Vietnamese mochi balls with dark palm sugar filling (bánh trôi)

{Delicious Vietnam #9}

My grandmother must have been secretly worried about my marriage prospect when I was younger. I climbed trees, fought with the boys and refused to learn knitting or sewing. Oh well, at least I did learn how to cook. But even that led to a lot of disagreement!

The thing was, my grandmom lived in a village north of Hanoi. Her style of cooking was truly (Vietnamese) peasant style. Living through the two big wars, she also got into the habit of cooking simply, economically and never wasting anything. Ever! I once tried to cook Chinese tea eggs using gas cook top and she was astonished! What, hours of simmering, wasting so much gas (which was insanely expensive at the time) just to get some marbled effects on boiled eggs? Thankfully my wonderful father always stepped in at the right time to prevent any ill feelings or unnecessary arguments. And you know, family, we do argue over silly things, even boiled eggs.

Of course after all, I do love my grandmother’s cooking. Her food, simple as it may seem, is wonderful with all the flavours I am familiar with. But, a big but, I am sure I can make better bánh trôi (Vietnamese mochi dumplings) than her.

Bánh trôi is pretty popular in northern Vietnam. It’s our version of mochi dumplings, filled with dark palm sugar, and sprinkled with a mixture of freshly grated coconut and sesame seeds. Usually, it is paired with bánh chay, which is another kind of mochi dumplings, but with mung-bean filling and served in thick syrup.  In my home, bánh trôi is known as Vietnamese ondeh-ondeh. heh.

The trick to make good bánh trôi is really in the ratio of glutinous rice flour and normal rice flour to make the skin. My grandmom used 100% glutinous rice flour, but it yields heavier mochi. The ones sold at the shop are chewy, but with a bite to them. I learned from a friend a long time back that the ratio of 9:1 is just perfect. Tried and tested by me!

I wonder what my grandmother would day if she saw my pink bánh trôi. Actually, I can predict. She would go on for hours on how food coloring was bad for you. True, I didn’t disagree. But I bet she could never go crazy over cute and colorful macaroons like us? :D

This is my entry to Delicious Vietnam #9. This edition is hosted by Indonesian Eats. More details can be found here.

Vietnamese mochi balls with dark palm sugar filling (bánh trôi)

Pay attention to the kind of sugar here. I used dark plam sugar, which is rather soft and intense in flavours. The normal palm sugar from Thailand, which is pale in color, is not suitable. 

{Printable recipe}

Ingredients - [corrected!]
180g glutinous rice flour
20g rice flour
Around 200ml warm water
Filling: 100-150g dark plam sugar, chopped into ½ inch squares
Pan roasted sesame seeds, to sprinkle
Method
Prepare the dough first: mix the two types of flours together. Slowly add in the water, mixing until the dough comes together and is smooth and elastic. Cover and rest.
Pinch a little dough, put 1 piece of sugar in the middle, and then roll into a small ball (size of a marble). Repeat with the rest.
Boil some water in a big pot. Fill another bowl with cold water.
When the water is boiled, add the mochi balls in batches. Bring the water to the boil. The mochi balls are cooked when they are floated to the surface of the pot. Using a slotted spoon, take them out and put them into the bowl of cold water immediately. Repeat with the rest.
Arrange the balls onto small plates. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. These mochi balls are best eaten on the same day they are made.

Note: if you are after the marbled pink mochi balls, color ½ of the dough with food coloring, then pair two colors when rolling the balls.