fruit juice. The strands are rolled in fresh coconut and showered with peanut sesame salt, nutty and fragrant at once. The hardest part is preparing the cassava, which has to be soaked and squeezed dry a day in advance.
The starch that settles at the bottom of the squeezed liquid is what makes the strands chewy, so keep it. Dough rolled too thick stays raw in the middle no matter how long it steams. Roll it moderately thin and 15 minutes over high heat is enough.
This batch weighs about 2.3kg, at roughly 190 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel 1kg cassava, cut it into chunks and soak in lightly salted water for two hours. Rinse, drain and grate finely.
Wrap the grated cassava in a cloth bag and wring it out as dry as possible. Let the squeezed liquid settle, pour off the clear water and keep the starch at the bottom.
Scrape up that starch and mix it back into the cassava pulp, then add 300g tapioca starch, 72g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and 1/2 teaspoon salt and combine well.
Work in 200ml coconut milk, then divide the dough into three equal portions.
Peel the carrot and the red dragon fruit and press out their juice. Mix carrot juice into one portion for yellow and dragon fruit juice into another for red, leaving the third white.
Toast 50g peanuts, peel them, crush them coarsely and mix with 45g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 5g toasted sesame seeds and 5g salt.
Line the steamer with banana leaf or foil and brush with oil. Roll each portion into a moderately thin sheet and steam over high heat for about 15 minutes, working through the portions one by one.
Once cool, cut the sheets into long strands, toss with 100g shredded coconut and scatter the peanut sesame salt and 50g sesame salt over the top.
Tips
Cassava contains natural toxins, so it has to be soaked and prepared a day ahead.
The starch settling under the squeezed liquid goes back into the dough and makes a far chewier strand.
Wrapping the knife and board in cling film makes the strands much easier to cut.
Toss the coconut in only just before serving, since it weeps and turns the strands soggy.
Cut the sheets only when fully cool, as warm strands stick together.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so rest the dough for 5 minutes after mixing and give it one more turn.
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.