“Banh Cam”- Vietnamese Sesame Balls
Bánh cam or bánh rán in Vietnamese is one of the most famous and beloved Vietnamese desserts.
This Tet/New Year’s special is definitely on the richer side being that it is deep fried. The outer shell is comprised of a glutinous rice wrapped with sesame seeds which makes it crispy and chewy and the inside is deliciously moist filled with sweet mung beans & coconut flakes.
The trick to these is that you want the correct consistency for the outer shell dough to be glutinous- this will cause the shell to be nice and chewy when deep fried. After trying multiple batches I found that you have to have the right ratio with sugar as well or else the outer shell does not get nice and golden as well. These are on the trickier side to first make but hopefully by getting the right proportions right below it’ll be easier for you!
INGREDIENTS
OUTER SHELL
3 1/2 cups glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup potato flakes
5 1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water (up to another 1/2 cup water if needed to get right consistency)
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
2 cups or more of white sesame seeds (I used a slight mixture of black seeds (about 1/4 cup black, 1 1/2 cup white) for a color pop but black seeds are not traditional at all)
FILLING
3 1/4 cup dried mung beans
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup coconut shreds
COOKING OIL
Neutral cooking oil for frying (I used vegetable oil)
MUNG BEAN FILLING INSTRUCTIONS
Similar to preparing a pot of rice you’ll need to rinse the mung beans under running water in a large bowl, swirl, and drain. Repeat 2 or 3 times until water is clear.
Put mung beans in pan with 1/3 cup sugar, salt, vanilla, 1 3/4 cups of water. Bring water to boil, stirring until all sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat and add mung beans and keep at light simmer until beans are soft and cooked through (no longer crunchy). Watch the water level, if beans look dry add a little water so they don't burn at the bottom of your pan. It took me about 45 min to 1 hour.
When beans are cooked through and most of the water has been absorbed- transfer to bowl and smash beans, add vanilla extract, and smash until you have a smooth paste (add a little water if needed to get a smoother paste, it should have the same consistency as mashed potatoes on the dryer side) also (taste to see if it needs to be sweeter, add sugar if you need to make sweeter), add coconut shreds, and then let cool.
OUTER SHELL PREPARATION
In a large bowl mix potato, rice flours, sugar, salt. Add 1/2 cup of water and mix into a semi-dry dough (not too moist or dry), add 8 tsp water or more as needed to get the right consistency (up to 1 cup total water)
Let rest 2-4 hours (Resting will hydrate and make the dough more pliable to work with, I prepared mine the night before and let it rise/rest in fridge overnight)
FORMING THE BÁNH CAM
Divide out the dough into a couple dozen small balls and then flatten with the heel of your hand or a rolling pin. Place on a lightly floured surface (rice flour).
Divide the mung bean paste into small 1″- 2" in diameter balls.
Place the mung bean paste ball in the center of each dough disc and fold over the edges of the dough to shape into a ball. When making the sesame balls make sure you don't have any air pockets between the dough and the bean paste and make sure you seal the ball completely and smoothly so there are no cracks in the outer shell (we don't want extra oil in these balls).
Fill bowl with white / black sesame seeds and roll dough until completely evenly coated with sesame seeds.
Continue making all balls until you have no more ingredients, and set aside for frying.
Heat enough oil in a wok or heavy pan for deep frying. Fry the balls in small batches making sure to gently place them in the oil and rolling them around in the oil with chopsticks to make sure they are crisp and golden all around.
When golden and crispy all around- remove with slotted spoon and place on a plate with paper towels to drain any extra oil.
Enjoy warm! MMMMmmmm