Bánh Bò (Honeycomb Rice Cake)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a teaspoon of the sugar. Leave 10 minutes until foamy.

Warm the coconut milk with the remaining sugar and salt until the sugar dissolves — warm, never hot, or the yeast dies. Whisk in the rice flour, tapioca starch, yeast water and pandan until smooth. It should be a thin, pourable batter.

Cover and leave in a warm place 2–3 hours until the surface is full of small bubbles and it smells faintly sour. Stir once gently to knock out the largest bubbles.

💡 The honeycomb comes from the ferment, not from baking powder. Skip the wait and you get a flat, dense disc. The sour smell is correct.

Steamed version: oil small cups or a tin, heat them empty in the steamer 3 minutes, then pour in the batter to three-quarters and steam over a hard boil 15 minutes with the lid wrapped in a cloth. Baked version: pour into a hot, oiled 20 cm tin and bake at 180 °C for 40 minutes until the top is golden.

💡 The moulds must be HOT when the batter goes in. Cold tins give no tunnels — the batter has to set on the sides while the bubbles rise through the middle.

Cool 10 minutes before turning out. Cut a piece open — the inside should be full of long vertical holes.