Vietnamese Cassava Coconut Cake – Banh Khoai Mi
Lately, I’ve been reading and hearing about celiac disease afflicting so many people around the world. More and more people are searching for recipes that are gluten free. In South East Asia, many desserts/snack are made without wheat flour because until quite recently wheat products were not commonly found in the region. Thus, indigenous people have been using regular rice flour, glutinous flour, tapioca starch and mung bean flour to create both savory and sweet snacks.
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Today, I am featuring a delicious gluten-free cake from Vietnam. My husband loves it because the texture, flavor and main ingredients bring back memories of a similar cake called Cassava Pone from the Caribbean. The texture of the cake is firm and slightly gelatinous and the taste, enriched with coconut flavor is not too sweet. The recipe below is excerpted from the book “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen“ by Andrea Nguyen, a Vietnamese born food writer and cooking instructor, who is extremely knowledgeable and very passionate about Vietnamese cuisine.
Andrea and I have been corresponding since 2007 prompted by my search for a good Pho Bo recipe. She convinced me to try her Pho recipe and my family has been hooked on home made Pho ever since. Andrea has been quite generous with her time which I truly appreciate. You can check out her blog at Viet World Kitchen.
Banh Khoai Mi [BAn KwAy Mee] is a simple cake to make with very few ingredients. You don’t need a mixer or special mould to bake this cake. It is that easy. However, before you make the cake you need to prepare Ground Steamed Mung Bean, which gives a pale yellow tinge, richness, and firmness to the batter.
Please note that I made a very small modification which I annotated accordingly.
Vietnamese Cassava Coconut Cake – Banh Khoai Mi
From: Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors (Ten Speed Press, 2006) by Andrea Nguyen
Published with permission from Andrea Nguyen, www.vietworldkitchen.com
Gather these ingredients:
1 pkg (1 pound) frozen grated cassava, thawed and well drained in a sieve
1 ½ cups sugar
2 ½ Tbsp cornstarch (I used 3 Tbsp tapioca starch to give a more toothsome texture)
1/3 cups water
1 2/3 cups coconut milk, canned or greshly made (I added 1/2 tsp fine salt)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup lightly packed Ground Steamed Mung Beans
Tools you’ll need:
Measuring cups
Sieve
Whisk
1 Medium & 1 Large mixing bowls
9- or 10- inch round cake pan, 2-inch sides
Parchment paper
What to do:
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Oil a 9- or 10-inch round cake pan with at least 2-inch sides and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Pick through the cassava, discarding any large chunks or stringy pieces. Set aside.
- To make the batter, in a bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. In another bowl, whisk together the water, coconut milk, and egg until blended. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the mung bean and cassava and whisk gently until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for about 1 1/4 hours or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is yellow with patches tinged golden brown. Remove from the oven and put on a rack to cool completely. The cake will rise slightly and then fall during baking.
- Run a knife around the pan sides to loosen the cake and unmold the cake onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges to serve.
When I drain the grated cassava, I line the sieve with double layers of paper towel and fold the paper towel to completely cover the cassava while draining. The extra moisture/juice from the cassava is absorbed by the paper towel which results in a firmer cake.
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the texture of this cake is a delight..great job!
Thank you, Ravenous Couple.
I’ve been lucky to be able to eat some of the goodies made from this book by the woman, herself, as I’m friends with Andrea Nguyen. Let me tell you, it is a TREAT to get invited to her house for dinner. If I could, I’d move in, so I could eat like that every night.
Carolyn, you are one lucky lady to have been invited to Andrea’s house for dinner.
I agree, there are so many gf eaters now. I really get a good response when I post a GF recipe! I’ve had something similar but it’s a Fijian cake!
Hi Lorraine,
Fijian cake? That’s very interesting and I like to learn more about it.
Would you send me the link to your GF recipe?
This sounds familiar to my palette. I think my Filipino mom made something similar. I can almost taste this and from your description, I know the texture well. At this point in my life, I think it’s about time I try my hand at something like this. Though I’m not allergic to gluten foods, it’s good to know this is gluten free and safe.
Shanti,
I believe the Filipino version is called Bibingkang Kamoteng-Kahoy (Cassave Tea Cake). It has a very similar ingredients list as Banh Khoai Mi except that the Vietnamese version doesn’t have any topping.
Oh that looks fantastic, I love coconut but what does a cassava taste like?
Patty,
Cassava has a delicate taste similar to potato. Depending on the species and where they’re cultivated, some cassava have slightly sweet flavor while others are bland or even bitter. For this cake, we use the “sweet” cassava variety. They’re sold in 1 lb package at the frozen section of Asian grocery stores. For convenience, get the grated ones.