Bánh Rán/Bánh Cam (Fried Glutinous Rice Balls)

Bánh Cam and Bánh Rán are often confused as one which is not hard to understand since the two are extremely similar. The only differences are bánh cam is from the southern region of Vietnam while bánh rán is from the northern region. Bánh Rán requires the pastry to hollow and separated from the mung bean filling inside (when you shake the balls you should be able to hear the filling shake on the inside). Bánh Rán also has the essence if Mali flower. On the other hand, bánh cam does not ask that the filling and the pastry to be separated and does not have the essence of Mali flower. The recipe below is for bánh rán, however you can very easily adjust it to make bánh cam (see notes at the end of the recipe).

For the Outer Pastry:
-1lb glutinous rice flour
-100g rice flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-200g sugar
-400g water
-75g potato
-1 tsp oil
-sesame seeds

*Peel, steam and mash potato. Mix together flours and baking powder. Boil together sugar and water and pour into flour mixture (while still hot, right off the stove). Use a wooden spoon to mix together flour and syrup so that the flour soaks in all of the syrup. Let mixture cool enough to handle before kneading in potato and oil to make a smooth dough (dough will be sticky).

Filling:
-100g mung beans (peeled and split)
-100g sugar
-50g grated coconut
-2 tbs oil
-1 tsp Mali flavor

*Rinse, soak, cook and mash beans. Mix in sugar and oil. Stir fry over medium heat until thickened add coconut and Mali flavor. Cool and divide into 20 portions.

Making the Pastries:
Wet hands with water, and grab some dough, flatten it and wrap filling in the middle. Roll in sesame seeds. Deep fry over medium heat until golden and puffy (about 15 mins).

Note:
To make Bánh Cam:
>>Omit Mali flavor when making filling
>>Omit potato when making “outer pastry dough”
>>Reduce sugar in “outer pastry dough” to 150g
>>Dough does not need to be made with boiling water, warm water is just fine, add water slowly and knead to form a smooth dough (you’ll need less water).