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Steamed Rice Cakes (Banh Bo Hap)

January 22, 2017 By Amy 38 Comments

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Tet (Chinese New Year’s) is just around the corner and it is the most celebrated holiday in Vietnam. To celebrate Tet, indulgent dessert is a must such as steam rice cakes with honey-comb like texture, infused in a creamy, decadent flavor of coconut milk. I was invited to a #SweetLunarNewYear party by Christine from Vermilion Roots and couldn’t been more excited! Be sure to check out yummy treats from all amazing bloggers at the end of the post.

Vietnamese steam rice cakes are originally from Southern China and gained its popularity through Vietnam region, especially Southern Vietnam. Banh in Vietnamese means “cakes” and bo in Vietnamese means “cow or to crawl”. The crawls refer to how the cakes are crawling or puff up when steaming under high heat to completion. Vietnamese steam rice cakes are made from rice flour, water, sugar, yeast with a touch of coconut milk.

Steam rice cakes with honey-comb like texture, infused in a creamy, decadent flavor of coconut milk. Indulgent dessert at its best and totally a must have desserts for New Year gatherings. Atasteofjoyandlove.com

Rice flour is the main ingredients in most Vietnamese dishes. From savory dish such as Vietnamese pancakes to sweet snacks such as rice cakes, rice flour is a stable ingredient in Vietnamese food culture.

Growing up in Vietnam, I would never say “No” to dessert or after school snacks. Of course, the rice cakes were on top my list and were something I look forward to every New Year. Now every time I see them, I get nostalgic goosebumps of my childhood using food allowance saving at food stalls so I could savor the delicious rice cakes! Steam rice cakes with honey-comb like texture, infused in a creamy, decadent flavor of coconut milk. Indulgent dessert at its best and totally a must have desserts for New Year gatherings. Atasteofjoyandlove.com
Steam rice cakes with honey-comb like texture, infused in a creamy, decadent flavor of coconut milk. Indulgent dessert at its best and totally a must have desserts for New Year gatherings. Atasteofjoyandlove.com

Simple, delicious and stinking cute are reasons you will also fall in love with these rice cakes!

Thanks for letting me share my childhood memories!!

Simple, delicious and stinking cute are reasons you will also fall in love with these rice cakes! Thanks for letting me share my childhood memories!! Now let’s have some dessert!

Here are some helpful tips:

  • You will need a steamer for this recipe. Make sure your steamer is ¾ filled with water. Let the steamer boils on high heat for at least 10 minutes before steaming the cakes.
  • I used small egg tart mold for this recipe. If you don’t have them, you can also use small ramekins or small dishes. The steaming time will be a little longer.
  • Use warm water. The water should slightly be around 100 degrees.
  • If your yeast isn’t frothy or bubbly after 10 minutes, it’s probably expired. The active dry yeast is the key ingredient in this recipe. I used Hodgson Mill fast acting dry yeast and they work great.
  • Vanilla sugar is optional in this recipe. It was hard for me to find vanilla sugar from my grocery store. I’ve tested this recipe with and without vanilla sugar and honestly can’t really tell the difference
  • You might have to refill the water of the basin the second time. Make sure you give enough time for the water from the steamer to boil and heats up again before steaming the cakes.

In the spirit of the Chinese New Year, here are more sweets treat to celebrate. Welcome to our virtual #SweetLunarNewYearParty. Please check out these amazing recipes from wonderful bloggers friends. A special thank you to Christine from Vermilion Roots for hosting this #SweetLunarNewYear party! Now let’s have some dessert!

Snow Fungus Soup by Vermilion Roots

Indonesian Honeycomb Cake (Bingka Ambon) by What To Cook Today

Chinese Peanut Cookies by Wok & Skillet

Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cakes by A Taste of Joy and Love

Gluten-Free Chinese Almond Cookies by Grits & Chopsticks

Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies by Little Sweet Baker

Ice Cream Mooncakes by Brunch-n-Bites

Coconut Red Bean Pudding by The Missing Lokness

Korean Caramelized Sweet Potatoes (Goguma Mattang) by What Great Grandma Ate

Cashew Nut Cookies by Anncoo Journal

One Bite Pine Nut Cookies by Yummy Workshop

Baked Coconut Walnut Sticky Rice Cake by Jeanette’s Healthy Living

Black Sesame Cream Puffs by Pink Wings

Cashew Nut Cookies by Roti n Rice

Mini Peanut Puffs (Kok Chai) by Malaysian Chinese Kitchen

Thousand Layer Cake (Lapis Legit) by Daily Cooking Quest

Pineapple Cookies (Nastar) by V for Veggy

Almond Orange Spiral Cookies by Butter & Type

Three Color Dessert (Che Ba Mau) by The Viet Vegan

Year of the Rooster Mochi by Thirsty for Tea

Korean Tea Cookies (Dasik) by Kimchimari

Sweet Sticky Nian Gao (Kuih Bakul) by Lisa’s Lemony Kitchen

Sweet Rice Balls with Peanut Butter (Tang Yuan) by Omnivore’s Cookbook

Candied Ginger (Mut Gung) by Plant Crush

Chick Egg Tarts by Dessert Girl

Red Bean Soup with Black Glutinous Rice by Nut Free Wok

Orange Scented Sweet Red Bean by Lime and Cilantro

5.0 from 1 reviews
Steamed Rice Cakes (Banh Bo Hap)
 
Save Print
Serves: 30
Ingredients
For the flour:
  • 1½ cup rice flour
  • ¼ cup + 2 teaspoon tapioca starch
  • 1½ cup water (divided) (See note 1)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar (optional)
  • 1 cup coconut milk (see note 2)
  • ¾ cup sugar
For the yeast mixture:
  • ¼ cup warm water
  • 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
For the coconut sauce:
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • pandant extract
  • vegetable oil (for greasing the cake pans)
  • roasted sesame seeds
Instructions
  1. Place active dry yeast and sugar in ¼ cup of warm water. Let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes until it becomes bubbly and frothy
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine rice flour, tapioca starch, vanilla sugar, 1 cup of water. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Stir well until blended
  3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then place a towel on top of it. Let the mixture sit for at least 1.5 to 2 hours until the batter rises. Place the batter in the oven with the light on to fasten the rising process. You will see small bubbles appear on top of the batter after 2 hours. (See note 3)
  4. While the batter is resting, prepare the coconut sauce
  5. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of coconut milk, the remaining ½ cup of water and ¾ cup sugar. Stir well to dissolve. Let the mixture cool to room temperature
  6. After 2 hours, pour the coconut milk mixture to the batter, mix well to combine. Strain the batter through a fine mesh colander.
  7. Pour the batter into 2 separate cups. Place one drop of pandant extract on one of the cups or you can add your choice of food coloring. Let the batter rest for an additional 10-15 minutes before steaming
  8. Fill the steamer with water. Let the water boils over high heat before steaming
  9. Brush vegetable oil to each pans. Place the empty pans in the steamer and steam for a minute
  10. Pour the batter into each pans, fill it about ¾, leaving some space for the cake to rise.
  11. Cover the steamer and steam for about 3-5 minutes. Occasionally remove the lid and wipe off excess water from the steamer.
  12. Let the cakes cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan
  13. To serve: drizzles luscious coconut sauce over the cakes, top with roasted sesame seeds
For the coconut sauce:
  1. Combine all coconut sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let simmer until the sauce starts to thicken.
Notes
Note 1: used only 1 cup of water to mix the flour, the other ½ cup is for the coconut mixture, which we will add later
Note 2: I used 1 can (13.5 oz) of coconut milk. I used 1 cup for the flour mixture and saved the remaining for the coconut sauce
Note 3: If making in the summer months, you don't have to place the batter in the oven
3.5.3208

 

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Comments

  1. Marvellina @ What To Cook Today says

    January 22, 2017 at 9:56 am

    These reminded me of childhood too. My mom never made them because they are available everywhere for purchase. Love the honeycomb like texture and the coconut milk just makes everything tastes good

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 22, 2017 at 12:08 pm

      Such great memories right! Thanks Marvellina! I hope you give it a try!

      Reply
  2. Christine | Vermilion Roots says

    January 22, 2017 at 10:17 am

    I have fond memories from my childhood of eating this. We call it apam or fatt gou. I’ve been trying to recreate it. Definitely trying this recipe. Love that it uses only rice flour and has no wheat! Can I use instant yeast?

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 22, 2017 at 12:06 pm

      Thanks Christine! Definitely bring back great memories. Yes you can definitely use instant yeast.

      Reply
  3. Jean says

    January 22, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    This looks delicious! I love the color too.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 23, 2017 at 5:03 pm

      Thanks Jean! Hope you’ll give this recipe a try
      Happy New Year to you!

      Reply
  4. Anita says

    January 22, 2017 at 8:38 pm

    Happy Chinese New Year Amy! It is not as tall as Chinese “fa gao”, but it looks very similar, and the cooking process is almost the same too 🙂

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 23, 2017 at 5:02 pm

      Thanks Anita! Happy New Year to you too! Hope you’ll give this recipe a try 😉

      Reply
  5. Ann says

    January 23, 2017 at 3:49 am

    Wow, what a great recipe! I’ve never made steamed cakes before and I think your recipe looks like the one to try. Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 23, 2017 at 4:59 pm

      I hope you’ll give this recipe a try Ann!

      Reply
  6. Phoebe says

    January 23, 2017 at 12:51 pm

    Why do you use yeast ? There is no gluten formation in the recipe and nothing to hold the gas release by the yeast.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 23, 2017 at 4:58 pm

      HI Phoebe,
      The yeast, when mixed with flour and let the batter rest will create the “fermented” taste and honeycomb texture when steam over high heat.

      Reply
  7. Lisa Ho says

    January 23, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    I love steamed rice cakes.
    We have similar cakes in Malaysia. Its interesting to see how we share almost similar food and enjoy it in many ways 😀 The Chinese uses it for prayers whilst the Malays will have it for breakfast and have it with desiccated coconut.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 24, 2017 at 7:56 am

      It’s definitely one of my favorites too. Oh I didn’t even know about the Malays have it for breakfast, very interesting. Thanks for visiting Lisa!

      Reply
  8. Lokness @ The Missing Lokness says

    January 24, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    These little cakes sound delicious! I bet your kitchen must smell fantastic when steaming these cakes. I will love to have a few of these for afternoon snacks. 😀 Happy New Year!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 25, 2017 at 12:00 pm

      They smelled amazing! I only ate like 5 out of the steamer :). Sending you a few for your afternoon snacks!
      Thanks Lokness! Happy New Year to you!

      Reply
  9. Sharon Wong says

    January 27, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    This is such a lovely recipe. I love how Vietnamese version of a new year rice cake has such a pretty green color from the Padang leaves. Happy new year!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 30, 2017 at 8:05 am

      Thank you Sharon! Same to you as well!

      Reply
  10. Ann Low says

    January 27, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    I love Vietnamese food and your steamed rice cake look pretty and delicious 🙂
    Happy Lunar New Year to you and your family!

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 30, 2017 at 8:05 am

      Thank you so much Ann! 🙂

      Reply
  11. Carrie says

    June 22, 2019 at 6:59 am

    I know it’s two years later, but since I just saw this, thank you for sharing this! I’m always looking for new breakfast recipes and this looks delicious.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      June 23, 2019 at 8:12 am

      Thanks so much for your kind words. Carrie. Hope you’ll give it a try!

      Reply

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