Banh Cuon- Momma Trinh’s Vietnamese Rice Rolls With Pork & Shrimp

One of my favorite all time childhood dishes- Momma Trinh’s Banh Cuon rolls

These delicious Northern Vietnamese rice rolls are filled with savory ground pork and sliced wood ear mushrooms.

Pair it with some fresh veggies, fried scallions, Vietnamese ham and some nuoc mam cham sauce and you’re golden!

I made my moms famous Nuoc Mam cham sauce and we also tried a store bought version and U’m not gonna lie but it was pretty darn good. I just chopped some extra chili 🌶 peppers in there for a little color and more heat 😍.

My personal favorite is the with a little splash of Maggi with the Nuoc mam cham, and some crispy fried shallots.

(For vegetarian option you can use just the wood ear mushrooms and chop up portobello mushrooms and spring onions for the mix, see recipe for vegetarian option -here-).

* If you can’t find the pre-mixed flour batter, you can make your own with the below batter recipe.
*For best results make the batter overnight, and change the water at least two times before making your rolls (we change the water twice the night before and once the day of cooking).
*We found that cooking over medium heat works best. You don’t want the batter to bubble up and cook too fast so a nice medium setting is best.

INGREDIENTS / BATTER FROM SCRATCH:

1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs canola oil
3 cups water

GARNISH/FILLINGS:

• Cilantro to garnish

• Fried shallot onions (Vietnamese or asian brand)

• 1 cucumber sliced

• Mint (optional)

• Pickled daikon and carrots, recipe -here-

DIPPING SAUCE:

Nuoc Mam Cham- Recipe -here-

FILLING

• 1 lb ground pork

• ½ cup wood ear mushrooms

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cracked pepper

• 1 tsp fish sauce (optional, my dad likes to do this, my mom does not)

• 2 tbs oil (vegetable, or canola, or tea seed oil)

• 1 shallot onion minced

• 5 garlic cloves minced

• 1/2 lb raw shrimp (chopped, minced)

PREPARATION

1. Batter: In a medium mixing bowl mix the dry ingredients.

2. Pour in the oil and water, and whisk together until you get a nice thin and smooth batter.

3. Let rest for 45 min, then re-mix and use (always mix batter right before using the batter, flour will pool to the bottom).

4. Soak the wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of water for 15-20 minutes. Then drain and squeeze out as as much water as possible. Loosely chop into small pieces and set aside.

5. Combine the pork, salt, fish sauce (*optional) and pepper and marinate for 10 min.

6. In a medium pan heat oil over medium high heat until hot/glossy. Then add in the onions and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Then add garlic until fragrant. Then add in the ground pork and wood ear mushrooms and cook until done (about 3 minutes). Taste and salt or add fish sauce to taste. Then set filling aside.

7. Once the batter has rested for about 45 minutes you’ll notice water separated from flour mixture. Using a measuring cup, pour out the water of the top layer into the cup and toss. Now fill a clean measuring cup with the same amount of water that was dumped out and pour into your mix and set aside.

8. Lightly grease the cooking pan on low heat with vegetable oil with a napkin wrapped at the end of a chopstick.

9. Pour the batter using a ladle or deep spoon and create a thin layer. Lightly rotate the pan so batter covers all the surface so there’s no holes in the flour mixture.

10. Cover the pan with a lid over medium heat and let heat up for about a minute. When the batter has a light transparent consistency it’s ready to flip onto a plate.

11. Add filling ontop of the cooked rice sheet and add about 1 tablespoon of your filling and fold the sides in to create a burrito wrap shape.

12. Garnish with more fried onions, cilantro, mint, and some of your nuoc cham dipping sauce.