Bánh Giò - Vietnamese pyramid steamed dumplings

Ingredients

Packaging

• approx. 500 g frozen banana leaves (12–14 pcs)
• aluminum foil in the appropriate size

TIP: If you don't have banana leaves, you can just use aluminum foil (but the taste won't be completely authentic).

Dough

• 2 cups cornstarch
• 1 cup rice flour
• 3 tbsp potato starch
• 4.5 cups chicken broth
• 5 cups of water
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1⅓ tsp salt
• 1 tsp monosodium glutamate (optional)

ATTENTION: The consistency should be semi-liquid – thick, but still liquid so that it can be poured.

Stuffing

• 1 medium onion
• approx. 37 g dried Auricularia mushrooms ( Judas' ear ), soaked and chopped
• 2 tbsp oil
• 500 g minced pork
  TIP : you can combine pork/chicken
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1½ tsp ground black pepper
• ½ tsp monosodium glutamate (optional)

Procedure

1. Preparing banana leaves

1. If the leaves are frozen, thaw them.
2. Wash them under running water and briefly immerse them in boiling water (a few seconds) to soften them.
3. Cut into squares ~ 30×30 cm, depending on the size of the buns you want to make, removing the hard areas around the stem that are difficult to fold.
4. Let it dry.
5. Make identical shapes from aluminum foil.

2. Dough

1. In a large non-stick pot, mix all the ingredients for the dough .
2. Let rest for 30–60 minutes (the longer the better)
3. Then turn the stove on high, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (about 3–6 minutes).
5. Turn off the stove and continue stirring for about 3 more minutes until the mixture is smooth enough.

ATTENTION: The dough must not be thin (the filling will fall out), but not too thick (it will not spread well into the corners)

3. Stuffing

1. Dice the onion or roughly chop it in a food processor.
2. Coarsely chop the mushrooms by hand or in a food processor.
3. Heat the oil in a pan, fry the onion until translucent.
4. Add the minced meat and fry briefly – just until it falls apart, not completely cooked.
5. Add the mushrooms and all remaining ingredients to the pan and sauté until the mushrooms are slightly cooked.
6. When the meat is fully cooked and no longer pink in the center, taste and add more salt or pepper to taste, if necessary.

TIP: The filling should be aromatic, but not dry.

4. Packaging

1. Start with 1 layer of aluminum foil and place 1 layer of banana leaves on top of it
2. Start the initial folds to create the first point of the pyramid (see image above)
3. Add a tablespoon of the rice flour mixture – half the amount you want in this piece.
4. Add a spoonful of filling to the center.
5. Add a spoonful of the rice flour mixture to enclose the filling.
6. Finish wrapping, repeating until all ingredients are used up. The goal is to evenly divide the rice flour mixture and filling for each pyramid into 12-14 equal portions.

5. Steaming

1. Pour water into the pot so that it is about 1 cm below the steamer . Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat.
2. Place the pyramids on the steamer and steam for about 40 minutes .
3. After 40 minutes, unwrap one and check:
   The dough should be translucent and firm.
4. If necessary, let it steam for a few more minutes.

Important principles

• The dough must be well cooked before packaging.
• Banana leaf adds flavor, foil holds shape
• Bánh giò are only done when the wrapper is completely translucent.