Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cakes

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Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

Resting Time: 2 30

Total Time: 3

Servings:

Calories: 168kcal

Ingredients

1 ½ tsp. active dry yeast
½ cup warm water at 100°F
1 tsp. sugar
4 cups rice flour
1 Tbsp. tapioca starch
1 can full-fat coconut milk 13.5 oz
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
2 cups warm water

Optional

Food colorings
Vegetable oil for oiling the muffin pans or molds

Instructions

In a medium bowl, mix ½ cup warm water (approximately 100°F), yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar until combined. Let it rest for 10 min. or until it becomes frothy.
In a large mixing bowl, sift the rice flour, tapioca starch, and salt. Add two cups of warm water and whisk until smooth. Pour in the activated yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Cover the batter with a lid and let it rest for at least 2 hours.
After 2 hours, heat the coconut milk with the sugar in a saucepan on low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Make sure the mixture is no hotter than 100°F.
Add the coconut milk with sugar, plus the vanilla extract to the yeast batter and stir. Pop any bubbles on top to avoid air bubbles in the finished cakes.
If using food coloring, divide the batter into 4 medium bowls. Add a few drops of coloring to three of the bowls and stir to combine. Let rest for 30 minutes.
Grease cake molds or a mini muffin pan. Fill the steamer basin ¾ full with water. Place the molds or pan into the steamer and bring the water to a boil.
Stir the batter and pour some until ¾ of each mold. Cover the steamer and let them steam for 6 minutes on medium heat or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove the molds from the steamer and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Serve steamed rice cakes with optional coconut sauce (see above). Enjoy!

Nutrition

Sweet Vietnamese steamed rice flour cakes, or bahn no hap, are an amazing dessert or snack. Bahn bo hap, also called cow cakes, are sweet and fluffy, and have a gorgeous honeycomb interior that gives them an irresistible chew.

Why You’ll Love This Vietnamese Banh Bo Hap Recipe

This Vietnamese steamed rice cake recipe is easy to follow and I give you plenty of tips and tricks to ensure a perfect outcome! Cow cakes are a bit difficult nonetheless, so if you’re looking for an easier recipe, try this Simple & Easy Carrot Cake.

Bahn bo hap are a great gluten and dairy-free snack or dessert. Maybe you bought a pack of rice flour some time ago and then realized you had no idea how to use it. This Vietnamese steamed rice cake recipe is what you were looking for!

They’re amazingly fluffy, sweet, chewy, coconut-y, and, not to mention, insanely cute. You can add food coloring of your choice to make them colorful and more appealing to children. Or skip it to have a classic off-white tone.

I’ve included a recipe for creamy coconut sauce to drizzle over these hot rice cakes. They’re delightful on their own, but adding coconut sauce and some sesame seeds or toasted coconut shavings makes them divine.

What Are Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cakes Made Of?

The ingredient list for making bahn bo hap isn’t that long. You can find most items at your local Asian market or online.

For activating the yeast:

1 ½ tsp. active dry yeast
½ cup warm water (at 100°F)
1 tsp. sugar

For the batter:

4 cups rice flour (NOT the glutinous kind)
1 Tbsp. tapioca starch
1 can full-fat coconut milk (400ml or 13.5 oz)
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
2 cups warm water
Optional: food colorings (most typical are green, pink, and yellow)
Vegetable oil for oiling the muffin pans or molds

Optional coconut sauce:

1 Tbsp. cornstarch
¼ cup water
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
¼ tsp. salt
Toasted coconut shavings or sesame seeds to garnish

How To Make Vietnamese Steamed Rice Flour Cakes

Step 1: Activate the yeast

In a measuring glass, bring ½ cup water to approximately 100°F (38°C). Add the active dry yeast and sugar, and stir to combine. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes or until it becomes frothy.

Step 2: Make the batter

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the rice flour, tapioca starch, and salt. Add two cups of warm water and whisk until smooth.

Pour in the activated yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Cover the batter with a lid and let it rest for at least 2 hours. The more time it rests, the fluffier the cakes will be.

Step 3: Add the coconut milk and sugar

After 2 hours, you should see air bubbles on the surface of the batter and it will have grown in size. It’s time to add the coconut milk and sugar for flavor.

Heat the coconut milk with the sugar in a saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Make sure the mixture is no hotter than 100°F or else it’ll kill the yeast in the batter.

Step 4: Combine the yeast batter with the coconut milk, sugar, and vanilla extract

Add the coconut milk with sugar, plus the vanilla extract to the yeast batter and give it a good stir. Pop any bubbles on top to avoid air bubbles in the finished cakes.

Step 5: Distribute batter and add food coloring

If you’re using food coloring, divide the batter into 4 medium bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring to three of the bowls (I left one without coloring) and stir to combine.

Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.

Step 6: Prepare and heat the cake molds in the steamer

Now comes the fun part. Grease cake molds or a mini muffin pan with oil. Fill the steamer basin ¾ full with water. Place the molds or pan into the steamer and bring the water to a boil to heat them.

Step 7: Fill molds with batter and steam until done

Stir the batter and pour some until ¾ of each mold, then cover the steamer. Let them steam for about 6 minutes on medium heat or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Adjust the steaming time according to the size of your molds.

Remove the molds or mini muffin pan from the steamer and allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes before removing them.

Step 5: Serve with optional coconut sauce

To make the coconut sauce, first, combine the cornstarch with water to make a cornstarch slurry. Add sugar, coconut milk, salt, and cornstarch slurry to a small saucepan. Heat on medium, constantly stirring until the sauce thickens.

Serve steamed rice cakes with optional coconut sauce and top with toasted coconut shavings or sesame seeds to garnish. They’re also good as is with a cup of tea or coffee. Enjoy!

Refrigerate any remaining cakes for up to 1 week. To reheat, steam them for 2 minutes or use the microwave to heat them until warm.

Notes & Tips

If the yeast mixture doesn’t become frothy after 10 minutes, your yeast has expired. You need fresh active dry yeast for this recipe to be successful.
A few tips to help the batter rise: if it’s cold in your house, place the batter in your oven with the light on, on top of a heater, or a heated floor. In the summer, room temperature usually works fine.
Don’t go overboard with the food coloring – a couple of drops of liquid or gel food coloring will do the trick. Remember that the color will be more intense after steaming the cakes.
Gel food coloring requires a lot of mixing so make sure you mix it well. Otherwise, you’ll end up with streaks of food coloring in the rice cakes.
Use a skimmer or a spoon to remove bubbles from the top of the batter. The bubble won’t affect the consistency of the cakes, but they compromise their looks. You can also strain the entire batter before adding food coloring to make it smoother.
I haven’t tried substituting any of the ingredients in this recipe but would love to know if you can use cornstarch or cassava flour instead of tapioca starch. Let me know if you try it!
Make sure you whisk the batter before pouring it into the molds since the flour tends to separate from the liquid.
While steaming the rice cakes, wrap a kitchen towel around the steamer lid to absorb any excess moisture. This will prevent water from dripping on top of the cakes and creating cracks.
Use a trusted brand of full-fat coconut milk for this recipe. You want the kind that comes in a can. Since coconut is what flavors these delicious morsels, the quality must be up to your standards.
Make sure to steam the cake molds or muffin pan before adding the batter. This will help the cakes rise quicker and cook more evenly.
Be careful not to burn yourself when removing the rice cakes from the steamer. Use tongs for the cake molds or thick kitchen towels for the mini muffin pans.
If using cake molds, glasses, or jars, make sure they’re all about the same size. You want the cakes to all be done at the same time.
I find that it’s best to have two mini muffin pans. This way you can steam the second batch of cakes while the first batch is cooling.

How Do You Steam Rice Cakes Without A Steamer?

If you don’t have a steamer, don’t fret. There are a few ways you can create a steamer at home with what you have. You can use a wok or a large pot as your steamer.

Make sure your molds or muffin pan fits inside the pot or wok. And don’t fill it up with water past the midline of your muffin pan or cake molds. Otherwise, the water can overflow and mix with the batter as the cakes steam (something I’ve learned from trial and error).

Don’t forget to cover the pot or wok as you steam the rice cakes. And surround the lid with a kitchen towel to absorb any excess moisture that evaporates.

Are Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cakes Gluten-Free?

Yes, Vietnamese steamed rice cakes are naturally gluten-free. They’re made with rice flour and tapioca. These fluffy steamed cakes also happen to be dairy-free. Coconut milk is what gives them a creamy aromatic flavor.

What’s The Difference Between Banh Bo Hap Vs Banh Bo Nuang?

Both bahn bo hap and bahn bo nuang are spectacular Vietnamese desserts. They have similar ingredients and both have that gorgeous honeycomb interior.

The difference is that bahn bo hap are individual steamed rice cakes, while bahn bo nuang is one large baked honeycomb cake. Bahn bo nuang is also flavored with pandan extract which gives it an unmistakable bright green color.