Bột lọc cake (steamed clear tapioca cake)

This is an appetizer quite similar to Nậm cake at the first sight because of the main ingredients and the flavor of sweet and spicy sauce.
Photo: ohayvietnam.com

However, thanks to the taste of tapioca flour and ground pork and the different way of processing shrimps, the cake leaves unforgettable feelings. Stuffed with sautéed shrimps and sliced pork belly, the cake of flat tube shape is wrapped in banana leaves and then steamed. After a few minutes, the flour cover turns pliant and translucent, so we can spot the eye-catching pink shrimp inside the cake. For the cake without banana leaves, so-called clear tapioca cake, the cake is boiled not steamed; therefore, the flavor is a little more chewy but less fragrant than the other. Scallion oil, rendered pork fat and fish sauce colored with green chilly are ideal complements.