Banh Cuon

Ingredients

• 200g rice flour
• 150g tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 700ml water
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, plus extra for brushing
• 300g minced pork
• 20g dried wood ear mushrooms
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 6 shallots, thinly sliced, for frying
• 150ml neutral oil, for frying shallots
• 200g cha lua (Vietnamese pork sausage), sliced
• 60ml fish sauce, for the dipping sauce
• 60g sugar
• 45ml lime juice
• 240ml warm water
• 1 red chilli, sliced
• Coriander and blanched beansprouts, to serve

Before you cook

• Whisk the rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, 700ml water and 2 tbsp oil together until completely smooth
• Rest the batter for at least an hour, ideally overnight in the fridge
• Soak the wood ear mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes, then drain and chop them finely
• Slice six shallots very thinly and pat them dry for frying
• Set out a plate brushed with oil and a wide spatula next to your steamer

Steps

1. Heat the 150ml of oil in a small pan over medium-low heat and add the sliced shallots.
2. Fry the shallots for eight to ten minutes, stirring often, until they turn pale gold, then lift them onto kitchen paper while they finish crisping.
3. Pour two tablespoons of the shallot oil into a frying pan and set it over medium heat.
4. Fry the chopped shallots and garlic for one minute, then add the minced pork.
5. Break the pork up and cook it for four minutes until it loses all its pink.
6. Stir in the wood ear, fish sauce and pepper, cook one more minute, then take the filling off the heat.
7. Whisk the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and warm water together for the dip and stir in the chilli.
8. Bring a wide pot of water to a strong boil and stretch a piece of thin cotton cloth tightly over the top, securing it with string.
9. Stir the batter well, then ladle a thin layer onto the cloth and swirl it into a 20cm circle.
10. Cover with a domed lid and steam for forty-five seconds until the sheet turns translucent and no longer looks wet.
11. Slide a lightly oiled spatula under the sheet and flip it onto the oiled plate.
12. Spoon a tablespoon of pork filling in a line across the near edge.
13. Roll the sheet up over the filling into a loose cylinder and transfer it to a serving plate.
14. Repeat with the remaining batter, oiling the plate again whenever the rolls start to stick.
15. Scatter the fried shallots generously over the finished rolls.
16. Serve with sliced cha lua, beansprouts, coriander and warm dipping sauce.