Bánh Chưng

Name: Bánh Chưng
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 270 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 3 cups sticky rice, soaked 2 hours; 1 cup dried mung beans, soaked 2 hours, cooked until tender; 6 oz pork shoulder, cubed; 4 small shallots, minced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tsp fish sauce; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/8 tsp black pepper; 2 tsp vegetable oil; 6 banana leaves, softened over flame, cut into squares; 4 cups water for cooking

Square sticky rice cake filled with pork and mung beans, a traditional Vietnamese breakfast and festival dish.

270 minMediumServes 6280 cal/serving

VietnameseBreakfastStovetopStandard

Cook this free in the appFree. No download, no account. The screen stays awake and each step can run its own timer.

Ingredients

3 cups sticky rice, soaked 2 hours
1 cup dried mung beans, soaked 2 hours, cooked until tender
6 oz pork shoulder, cubed
4 small shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp vegetable oil
6 banana leaves, softened over flame, cut into squares
4 cups water for cooking

Instructions

1

Heat 2 tsp vegetable oil in a pan and sauté 4 cloves minced garlic and 4 small minced shallots until fragrant.
2

Add 6 oz cubed pork shoulder and cook until no longer pink (about 8 minutes). Season with 1 tsp fish sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Set aside to cool.
3

Drain the soaked 2 hours sticky rice and cook it in boiling 4 cups water for cooking for 5-7 minutes, then drain.
4

Drain the soaked 2 hours, cooked until tender dried mung beans.
5

On each softened over flame, cut into squares banana leaves, layer the cooked sticky rice to form a square base (about 1 inch thick).
6

In the center, place a small portion of pork shoulder mixture, then cover with dried mung beans, then top with more sticky rice.
7

Fold the banana leaves into a square package, securing the edges with kitchen twine.
8

Place all packages in a pot and fill with water for cooking to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3-4 hours, keeping the water level constant.
9

Remove the bánh chưng and let cool. Serve sliced, at room temperature or reheated.

Cook this free in the appCooking it now? The app keeps the screen awake and times each step. Free, nothing to install.

Keep this recipe

Prints the ingredients and method only.

The Vietnamese Kitchen 30 recipes from this kitchen in one printable PDF. $5, no account.

Questions

How much time should I plan for Bánh Chưng?

As written, 270 minutes: 30 of prep and 240 of cooking. The longest single stretch is step 8 (4 hours): "Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3-4 hours, keeping the water level constant."

How do I know when Bánh Chưng is done?

Go by the cues in the method rather than the clock. Step 4: cook until tender dried mung beans.

What can I use instead of fish sauce in Bánh Chưng?

The entry for Bánh Chưng calls for 1 tsp fish sauce. In its place: Soy sauce with a squeeze of lime covers the salt and some of the savor. For a vegetarian version, use a mushroom-based soy sauce. Start with the same volume and adjust.

Does Bánh Chưng contain fish?

Yes: 1 tsp fish sauce. The full allergen list for this entry is fish. Packaged ingredients vary by brand, so check labels if the allergy is serious.

Which part of Bánh Chưng can be done ahead?

Everything up to step 3. Step 3 is a built-in pause of 2 hours: "Drain the soaked 2 hours sticky rice and cook it in boiling 4 cups water for cooking for 5-7 minutes, then drain." Do everything up to that point ahead of time and pick up at step 4 when you are ready to finish.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,544 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.