Bánh lá

Bánh lá

A plate of cooked bánh tẻ, wrapped with Phrynium placentarium leaves, before being unwrapped for eating
Type	Bánh or dumpling
Place of origin	Vietnam
Main ingredients	Rice
Cookbook: Bánh lá  Media: Bánh lá

A bánh ít wrapped in banana leaf

Bánh lá (/bǎɲ lǎ/), literally "leaf cake", is a category of bánh, or Vietnamese cakes, that consist of a parcel of a variety of rice stuffed with some fillings and wrapped in a leaf or leaves.

Varieties

• Bánh bột lọc - cassava cake packed with shrimp^[1]
• Bánh chưng
• Bánh dừa - glutinous rice mixed with black bean paste cooked in coconut juice, wrapped in coconut leaf. The filling can be mung bean stir-fried in coconut juice or banana.
• Bánh gai - made from the leaves of the "gai" tree (Boehmeria nivea) dried, boiled, ground into small pieces, then mixed with glutinous rice, wrapped in banana leaf. The filling is made from a mixture of coconut, mung bean, peanuts, winter melon, sesames, and lotus seeds.
• Bánh giầy - white, flat, round glutinous rice cake with tough, chewy texture filled with mung bean or served with Vietnamese sausage (Giò lụa)
• Bánh giò - pyramid shaped rice dough dumplings filled with pork, shallot, and wood ear mushroom wrapped in banana leaf^[2]
• Bánh ít
  • Bánh ít lá gai - triangular dumpling wrapped in ramie leaf, similar to Chinese zongzi
  • Bánh ít tro- used in the Dragon Boat Festival (Vietnamese: Tết Đoan Ngọ).
• Bánh khoái
• Bánh nậm - flat rice flour dumpling from Hue, wrapped in a banana leaf
• Bánh nếp
• Bánh phu thê - literally "husband and wife cake"; a sweet cake made of rice or tapioca flour and gelatin, filled with mung bean paste; also spelled bánh xu xê)
• Bánh tẻ
• Bánh tét
• Bánh tro and bánh ú used in the Dragon Boat Festival (Vietnamese: Tết Đoan Ngọ).

References