← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 4 ripe bananas (about 500 g peeled, or 8 small lady-finger bananas), sliced 1 cm thick
• 80 g sugar, divided
• ½ tsp Salt
• 150 g Tapioca starch
• 50 g Rice flour
• 300 ml Water
• 1 tsp oil, for the tin
• 400 ml Coconut milk
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 tsp Tapioca starch, mixed with 1 tbsp water
• 30 g roasted peanuts, crushed
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Toss the banana slices with half the sugar and the salt and leave for 15 min until juicy.
2. Whisk the tapioca starch, rice flour, remaining sugar and water until smooth, then fold in the bananas and their juices.
3. Pour into an oiled 20 cm cake tin and smooth the top. Steam over medium-high heat for 35–40 min, until the batter turns translucent with no white streaks left. Wrap the steamer lid in a tea towel so drips don’t land on the cake.
4. Let the cake cool completely, about 30 min, so it firms up enough to slice.
5. Simmer the coconut milk, sugar and salt, stir in the starch mix and cook for 2–3 min until lightly thickened.
6. Cut the cake into squares with an oiled knife, pour over the coconut sauce and scatter with peanuts and sesame.

Tips

• The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more fragrant the cake.
• Contains peanuts and sesame in the topping; skip them for allergies.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Vicky Pham Helen’s Recipes