Bánh ít trần mặn is a type of Vietnamese sticky rice dumpling made of glutinous rice flour and a meaty filling. The steamed dumpling is often wrapped with banana leaves.
However, there are also unwrapped versions called bánh ít trần. Bánh ít trần mặn usually has the filling cooked by stir-frying before being wrapped in the dough for steaming. When made with no wrappers, they often adores a round shape and is best enjoyed with a sweet and sour fish sauce.
Explore the process of making these dumplings with a savory filling through a detailed guide that provides you with all the necessary tools and ingredients needed to make this dish.
Bánh Ít Mặn – One of the Vietnamese-style Dumplings
Bánh ít mặn is a Vietnamese rice dumpling made using glutinous rice flour with a savory minced meat filling. These dumplings are often steamed or boiled to attain a chewy profile.
Enjoyed as a snack, these meaty dumplings come with a sweet and savory dipping sauce made from fish sauce. On its own, they provide a meaty flavor deriving from the filling.
The wrapping for the dumplings is often banana, but you can simply overlook this component to make the bánh ít trần (no leaf wrappers) instead.
After getting to know about this Vietnamese rice dumpling, you should look into the tools you will need to prepare this recipe.
How Many Tools For Making Bánh Ít Trần Mặn?
Here’s a comprehensive list of 7 essential tools you’ll need to recreate bánh ít trần with meat fillings.
What Are the Ingredients of Bánh Ít Trần Mặn?
To prepare this savory Vietnamese dish, you’ll need some typical ingredients to achieve authentic flavors and textures, including:
For the Dough
For the Filling and Accompaniments
Accompaniments
What Are Cooking Steps for Making Bánh Ít Trần Mặn?
After preparing all the elements essential for making bánh ít trần with non-vegan fillings, it’s time for you to roll into the kitchen to ready the dough and dried shrimp before cooking the mung beans and fillings.
Also, prepping for the dumpling’s shape is essential before steaming it. Here are exactly what you need to do.
Step 1: Make the Dough
Combine glutinous flour with warm water and mix them together. Add room-temperature water to the dough and knead.
Knead the dough by pushing it away from you before bringing the dough back and repeat the process.
Note
Adding more flour can help if the dough is too soft. Or adding more water if the dough is too dry.
Step 2: Prepare Dried Shrimp
Pound dried shrimp using a mortar and pestle until the mixture is fine and smooth. Then, stir-fry the dried shrimp over heat for around 5 – 7 minutes to dry them out.
Step 3: Cook Mung Beans
Cook mung beans with water at medium heat for around 20 minutes.
You can add salt and sugar to the beans while cooking to season it.
Note
Cook the mung beans until barely tender. Mash them into a paste to make the filling.
Step 4: Stir-fry the Filling
Heat up a pan with oil and quickly stir-fry a combination of minced garlic and shallot.
Add minced pork and season it with sugar, salt, and pepper.
Stir well until the meat is cooked through before introducing diced shrimp to the mix. Keep stir-frying until the shrimp is fully cooked.
Step 5: Create the Filling
Combine the mung bean paste with the stir-fried meat and ⅔ of the dried shrimp; the remaining ⅓ of the dried shrimp is sprinkled over the dumplings when serving.
Roll the filling into balls of around 1.7 ounces, or do it to your liking.
Step 6: Shape the Dumpling
Divide the dough into equal parts before rolling and flattening them. Then, add the filling balls to the dough and seal them carefully.
Step 7: Steam the Dumpling
Steam the dumpling in a steamer with a bit of oil over the steaming surface to prevent sticking. Alternatively, you can place a banana leaf between the bánh ít chay and steamer.
Steam in 20 – 30 minutes, depending on the dumpling size. When cooked, bánh ít mặn has a white color.
Step 8: Serve
Serve the steamed dumpling with a little bit of sprinkled dried shrimp and scallion oil. Enjoy bánh ít mặn with a sweet and sour fish sauce dip to enhance the flavor.
Tips and Tricks For Perfect Bánh Ít Trần Mặn
Here are some expert tips to ensure your dumplings come out as expected.
Savor the Deliciousness of Bánh Ít Trần Mặn!
When all the cooking steps are now in your grasp, making bánh ít trần mặn is a breeze. These dumplings are ideal to renew your snack time with an attractive flavor.
Make sure to share your experience in making these sticky dumplings in the comment section. Also, you should share this helpful recipe with people looking to try making Vietnamese dishes.
Bánh Ít Trần Mặn Recipe (Vietnamese Non-Vegan Sticky Rice Dumplings)
Equipment
- Steamer
- Mixing Bowl
- Pan
- Ladle
- Spatula
- Dough Divider
- Mortar and pestle
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 14.11 ounces glutinous rice flour
- 10.14 ounces warm water
- 3.38 ounces room temperature water
For the Filling & Accompaniments
- 3.53 ounces mung beans
- 3.53 ounces diced shrimp
- 5.29 ounces ground meat pork or chicken
Additional Ingredients
- 1.76 ounces dried shrimp
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced shallots
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- Fish sauce
- Scallion oil
Additional Accompaniments
- Blanched bean sprouts
- Pickled vegetables
- Water mimosa perilla leaves, Vietnamese balm, Vietnamese mint
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add glutinous rice flour. Gradually pour warm water in, mixing continuously to combine the flour and water smoothly.
- Add room-temperature water and start kneading the dough. Push the dough away and then pull it back in your direction, repeating this action until the dough becomes smooth and non-sticky to the touch.
- Pour the dried shrimp into a mortar to start pounding using a pestle until the mixture is fine and smooth.
- Stir the dried shrimp over heat for around 5 – 7 minutes to dry them out.
- Take mung beans and cook them with water over medium heat for about 20 minutes.
- Season the beans with salt and sugar, depending on your preference. Cooked beans shouldn't be too soft.
- Stir-fry a combination of minced garlic and shallot before adding minced pork and season it with sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Cook the meat before introducing diced shrimp to the mix. Keep stir-frying until the filling mixture is fully cooked.
- Put mung bean paste with stir-fried filling and ⅔ of the dried shrimp, save ⅓ of the dried shrimp for sprinkling over the dumplings when serving.
- Roll the filling into balls.
- Divide the dough into equal parts before rolling and flattening them.
- Then, add the filling balls to the dough and seal them carefully.
- Steam the dumpling in a steamer with a bit of oil over the steaming surface to prevent sticking. Alternatively, you can place a banana leaf between the bánh ít chay and steamer.
- Steam in 20 – 30 minutes, depending on the size of the dumpling. When cooked, bánh ít mặn has a white color.
- Serve bánh ít mặn with a bit of sprinkled dried shrimp and scallion oil. Enjoy them with a sweet and sour fish sauce.
Video
Notes
- Do not substitute glutinous rice flour with tapioca flour because glutinous rice flour provides elasticity, while tapioca flour is chewy. If you want the cake to be chewy, you should only add a little tapioca flour.
- You can wrap bánh ít mặn tightly and store them in the freezer. When needed, thaw them and steam them again.
- In addition to steaming the dumplings, you can also boil them directly in hot water. When the dumplings float, they are cooked.
- In some places, bánh ít mặn are wrapped in banana leaves and then steamed.
Nutrition
Tien – Alden
Content Writer
Expertise
Home Cooking, Recipe Development, Food Editor, Beverage Editor, Cooking-video Maker, Asian Food Content Creator
Education
Saigon Tourism College
Advanced Culinary Workshop, Beijing
Vietnamese Traditional Cooking School
American College of Vietnam
Alden is a skilled chef with expertise in Asian cuisines, known for blending traditional Vietnamese and Chinese cooking with contemporary innovations. Alden’s passion for Asian flavors and her creative approach to both food and beverages inspires fellow chefs and those aspiring to enter the field.