Banh cuon chay - Vietnamese Vegetarian Stuffed Rice Rolls

These Vietnamese stuffed rice rolls are tender and chewy, filled with a savoury filling to be topped with vegan Vietnamese dipping sauce!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Servings: -40 rolls (about 6-8 servings)

Calories: 3384kcal

Author: Lisa Le

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion diced
1 large carrot grated or finely diced
3 bundles of mung bean/glass noodles approx. 3 cups dried
2 cups of chopped fried tofu about 3 cups of fried cubes, chopped is about 2 cups
1 cup wood ear fungus dried, often called Black Fungus, can be found in Asian markets
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with chopped cucumber steamed bean sprouts, mint leaves, lettuce, and fried onions with Vietnamese dipping sauce.

Combine rice flour, warm water and oil in a bowl. Stir well until all the rice flour is hydrated. Set aside.

Soak glass noodles in hot water for 10 minutes. Once they're pliable/soft, drain and use scissors to cut into 1 cm pieces. Set aside.
Soak the wood ear fungus in warm water until soft. Slice into small slivers and set aside for cooking.
In a large pan over medium heat, stir-fry the onion and carrots with oil for 3-4 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Add the chopped noodles, sliced fungus and about 1/2 tsp salt and continue cooking, stirring continuously for about 5-7 minutes (the noodles will get softer and absorb the moisture from the cooking process.
Add the chopped tofu and another dash of salt. Continue until everything is cooked through, then remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat a small, non-stick pan over medium high heat and pour one ladle-full of batter (make sure you stir the batter before pouring) onto the pan. Cover with a lid and cook for about 1 minute. Take the lid off the pan and continue to cook for another minute.
Flip the crepe onto a cutting board/plate and fill the crepe with the filling. Tuck in edges then roll to wrap the filling. Transfer to a platter.
Repeat until all ingredients are gone. If you want to do the 2 pan process that my family taught me, see the notes below.
Serve with vietnamese dipping sauce and the greens mentioned in the ingredients list.

Heat two small non-stick pans on medium high and keep the rice crepe batter with a ladle beside the stove. Also set up a plate or cutting board for you to fill and wrap the crepes (I recommend wearing vinyl gloves if you don't think your hands can handle hot crepes).
Keep the filling you just cooked next to the plate/cutting board for quick access.
Stir the batter well to mix the settled rice flour. Pour a ladle-full into preheated pan #1 and cover with a lid. Let cook for about 1 minute, then remove the lid (keep on heat).
Now pour a ladle-full into pan #2 and cover with the lid that you took off pan #1. Flip pan #1 over onto the cutting board/plate and pour another ladle-full onto pan #1 and take the lid from pan #2 and cover pan #1.
Now take a spoonful of the filling and place in a strip in the middle of the crepe (on the crispy side). Tuck in the edges then roll to keep the filling inside. Move to a plate and then flip the crepe from pan #2 onto the cutting board (the crispy side will be facing up).
Fill pan #2 with batter (make sure you stir before pouring) and take the lid from pan #1 and put it on #2. Fill the crepe and repeat the process!
It sounds complicated but once you do it, you just get into a rhythm and before you know it, you're out of ingredients and you've got like 2 platters of rice rolls!