Banh Chung Vietnamese Tet Rice Cakes

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1. 1Step 1: Make the bamboo leaf corners. The trickiest point is folding over the center to make the corner. Keep trying if it doesn't come together at first. Let the leaf do the talking. The bamboo leaves overlap one another to form the frame of the cake.
2. 2Step 2: Add banana leaves. Line the mold with 3 banana leaves -- first crosswise, then lengthwise.
3. 3Step 3: Fill the cake with rice, mung bean, pork, mung bean, then rice. Use a bamboo dumpling spatula to push rice to the corners. Don't worry about uneven distribution of things because it all equalizes in the cooking process.
4. 4Step 4: Close up the banh chung. Sides first, then bottom and top. Hold down the cake to keep it in place as you remove the mold. Let the mold sit on your arm until you fold the foil over the cake to keep the banh chung in place. At that point, take the mold off.
5. 5Step 5: Fold up the foil as if you're wrapping a gift. Tie the banh chung with kitchen string. Repeat with all the cakes.
6. 6Step 6: Boil the banh chung for about 7 hours. Use a 20-quart pot so they all stand in the water and cook nicely without rotating too much or refilling with water.