Traditional Vietnamese Recipe - Bánh áp chao - Cao Bang Fried Duck dumplings

Bánh áp chao - Cao Bang Fried Duck dumplings

Ingredients

Batter

150g Rice flour

350g Glutinous flour

25g Salt

350- ml of warm water

Filling

300g Boneless duck meat (You can just use duck breasts for ease)

20 g Five spice powder

10g Salt

10g Pepper

1 Small taro or sweet potato (peeled and finely grated)

Served with pickled papaya and carrots, and platter of lettuce, mint, coriander.

2 L Cooking oil for frying.

1 shallow soup ladle to use as a mold (Or if you can find a Banh Tom Chien Mold)

Instructions

After removing the bones, duck meat is washed, cut into small pieces and marinated with spices. Put in the fridge.

Mix rice flour and glutinous rice flour and salt together.

Mix with a sufficient amount of warm water and mix well to form a thick paste( batter mixture should resemble a thick paste – add water slowly to gain consistency mixing between each addition, once a thick paste stop adding water). Mix in the taro – batter should resemble really thick pancake batter.

For ease of use pour batter into a 2L jug to pour batter into molds when cooking.

Incubate batter for 3-4 hours before using.

When the duck meat has absorbed the spices and the batter is ready, proceed to make and fry the dumplings.

Put the pan on the stove, fill it with oil, and heat it up. When the oil is hot, dip the cake mold/soup ladle in the frying oil mixture to create a non-stick coating.

Depending on the size of your ladle, pour 1- 2 tablespoons of into the ladle/mold to create a base. Top with 1 – 2 tablespoons of marinated duck meat in the middle, continue to add 2 tablespoons of flour on top to cover the duck meat, smooth over the top with a spatula.

Lower the ladle/mold into a pan of boiling oil until the outer layer of dough thickens, then remove dumpling from the ladle/mold, and continue to cook. Remove ladle/mold from the oil pan and continue to make dumplings.

Whilst cooking, use a colander to turn the dumpling regularly to evenly fry the dumpling. Cook for about 3-4 minutes until the dumpling is crispy, and the outer shell turns yellow, remove from oil and place dumplings on a wire rack to drain any excess oil.

When the dumpling has cooled slightly, use scissors to cut into thirds. Place onto a plate.

Enjoy dumplings with sweet fish dipping sauce, pickled vegetables, and a platter of leafy vegetables.

Enjoy.