How to Make Banh To (Quang Nam Steamed Sticky Rice Cake)
Sweets and drinksSteamed CakesVietnamAbout 2 hours 30 minutes
Banh to is nothing more than glutinous rice flour, sweetener and ginger juice, steamed for a long time in a banana leaf mold. It sets dense and chewy, smells of ginger, wears a coat of toasted sesame and gets sliced thin once cool.
The hardest part is the heat, since a hard boil cooks the surface fast while the center stays wet. Hold a gentle medium heat through the full 2 hours of steaming and wipe the lid so nothing drips onto the cake. Stir the batter thoroughly until no grains remain, which is what makes it smooth.
This batch weighs about 980g, at roughly 234 calories per 100g.
Method
Shave 330g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend loose with a knife so it dissolves more easily. Wash 100g ginger, pound it and press out the juice.
Put the sweetener, the ginger juice and hot water in a bowl and stir until everything has dissolved.
Add 500g glutinous rice flour to the ginger syrup and stir until the flour has fully dissolved and the batter thickens.
Fold three corners of a banana leaf across each other and pin them with a toothpick to make a mold, or line a ceramic bowl with banana leaf instead. Pour the batter into the mold.
Set the cake in the steamer and steam for 2 hours over gentle medium heat, never high.
Once cooked, scatter 50g toasted sesame seeds over the top to finish.
Tips
Cooled and sliced thin, the cake is good as it is, and also good pan fried until the outside crisps.
Strain the batter before it goes into the mold and the cake comes out smooth and free of lumps.
Drape a cloth over the steamer lid so water cannot drip down and pit the surface.
Let the cake cool completely, ideally overnight, before slicing.
Dip the knife in water or brush it with a little oil and the slices will not stick.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly and does not brown on its own, so stir again after 5 minutes and accept a lighter colored cake.
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.