This given diagram demonstrates a linear process of how to make a perfect Vietnamese ‘banh chung’, which is known as the traditional speciality of Vietnam during Tet holiday.
Overall, the process had 10 steps, which can also separate into 3 main stages: From step 1-4 is for the preparation, step 5-6 is to assembling ingredients and wrapping, and the last steps are to cooking and finishing the dish.
We started by getting glutinous rice soak overnight, so the rice will come out softer after cooking. Moreover, mung beans need to be soaked and cooked before assembling. Besides that, pork should be marinated with some sort of spice, mostly with pepper, salt and shallots for a more savory taste. After all the preparation, we insert 4 clean folded phrynium leaves inside the mold, making sure each leaf fits with the corner of the mold. Assemble all the ingredients in an order of ‘rice-beans-pork-beans-rice’, then wrap the whole fillings with more leaves and finally tie the cake tightly with bamboo strings.
To perfectly cook chung cakes, we should boil it in around 10-12 hours depending on the size of the cakes or the texture we wanted, for instance, the longer we boil, the softer and stickier texture we’ll get. After cooking, the cakes should be taken out and be compressed with a weighted object on top, this will reshape the chung cake in case it loses its original square shape. Lastly, let the cakes cool at room temperature, unwrap the cakes and chung cakes are ready to be served.