Banh Da Lon (Pandan and Mung Bean Steamed Layer Cake), Sweetened with Monk Fruit
Sweets and drinksSteamed CakesVietnam60 minutes
Banh da lon comes out as a stack of alternating green and yellow layers, soft and chewy, rich with coconut milk. Tapioca starch gives the signature bounce, and the mung bean layer brings a nutty note. The hard part is steaming one layer at a time: pouring the next layer before the one under it has set makes the colors bleed into each other.
Each layer needs a little more time in the steamer than the one before it, because the heat has to travel through more layers. A cloth tied around the pot lid keeps condensation from dripping down and pitting the surface.
This batch weighs about 1.8kg, at roughly 236 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 100g split mung beans, soak them in hot water for about an hour, then cook with 100ml water and a little salt until soft.
Blend the cooked beans with 250ml thick coconut milk, 200g tapioca starch, 20g rice flour, 117g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and a little salt. Divide evenly among four small bowls.
Chop 80g pandan leaf, blend with 350ml water, then strain for the extract.
Mix the pandan extract with 300g tapioca starch, 60g rice flour, 198g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 400g thick coconut milk, 1 vial of vanilla powder and a little salt. Divide among 5 small bowls.
Use a round pan 27cm wide and 4cm deep, brushing cooking oil over the whole inside. Tie a cloth around the pot lid so water does not drip onto the cake.
Heat the empty pan in the steamer for 5 minutes, pour in the pandan batter first, then the mung bean batter, alternating until all the batter is used.
Steam the first layer 5 minutes, the second 6 minutes, adding one minute for each layer after that, with the last layer steaming 13 minutes.
Let the cake cool completely before turning it out of the pan.
Tips
A cloth tied around the pot lid keeps condensation from dripping onto the cake and pitting the surface.
The cake has to be completely cool before it leaves the pan, since a warm cake tears and the layers pull apart.
Stir each bowl of batter right before pouring, because tapioca starch settles fast and unstirred batter gives thick and thin layers.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so let the mixed batter rest for 10 minutes and stir it again before pouring.
Straining both batters through a sieve before steaming gives a smooth cake with no grit.
A knife dipped in cooking oil cuts clean slices without dragging and tearing the layers.
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.