Bánh tét and bánh chung (the square cake version) are available year-round and are traditional for the Lunar New Year in Vietnam. It’s a sticky rice cake with various fillings, some are sweet and some are savory. Mung beans, pork, and sticky rice are the core ingredients in this recipe. Raffia string is usually used to tie the cakes but I’ve used kitchen twine. Also, traditionally these are more elaborately trussed than tied as I did here to simplify. I wrapped the cakes in foil, that’s Andrea Nguyen’s move. Once the cakes are cooked you can wrap them in gold or red plastic ribbon for luck in the new year.
Ingredients
5 cups uncooked glutinous white rice
1 tablespoon fine sea salt, divided
1 pound pork belly, skin removed
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 large shallot, minced
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup dried mung beans
3 cups water
2 (16-ounce packages) frozen banana leaves, thawed
kitchen twine
Directions
