The Best Vietnamese Fried Rice Cake | Bánh bột chiên

If you love street foods, you will love bánh bột chiên! Also called bột chiên, bot chien trứng or Vietnamese fried rice cake, it's chewy rice flour cakes pan fried until golden and crispy, then cooked with eggs and topped with green onions. I serve it with a sweet and tangy soy dipping sauce and a big pile of my Vietnamese pickled carrots and daikon, just like the street stalls in Saigon.

If you're a fan of Vietnamese street food like my Vietnamese pizza (bánh tráng nướng) and crispy egg rolls, this one's for you. It makes a fun snack or lunch, and it's even better next to Vietnamese pork skewers, fresh spring rolls and a little bowl of nước chấm for dipping.

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Bánh bột chiên is a Vietnamese fried rice flour cake which is made of rice flour and tapioca starch. The batter is cooked on the stovetop, then steamed. Once cooled, the rice cakes are fried with eggs and topped with green onions and fried shallots. These savory rice cakes are then dipped into a sweet and savory dipping sauce served with a side of pickled carrots and daikon.

🥢 What is bột chiên?

Bột chiên means "fried flour" in Vietnamese, and bột chiên trứng means fried flour with egg. It's one of the most popular after school snacks in Saigon. It started in the Chinese community of Chợ Lớn, Saigon's Chinatown, and is a cousin of Teochew chai tow kway (fried radish cake). The Vietnamese version usually skips the radish and uses a simple rice flour and tapioca starch batter, so the rice cakes are extra chewy.

You might also see bột chiên giòn, the extra crispy style where the rice cakes are fried longer in more oil until they're crunchy all over, with the egg cooked around them. Either way, it's usually served with pickled papaya or pickled carrots and daikon and a sweet soy sauce.

🥘 Bánh bột chiên ingredients

• Rice flour - use regular rice flour (the red bag), not glutinous or sweet rice flour
• Tapioca starch - this gives the rice cakes their chewy texture
• Chicken powder - I use Totole
• Oyster sauce - for seasoning the rice cakes while they fry
• Black vinegar - for the dipping sauce
• Fried shallots - optional, for garnish

A full list of ingredients with exact amounts, including the dipping sauce, can be found on the recipe card below.

🍽️ Equipment

• Steamer, or a large pot or wok with a steaming rack
• Heat safe square pan to steam the batter in (an 8x8 metal pan steams the fastest)
• Nonstick skillet for frying
• Whisk and spatula

Are there any alternatives to making bánh bột chiên from scratch?

Great news, because you can buy bánh bột chiên pre-made in the refrigerated or freezer section of most Asian markets! Bring the rice cake home, slice it and fry it up in a pan, and this delicious street food is ready in no time. Chinese turnip cake (radish cake) from the dim sum section also works and gets super crispy.

🔪 How to make bánh bột chiên

Bánh bột chiên has three parts: cooking and steaming the rice cake, chilling it, then frying it with egg. The steamed rice cake needs at least an hour in the fridge, so I like to make it the night before.

1. Step 1: Combine the rice flour, tapioca starch, warm water, salt, chicken powder and oil in a nonstick pan and whisk until smooth. Cook on medium to medium low heat, whisking the whole time, until it starts to thicken into a paste.

2. Step 2: When more than half of the liquid has cooked off, turn off the heat and keep stirring with a spatula until the batter looks like thick mashed potatoes. Cooking the batter first helps the rice cake steam evenly and keeps it smooth.

3. Step 3: Transfer the batter to an oiled, heat safe square pan and press it into an even layer. Smooth the top with a wet spatula.

4. Step 4: Steam for 25 to 35 minutes in a metal pan (a glass pan takes about 45 minutes). Poke the center with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it's done. If there's still batter on it, keep steaming.

Step 5: Let the rice cake cool, then chill it in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight. Once it's cold and firm, slice it into ½" x 1" rectangles.

6. Step 6: Heat a pan to medium high and add the oil. Add the rice cakes in a single layer and season with a little oyster sauce. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side without moving them, until golden and crispy.

7. Step 7: Turn the heat down to medium and pour the beaten eggs over and around the rice cakes. Cover and cook until the eggs are set. For crispier eggs, leave the lid off and let the bottom turn golden.

Step 8: Garnish with green onions and fried shallots and enjoy!

Bột chiên dipping sauce

The sauce is what makes bột chiên! Mix soy sauce, black vinegar and a little sugar until the sugar dissolves, then add sliced Thai chilies if you like it spicy. Taste and adjust until it's sweet, salty and tangy. I like to drizzle it right over the top, or dip each piece.

How do I make the pickled daikon & carrots for bánh bột chiên?

I have shared a recipe for pickled carrots and daikon here. These pickles go so well with almost everything from grilled meats, to egg rolls, to of course bánh bột chiên. Make a jar a day ahead so they're nice and tangy. If you don't want to make pickles, don't worry, these fried rice cakes are perfect on their own too!

🫙 Storage

Keep the steamed rice cake (before frying) wrapped tightly in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bánh bột chiên is best eaten right after frying, but leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in a skillet or in the air fryer at 350°F for 3 to 5 minutes to bring back the crunch. The microwave will make it soft.

More Vietnamese Street Food

If you love this bánh bột chiên, check out more of my Vietnamese recipes:

Food safety

• Cook eggs until the whites and yolks are firm, to 160 °F (71 °C)
• Wash hands after handling raw eggs
• Never leave hot oil unattended, and keep a lid nearby while frying
• Don't leave cooked food sitting out at room temperature for more than 2 hours

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.