Since I only had a little of each ingredient left, I decided to make this because I like how the cake looks when wrapped with square banana leaves. However, the filling is still bánh tét style, as I'm from the Mekong Delta. Soak the glutinous rice for 1 hour, then drain. Add coconut milk and a little magenta plant extract (lá cẩm) until the rice is just covered, then season with a bit of salt and sugar. When the water boils, add the rice and stir-fry until sticky, then remove from heat. I had a piece of pork left, already marinated with shallots, seasoning powder, and pepper. I also had 1 cup of cooked mung beans.

Rinse the salted egg yolks with rice wine to remove any odor, then flatten them. I used a 6-inch (15 cm) square mold made from stiff paper. After boiling, dry the banana leaves. Each cake uses 8 banana leaves, each 6 inches (15 cm) wide. Use 2 longer leaves, each about 2 inches (5 cm) tall, to reinforce the corners. I used nylon string to wrap the cake. First, add a layer of rice, then pork, then salted egg yolk, then mung beans (I used all I had), then cover with the remaining rice and fold the leaves to close. This is my favorite part of the process.

After tying the cake, line the pot with leftover banana leaves and cook for about 4 hours. I forgot one step, which is to press the cake with a heavy object after boiling to flatten it, so the slices weren't as neat. But the filling turned out great because I stir-fried the rice in the Southern bánh tét style.