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Banh Lot Recipe

Bánh Lọt (Vietnamese Pandan Cendol) with Coconut Sauce

Soft, chewy green bánh lọt strands made from rice flour, tapioca starch and fresh pandan juice, served over ice with silky coconut sauce and palm sugar syrup. A refreshing Vietnamese dessert that is naturally vegan and gluten-free.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Setting time 10 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Calories: 370
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Bánh lọt strands
  • 3/4 cup rice flour 100 g, regular (not glutinous)
  • 3 tbsp tapioca starch 25 g
  • 2 tbsp mung bean starch 20 g, or more tapioca starch
  • 2 1/2 cups pandan juice 600 ml, from about 10 pandan leaves blended with water and strained
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Coconut sauce
  • 1 cup full-fat coconut milk 240 ml
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tsp tapioca starch mixed with 1 tbsp water
Palm sugar syrup
  • 1/2 cup palm sugar or dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
To serve
  • 2 cups crushed ice
  • cooked mung beans or toasted sesame seeds optional

Equipment

  • Blender
  • Fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth
  • Heavy nonstick saucepan
  • Silicone spatula
  • Cendol press or colander with 1/4-inch holes
  • Large bowl of ice water

Method
 

Make the strands
  1. Make pandan juice: Blend chopped pandan leaves with water, then squeeze through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. Measure 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) of juice.
  2. Mix the batter: In a nonstick saucepan, whisk the rice flour, tapioca starch, mung bean starch and salt. Gradually whisk in the pandan juice until completely smooth.
  3. Cook the dough: Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, for 10–12 minutes, until the batter becomes a thick, glossy, slightly translucent dough that pulls away from the pan.
  4. Press into ice water: Set a cendol press or large-holed colander over a big bowl of ice water. While the dough is hot, push it through the holes in batches so short strands drop into the water.
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  5. Set and drain: Leave the strands in the ice water for 10 minutes, then drain.
Sauce, syrup and serving
  1. Coconut sauce: Warm the coconut milk, sugar and salt over medium heat. Stir in the tapioca slurry and simmer 1 minute until lightly thickened. Cool.
  2. Palm sugar syrup: Simmer the palm sugar and water for 3–4 minutes until syrupy. Cool.
  3. Assemble: Divide the bánh lọt among glasses or bowls. Add syrup, top with crushed ice and pour over the coconut sauce. Stir before eating.
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Notes

  • Use regular rice flour. Glutinous (sweet) rice flour will not press into strands.
  • No pandan leaves? Use 2 1/2 cups water plus 1/2–1 tsp pandan extract.
  • Dough too stiff to press? Warm it over low heat with a splash of water.
  • Strands breaking apart? The dough was undercooked; cook until thick and glossy next time.
  • Storage: Best the same day. Keep strands in water or syrup in the fridge up to 1–2 days; coconut sauce up to 3 days. Do not freeze.
  • Calories are an estimate and depend on how much syrup and sauce you use.