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Banh Da Lon is enjoyed for its unique appearance and the combination of flavors and textures from the various layers. The pandan leaf extract gives the cake a pleasant aroma and a hint of sweetness, while the mung bean paste adds a delightful contrast to the chewy layers.
What is banh da lon ?
It’s a multi-layered cake made with a combination of tapioca starch, rice flour, glutinous rice flour, mung bean paste, coconut milk, sugar, and pandan leaf extract. The cake gets its name from its distinctive appearance, with alternating layers of different colors and textures, resembling a variegated pattern.
Why you’ll like this recipe
1. Incredible texture
The cake has that incredibly soft, bouncy, and flexible texture
2. It can be peeled layer by layer
Ask every kid in Southeast Asia, and they will tell you this is like the childhood cake. The cake that you eat by peeling each layer.
Vietnamese Steamed Pandan and Mung Bean Layer Cake (Banh Da Lon)
Ingredients
Mung bean batter:
- 50 g split mung beans
- 60 g tapioca starch
- 5 g rice flour
- 75 g sugar
- 200 g coconut milk
- Pinch of salt
- ½ tsp oil
Pandan batter:
- 100 g tapioca starch
- 10 g glutinous rice flour
- 5 g rice flour
- 200 g pandan juice
- 50 g coconut milk
- ⅛ tsp pandan essence
- Pinch of salt
- ½ tsp oil
Instructions
- I use a small loaf pan that measures 7 3/4 x 3 3/4 x 2 1/2 inches for this recipe. If you plan to double the recipe you can use 8 x 8 x 2 1/2 inch square pan or something similar in size. I was able to do 8 layers with the small loaf pan with a bit of leftover that I pour into a small muffin cup and steam
Soak mung beans:
- Soak the mung beans for at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain off the water. Bring a water in a steamer to a boil. Spread the beans on a plate and steam over medium-high heat for 25-30 minutes or until you can easily mash the beans with a fork
Prepare mung bean batter:
- Place the cooked mung beans, coconut milk, pandan juice, oil, and sugar in the blender and blend until smooth. Add the tapioca starch and rice flour. Blend again until you get a smooth batter
- Pour the batter into a large measuring cup with a spout or any cup with a spout for easy pouring. Rest the batter for 20 minutes
Prepare pandan batter:
- Give the blender a quick rinse and then add all the ingredients for pandan batter into the blender and blend until they are smooth
- Pour into another large measuring cup with a spout or any cup with a spout for easy pouring. Rest the batter for 20 minutes
Preheat the steamer and empty pan:
- While waiting, bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Wrap the cover of the steamer with a clean cloth to prevent water condensation from dripping on the surface of the cake. Coat the pan with a thin layer of oil. Place an empty pan in the steamer to preheat for about 5 minutes
Steaming the cake:
- Give the batter a good stir. Pour about 100 g of the pandan batter (or mung bean batter) into the pan. It's up to you which one you want to do first.
- If you double the recipe, you may need to double the amount of batter for each layer. This of course, also depends on the size of the pan you use
- Lower the heat to medium-low. You don't want to steam over high heat. Steam for 5 minutes. The layer should be set, if not, steam it another minute or two. You will see that the liquid is no longer runny and set. Then you can pour the next layer
- Monitor to see if you need to refill the water in your steamer, don't wait until it dries up. If you know you will need to refill the water in your steamer before pouring the next layer, wait until the layer that is still steaming to be done with and then add the water, close the lid back let it comes back to a boil and then lower the heat to medium and pour the next layer and continue
- Very gently pour or ladle another layer on top. Don't pour it from a height, as it may damage the layer underneath. Keep it close and pour or ladle. Steam for 5 minutes for each layer
- Once you reach the last layer, steam for 15 minutes
Cool down the cake:
- Remove from the steamer and let the cake cool down completely in the pan. Then use a rubber spatula to loosen the edge. You should be able to do this without much problem. Invert the cake upside down to remove from the pan
To serve:
- Use a plastic knife or plastic bench scraper to cut the cake into desired size
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
How to make banh da lon successfully at home
1. Soak the mung beans for at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain off the water. Bring a water in a steamer to a boil. Spread the beans on a plate and steam over medium-high heat for 25-30 minutes or until you can easily mash the beans with a fork
2. Place the cooked mung beans, coconut milk, pandan juice, oil, and sugar in the blender and blend until smooth. 
3. Add the tapioca starch and rice flour. Blend again until you get a smooth batter. Pour the batter into a large measuring cup with a spout or any cup with a spout for easy pouring. Rest the batter for 20 minutes
4. Give the blender a quick rinse and then add all the ingredients for pandan batter into the blender and blend until they are smooth. Pour into another large measuring cup with a spout or any cup with a spout for easy pouring. Rest the batter for 20 minutes
5. While waiting, bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Wrap the cover of the steamer with a clean cloth to prevent water condensation from dripping on the surface of the cake. Coat the pan with a thin layer of oil. Place an empty pan in the steamer to preheat for about 5 minutes
6. Give the batter a good stir. Pour about 100 g of the pandan batter (or mung bean batter) into the pan. It’s up to you which one you want to do first. 
7. Lower the heat to medium-low. You don’t want to steam over high heat. Steam for 5 minutes. The layer should be set, if not, steam it another minute or two. You will see that the liquid is no longer runny and set. Very gently pour or ladle another layer on top. Don’t pour it from a height, as it may damage the layer underneath. Keep it close and pour or ladle. Steam for 5 minutes for each layer
8. Once you reach the last layer, steam for 15 minutes
9. Remove from the steamer and let the cake cool down completely in the pan. Then use a rubber spatula to loosen the edge. You should be able to do this without much problem. Invert the cake upside down to remove from the pan
10. Use a plastic knife or plastic bench scraper to cut the cake into desired size
Important tips for success
1. Steam over medium heat
Bring the water in the steamer to a boil and then lower to medium heat to steam the cake. DO NOT steam over high heat or the layer will wrinkle
2. Stir the batter every time
You need to stir the batter every time before you pour each layer in. The flour tends to settle at the bottom after being left sitting for a while
3. Check the water level in the steamer
The water most likely will run low halfway through the steaming process (I had to refill twice). You can add water but make sure you do so after the layer is cooked through. Once the water comes back to a boil, add another layer to steam again
4. Cool down completely
If you try to cut the warm cake, they tend to stick. It takes about 3 hours
Did you make this banh da lon recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made. Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
3 comments
I made this today, exactly as written. It turned out perfect like all of your recipes always do. Thank you for sharing such great recipes!!!
Hi Andi, yay! So happy to know that 🙂 Thank you for taking time to let me know 🙂
Great recipes, i love to try it now!