Vietnamese Banh Bot Loc Recipe
Banh Bot Loc is a Vietnamese steamed dumpling traditionally filled with shrimp and pork. The dough is made from tapioca and water, giving the dumplings their distinctive translucent appearance.Tapioca, derived from the cassava root, naturally has a clear-white color. Its use in the dough creates the dumplings' characteristic soft and chewy texture.
Ingredients
Filling
- Shrimp, cleaned and deveined – ¼ lb
- Fish sauce – 2 tbsp
- Black pepper – 1 tbsp
- Sugar – ½ tbsp
- Shallots, minced – 1 tbsp
- Pork belly, cut into small 1/4 inch strips - ¼ lb
- Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
- Annato seeds – 1 tsp
Fried Onion/Onion Oil
- Onions, Chopped - 1/4 cup
- Olive Oil - 8 tbsp
Dumpling Dough
- Tapioca starch – 400g
- Salt – 1 tsp
- Water, boiling – 1 cup
Instructions
Filling
- 1. Marinate the shrimp with fish sauce, shallots, sugar and pepper for about 30 minutes.
- 2. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, when hot, add the annato seeds. Once the seeds turn red, strain then out.
- 3. Fry the small pieces of pork belly in annatto seed oil until cooked. It will be a nice red color. Drain off excess oil from the pork belly.
Onion oil
- 1. Fry onions in oil until golden brown and drain.
- 2. Save onion infused oil and set aside.
Dumpling Dough
- 1. Place half of the tapioca starch in bowl with the salt and add the boiling water.
- 2. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon, it will cool slightly.
- 3. When it is comfortable to touch, add the rest of the tapioca and knead the dough with your hands.
- 4. The dough is ready when it is soft and no longer sticky.
- 5. Wrap the ball of dough in a piece of plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.
- 6. When you are ready to fill, take a small piece of dough and shape it into a ball.
- 7. Using the thumbs, press the ball while rotating in a circular motion forming a disc about 2 ½ inches wide.
- 8. Place a small amount of filling into the center of the disc and fold the dough over so the two sides touch, forming a half circle. Pinch shut.
- 9. Heat up salted water in a large pot. When the water is boiling, add the dumplings and cook for 10 – 12 minutes, at this point the dumplings will float to the top.
- 10. Drain the dumplings, then toss in the onion oil to keep the dumplings from sticking to each other.
Nutrition
Calories: 797kcalCarbohydrates: 94gProtein: 14gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 1588mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6g
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