Banh Da Lon

Posting had been a chore the last few weeks as i was not able to copy and paste.  Only this morning did my friend Ted solved my problem.  What a relieve for me, i could not be happier and it was double happiness as i managed to make this dessert which turned out better than i expected. I tasted this dessert when i was in Paris in 2000 and have been thinking about it since. This is a vietnamese dessert and another name for this dessert is called bánh da heo(literally "pig skin cake").  There is a 'kuih' in Malaysia which is very identical and it is called Kuih Lapis 

Ingredients:
Basic Coconut Batter

250 g sugar
1/2 cup water
1 big can coconut milk Savoy brand 525 ml.plus 100 ml water = 2 1/2 cups
Add the coconut milk mixture, little by little, and mix so the mixture is well blended.

Add the syrup to the batter and sieve batter.

Mung Bean Mixture

Ingredients:

4 ozs skinless mung beans - wash, soak for 2 - 3 hours and then steam until soft
1/2 of the coconut batter (above)

Method:


Measure 1 cup of the cooked mung beans and put into a food processor/blender and add in half of the above batter and process/blend until liquidfied.  Strain batter through a fine sieve.

Batter should be 3 cups  - to make 4 layers of 3/4 cups for each layer.

Pandan mixture

1 tsp pandan paste diluted with 1/2 cup water/pandan leaves juice
1/2 of the coconut batter (above)

Method:

Blend the 4 - 5 pandan leaves and 1/2 cup water in a food processor/blender if using.  Strain through a sieve and squeeze to obtain 1/2 cup

Drain the pandan leaves through a sieve and discard the pandan remains.
Add to the remaining half of the coconut batter and add in 1 tsp pandan paste.

If not using pandan leaves juice just add water to the remaining half of the coconut batter and add in pandan paste.

Batter should be 2 1/2 cups - to make 5 layers of 1/2 cup for each layer.

Steaming Bánh Da L?n

Grease an 8? pan with  a little oil.

Place the pan into the steamer.

Pour about 1/2 cup of the pandan mixture into pan which should be enough to make a full layer.

Steam for about 4 minutes until the layer is no longer liquid so it can support the next layer.

Repeat until you have a total of 9 layers (optional) or until you run out of the mixtures.

Continue to steam another 10 - 15 minutes to fully cook all the layers.

Remove the pan from the steamer.

Let cool and cut into pieces.