Fried Rice Flour Cake, or Bot Chien (Bột Chiên), is a familiar dish with Vietnamese people, mainly in the South of Vietnam. The first time I ate Bot Chien is when I was a college student in Ho Chi Minh City, at a small street vendor nearby my school. It tasted so well with crispy fried rice flour cake in combination with fried eggs and fresh vegetables such as pickled carrots & daikon, spring onions and especially green papaya, the one used in Vietnamese Green Papaya Salad.
Unfortunately I didn’t find any green papaya, so I substituted cucumber for it. Although it is not 100% the same with the original version due to the difference in accompanying vegetables, the core is original: Mix rice flour and tapioca starch together, cook on stove, rest, and cut into cubes for frying.
Table of Contents
What is Bot Chien?
There are some notes about the history of bot chien. Although there are several differences, the thing in common is that this dish is a Chinese-Influenced dish. With a large Chinese Community in Saigon, Bot Chien became popular around the city, and other Southern regions. However, I haven’t seen Bot Chien sold in my hometown, Quy Nhon, or in Hoi An, Danang, Hanoi – the big cities in the Middle and North of Vietnam.
Therefore, to enjoy the original Vietnamese Fried Rice Flour Cake while travelling in Vietnam, you should find a street vendor in Ho Chi Minh City, that’s the best.
Ingredients
The list of ingredients for Bot Chien Recipe is always basic. You’ll need rice flour and tapioca flour, two close ingredients with all Asian people. A pinch of salt to enhance the flavor, a bit cooking oil to make the texture smoother and to avoid sticking, that’s all the things you should prepare for this great yet simple dish.
- 280 grams (2 cups) Rice Flour (White Rice Flour)
- 60g (5 tbsp) Tapioca flour
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 780ml (3 ¼ cups) water. For firmer cake, use 720ml (3 cups) water.
When serving bot chien, to add more flavors and nutrition values, after frying these rice flour cake, people usually crack several eggs on. Therefore, also prepare some eggs for the dish. About accompanying vegetables, you are free to select several available types in the nearby stores or in your garden. I recommend green papaya, as it’s indeed special to go along with bot chien. Besides, pickled carrot and daikon with a sweet and sour taste will help to enhance the dish, and green vegetables such as spring onions and cucumber play as a green and juicy topping.
For the dipping sauce along with the dish, you can go with several tbsp of soy sauce, or mix soy sauce and chili sauce. Besides, you can make a special sauce from soy sauce, chili sauce, lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch to serve with bot chien.
How to make Vietnamese Fried Rice Flour Cake (Bot Chien)
As I mentioned above, the ingredient is simple, how about cooking process? Yes, it’s simple too. However, it will take you around 20 minutes to cook the batter on stove, and one more hour or more to wait the cake to settle. Let’s start.
Step 1. Mixing the batter on a pan
I always think about reducing the number of bowl and spoon to be washed, so I’ll mixing the flour right in the pan we use for cooking.
- Mix rice flour, tapioca flour, cooking oil and a pinch of salt with water in a pan. Mix gently until all combined into a white and thick batter.
- If you find it difficult to mix all the things at once, pour ½ the amount of water into the flour mixture and mix them well, then pour the rest in and stir evenly.
Step 2. Boiling the batter on stove until thickening into cake
- Cook the batter on medium heat. Once the batter starts to boil, you must stir them continuously to avoid burning the flour layer which directly contacts with the pan’s surface, as well as to keep the batter cooked evenly. I recommend cooking it on stove instead of using microwave, as microwave cooking can’t achieve an even doneness like stovetop cooking.
- After 20-30 minutes, the batter is cooked and thickens into rice flour cake.
Step 3. Transferring into glass boxes and cutting cake into cubes
- Transfer the cake into glass boxes for resting and forming. You should use square or rectangular boxes to form square/rectangular shape for the cake, it would be easier to cut into small rectangular cubes. Rest the cake in 1-2 hours so that it can cool down and form. While waiting, you can prepare vegetables. Wash and shred carrot/cucumber or green papaya.
- Remove it from the boxes and cut it into small cubes, around ½ inch (~1.5cm) thick, ½ inch (1.5cm) wide and 1 inch (2.5cm) long. You can cut into bigger cubes but remember to keep the thickness of around ½ inch or just a bit more, for quicker frying step as well as for more beautiful look of the final dish.
Step 4. Frying rice flour cake cubes and add eggs
- On a pan, add 2-3 tbsp of oil. Add an adequate numbers of Bot chien cubes in and fry on medium heat. Don’t overcrowd because it can lead to uneven frying.
- Regularly check if one side has turned golden-brown yet, then flip all the cubes in the pan. Keep checking until both sides of each cube are brown.
- Finally, crack 1-2 eggs into the pan and shake the pan gently to spread the eggs evenly around fried rice flour cake. Fry in 3-4 minutes or more to achieve your desired doneness of the eggs.
Step 5. Serving
- Finally, transfer your bot chien to a large plate. Sprinkle shredded green papaya, cucumber, carrot or pickled carrot & daikon on top.
- Prepare the sauce: You can simply use soy sauce, or a mix of soy sauce and chili sauce. If you have more time, turn on the heat and cook 2 tbsp soy sauces, 1 tbsp sugar, ½ tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp chili sauce/ ketchup and 4 tbsp water together. Once it boils, pour a mix of 1 tsp cornstarch and 2 tsp water into the sauce to thicken it. Remember to taste adjust the final flavor of the sauce.
- Serve Bot Chien hot for the best taste and texture.
Storing The Leftover
From my experiences of making and eating Vietnamese Fried Rice Cake, we can store cut Bot Chien Cubes in fridge for maximum 5 days, as long as all the tools we used to cut them (cutting board, knife) are clean, and the container is airtight. When you would like to eat, take them out from fridge and simply fry, add eggs, done.
How about freezing Bot Chien? It’s also possible. Transfer the cubes to a zip bag and freeze them not more than 3 months. To thaw, leave them at room temperature or in fridge until they are completely defrosted, then you can fry them normally.
Tips and tricks for Perfect Bot Chien
Although this is a simple dish with simple ingredients, also pay attention to some points below to make it perfect:
- Continuously stir the batter on stove for even doneness and lumps avoidance.
- Rest the rice flour cake until it completely cools down before cutting for frying. The hot cake will be extremely sticky to the knife, make it difficult to cut beautifully.
- Fry on medium heat, not high heat. If you fry Bot Chien on high heat, it may be out of your control especially when you flip it.
- It should have some vegetables to eat along with Vietnamese Fried Rice Flour Cake. The fried cake itself is quite oily, so fresh vegetables will help to balance the taste.
With these tips, you’ll be successful with Bot Chien, definitely! Give it a try and share me how is your outcome!
Bot Chien (Vietnamese Fried Rice Flour Cake)
Equipment
Ingredients
Rice Flour Cake
- 280 grams Rice Flour (White Rice Flour) 2 cups
- 60 g Tapioca starch 5 tbsp
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 780 ml (3 ¼ cups) water For firmer cake, use 720ml (3 cups) water
For Frying Rice Flour Cake
- 2-3 eggs
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
Dipping sauce (Optional)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chili sauce/ ketchup
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tsp corn starch mixed in 2 tsp water
Instructions
Step 1. Mixing the batter on a pan
- Mix rice flour, tapioca flour, cooking oil and a pinch of salt with water in a pan. Mix gently until all combined into a white and thick batter.
- If you find it difficult to mix all the things at once, pour ½ the amount of water into the flour mixture and mix them well, then pour the rest in and stir evenly.
Step 2. Boiling the batter on stove until thickening into cake
- Cook the batter on medium heat. Once the batter starts to boil, you must stir them continuously to avoid burning the flour layer which directly contacts with the pan’s surface, as well as to keep the batter cooked evenly. I recommend cooking it on stove instead of using microwave, as microwave cooking can’t achieve an even doneness like stovetop cooking. After 20-30 minutes, the batter is cooked and thickens into rice flour cake.
Step 3. Transferring into glass boxes and cutting cake into cubes
- Transfer the cake into glass boxes for resting and forming. You should use square or rectangular boxes to form square/rectangular shape for the cake, it would be easier to cut into small rectangular cubes. Rest the cake in 1-2 hours so that it can cool down and form. While waiting, you can prepare vegetables. Wash and shred carrot/cucumber or green papaya.
- Remove it from the boxes and cut it into small cubes, around ½ inch (~1.5cm) thick, ½ inch (1.5cm) wide and 1 inch (2.5cm) long. You can cut into bigger cubes but remember to keep the thickness of around ½ inch or just a bit more, for quicker frying step as well as for more beautiful look of the final dish.
Step 4. Frying rice flour cake cubes and add eggs
- On a pan, add 2-3 tbsp of oil. Add an adequate numbers of Bot chien cubes in and fry on medium heat. Don’t overcrowd because it can lead to uneven frying.
- Regularly check if one side has turned golden-brown yet, then flip all the cubes in the pan. Keep checking until both sides of each cube are brown.
- Finally, crack 1-2 eggs into the pan and shake the pan gently to spread the eggs evenly around fried rice flour cake. Fry in 3-4 minutes or more to achieve your desired doneness of the eggs.
Step 5. Serving
- Transfer your bot chien to a large plate. Garnish the dish with shredded green papaya, cucumber, carrot or pickled carrots & daikon on top.
- Prepare the sauce: You can simply use soy sauce, or a mix of soy sauce and chili sauce. If you have more time, turn on the heat and cook 2 tbsp soy sauces, 1 tbsp sugar, ½ tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp chili sauce/ ketchup and 4 tbsp water together. Once it boils, pour a mix of 1 tsp cornstarch and 2 tsp water into the sauce to thicken it. Remember to taste adjust the final flavor of the sauce.
- Serve Bot Chien hot for the best taste and texture.
Notes
Nutrition
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