3.7.05

bánh cú cái...how would one make this?










One of the nicest things about our local super-toko, Dun Yong (or Young Dong if you're feeling frisky) is that they stock different items in their freezer section from month to month. I'm sure this is more of a necessity than a conscious decision, but as bi-weekly shoppers we think it's a definite positive.

So, last month, amongst the gyoza and other dim sum oddities, I found these things pictured above. Apparently they're a popular dim sum item, and I've had things like them, but I've never come across this spin: it's a radish cake with shrimp and scallions. It somehow gives an impression of having coconut in it, but it doesn't. The texture is that of rice sticks--IOW, made from rice flour instead of actual rice. It's the texture that I love, and that miss mara thinks is revolting: it's soft and jiggly and glisteny and is pretty revolting-sounding indeed now that I'm writing about it. But it's a dream under the tooth.

Anyway, the point of this post is: I can't find a recipe for bánh cú cái anywhere. The ingredients are: shrimp, radish, peanuts, taro, rice powder, onion, garlic, and seasonings. But how to put them together? Google reveals nothing. In English, I mean. Anyone?

2 comments:

santos. said...

hi there--try googling "fried radish cake". you should get close approximations of the vietnamese version (most recipes will be either malaysian, thai, or chinese). the basic ingredients are equal parts white radish (shredded, boiled until tender), rice flour, mixed with chopped, tiny dried shrimps, scallions, and seasonings. i'm not sure what to do after that. i think you mix it together, steam in a square pan, refrigerate, cut into squares then fry the pieces.

good luck!

MEM said...

coolness. I thought I'd pretty much googled my brains out over this...but the first couple hits I got for "fried radish cake" looked promising.

never cooked with rice flour before, I'll post something about it when i finally take the plunge!

thanks!!!