Mom's Recipes: Bánh Ít Trần (Mung Bean stuffed Dumpling)

Bánh ít trần is a little savoury dumpling (I think, I have never heard it translated) stuffed mainly with đậu xanh (mung beans), pork and shrimp. When I lived in Vietnam, the little restaurant that sold nem nướng (pork meatballs) also sold these. I would always buy one as a side treat.


My mom's version.

I remembered my mom making some purple ones and asked her to make some. The purple colour comes from the addition of purple yam. Purple yam is used in Vietnamese cuisine so don't be surprised if you ever see a bright purple soup made with this.


Bánh ít trần, with some nước chấm, that I would buy in Vietnam.

Bánh Ít Trần (Mung Bean stuffed Dumpling) - makes 23
The filling is similar to bánh bột lọc, with the addition of mung beans. The shell is probably more appealing because it does not have that chewiness of bánh bột lọc.

Filling
* 3 tbsp oil
* 1 small onion
* 200 g pork
* 200g shrimp
* 1-½ tsp salt
* 1 tsp pepper
* ½ lb. mung beans, cooked and mashed

Sauté onion in oil until softened.
Add pork and shrimp, with salt and pepper.
Cook until the shrimp and pork are cooked through.
Meanwhile, cook the mung beans, drain and mash.
Mix the shrimp and pork with the mung bean mixture.
Roll about 2 tbsp of the mixture into balls.

Cubed pork and chopped shrimp.

Mung bean mashed.

Rolled into balls.

For the Shell - Makes 8

* 1-⅛ cup sticky rice flour

* ½ cup hot water

Mix the flour with hot water (boil and let it cool down).

Roll a ball about the same size as the filling.

Flatten the dough with your fingers into a disc.

Cover the filling with the dough by closing it around the ball of mung bean.

Place onto 3"x3" squares of parchment paper.

Steam at low heat for 10 minutes.

Serve with nước chấm (in Vietnam, they also added some dry shrimps).

Sweet Rice Flour.

Dough made into a disc.

Placing the ball of mung bean onto the disc of dough.

Close the dough and cover the ball.

Bánh ít trần ready to be steamed.

For the purple yam dough

* ½ of the dough above

* 1 cup purple yam

* ½ cup sticky rice flour

Make half of the recipe of the dough above and set aside.

Microwave purple yam for a minute.

Mix with flour.

Mix this new purple mixture with the regular dough mixture.

Roll and cover the filling as above.

Cook and serve with nước chấm.

Tada!

Package of frozen purple yam.

Close-up of the bánh ít trần.