Vietnamese Bánh Tét Instant Pot Recipe sticky rice mung bean pork cake lunar new year

glutinous rice

🥗Healthier: brown rice

💰Cheaper: regular rice

Brown rice adds fiber and nutrients.

pork

🥗Healthier: tofu

💰Cheaper: chicken

Tofu provides a plant-based option.

coconut milk

🥗Healthier: almond milk

💰Cheaper: evaporated milk

Almond milk is lower in calories.

mung beans

🥗Healthier: lentils

💰Cheaper: split peas

Lentils are a good source of protein.

The night before:

Wash the mung bean and rice 3-4 times until the water is clean.

Soak the rice and mung bean overnight (or at least 4 hours) with about an inch of water above.

Add a few drops of green food color to the rice soak bath to add some color.

Cut the pork belly into about an inch-wide strips.

Add all the ingredients to the pork belly and marinate overnight or at least 4 hours.

The next morning:

Cook the mung bean in a rice cooker under the normal white rice setting; add 1 tsp salt and just enough water to cover the beans.

Once cooked, line a cookie tray with plastic wrap and the mung bean; cover it with another layer of plastic wrap and flatten it into a thin even sheet.

Cut mung bean into 8 equal portions; cover and let cool.

To prevent it from sticking, flatten each mung bean piece about the length of a sriracha bottle (up to the bottom of the lid) so it will fit into the Instant Pot, between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.

Put 1 or 2 strips of pork in the middle and roll into a cylinder.

Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap; Repeat for all 8 pieces and put aside.

Rinse the rice dry.

In a large pan, add a can of coconut milk and the same amount of water (just fill the empty can with water and pour in).

Add 2 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of pandan extract and mix well.

Add the rice and mix on medium high heat until all the liquid is absorbed (about 10-15 min).

The rice should be half cooked and sticky.

Remove rice from heat and divide into 8 equal portions.

Cut the banana leaves into about 10-11 inches in length.

Layer 2 pieces with the smooth side facing down on the cutting board and the veins on the leaves are parallel to the board.

Add a 3rd piece with the smooth side facing up and the vines perpendicular to the board.

Put a piece of rice on top of the leaves; cover with plastic wrap and flatten it big enough to cover the mung bean/pork roll.

Remove the plastic wrap and place a mung bean roll in the middle.

Pull up the first banana leaf and roll the rice to cover the mung bean; now pull the other 2 leaves and roll into a cylinder shaped roll.

Use a spatula to push in the rice on both ends to cover the mung bean evenly.

Fold in both ends; cover each end with 1 or 2 pieces of leaves and hold them together with a rubber band.

String together both ends twice tightly.

Do not cut the strings.

Make a loop; twist it twice and wrap it around the roll; pull and tighten each loop.

Repeat process every inch until the end of the roll.

Double knot at the end; cut the string and tie it on the opposite end to make a loop.

Cut off the rubber bands. You don’t want to boil the rolls with the rubber bands in the water.

Cooking (2 methods): Method 1: Place a trivet first into the pot then place 6 rolls in the Instant Pot. Fill it up to the maximum water line. Close the lid and select the meat/stew option (this will cook it at the lowest pressure cooker setting). Set it to 120 min start cooking. Once done, it naturally release pressure (NPR) about 20 min. Remove the rolls and immediately run it under cold water (this will keep it from turning soggy). Stand the rolls straight up to let them drain and dry.

Method 2: Cover the rolls with water like above. This time select high pressure and set to 40 minutes (this will cook it at the highest heat level). NPR, rinse and dry like above.

Once the rolls are completely dry, wrap them with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level: