Bánh Tét/ Chưng

5 cups long-grain sticky rice

1 14-ounce cans of coconut juice
1 1/2 tablespoon sea salt

2 2/3 cup dried, hulled, and split yellow mung beans

1 1/4 pounds boneless pork chop (or pork butt), with some skin and fat

1 medium-sized onion, minced
3 tablespoons of sea salt

3 teaspoons black pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

Night Before:

1. Soak the banana leaves, placing them in a large roasting pan and adding water to cover. Put a plate on top of the leaves to keep them submerged.

2. Cut the pork into pieces. Add the onion, fish sauce, pepper, and pork to a bowl and mix well. Let marinate overnight

3. Soak the rice in coconut juice and let it sit for a 1/2 hour. Then, cover it with three inches of water and let it sit overnight.

4. Place the mung beans in a bowl and rinse under cold water until the water is clear. Drain, then add enough cold water to cover beans by 1 inch. Let soak overnight.

The Morning:

5. Drain the mung beans. Fill the steamer bottom halfway with water. Bring to a rolling boil.  Put mung beans in the steamer tray and spread them out evenly. Place the tray in the steamer of boiling water and cover. Steam for about 8 minutes, or until the mung beans are tender. Remove the tray from the steamer bottom and set aside until the beans cool.

6. Process the beans in a food processor until it reaches a fluffy consistency. It should look like fine cornmeal but should hold together when you pinch a small bit between your fingers.

7. Drain the rice. Gradually mix in the salt, sprinkling it over the rice and using your hands to distribute it well.

8. Drain the banana leaves, rinse, and set aside.

Assemble and Boil the Cakes

9. Put a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil on your work surface then Banana leaves, shiny side up and facing you. (This allows the green of the banana leaves to dye the rice while cooking).

10.  Layering the ingredients inside the leaf.

11. Add the prepared rice. Use the back of a large spoon to distribute the rice evenly. Then mung beans and pork.

Wrapping Bánh Chưng.

12. Repeat steps 9 through 11 for the remaining 4 cakes, then wrap the rolls tightly and securely fold in the sides.  Tie twine around the rolls to secure it from unwarapping.
Bánh Chưng before cooking.
13. Fill a 12-quart stockpot half full with water. Place the cakes in the pot. Add enough water to cover the cakes. To keep the cakes from floating, place a heavy ceramic plate on top to gently weigh down.  When the cakes no longer float (about 3 hours into cooking), remove the ceramic plates.

14. After the seven hours, transfer the cooked cakes to a pot of cold water.
Banh chung after cooking.
Serve the Cakes

15. unwrap and discard the bamboo leaves (but keep the banana leaves intact).

16.  Cut the cake into slices. Because a knife drags through the sticky rice and yanks out the prized morsels within, twine is best for cutting through the cake.