The night before, blend the pandan leaves and strain to get the juice. Soak the glutinous rice overnight, reserving some pandan juice to add to the rice and for boiling. Soak the mung beans separately overnight.

The next morning, drain the rice, toss with 1 teaspoon salt, and let it drain. Steam the rice for 20 minutes. Then drizzle the pandan juice over the rice to give it a nice green color.

Steam the mung beans until cooked, then add salt and mash them while hot.

Shape the mashed mung beans into balls about the size of your palm.

Slice the pork belly. Marinate with a little fish sauce and seasoning powder.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan, stir-fry the pork until cooked, then generously sprinkle with black pepper.

Line the bottom of the small mold with 3 banana leaves, folding the edges together.

Stack the small mold inside the large mold. Remove the small mold to create a neat banana leaf square.

Add the first layer of rice, spreading it evenly. Next, add a layer of mung beans, then pork, then another layer of mung beans, and finally a top layer of rice. Since the banana leaves I bought were small, I added an extra leaf on top.

Fold the edges of the banana leaves together, remove the mold, and tie the bánh chưng securely with string or kitchen twine.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the pandan juice, and make sure the water covers the bánh chưng. Boil over high heat for the first 30 minutes, then medium heat for the next 30 minutes, and low heat for the final 30 minutes to finish cooking.

Once the bánh chưng is cooked, remove it from the pot and rinse under running water to keep the cake chewy and prevent mold.

Place the bánh chưng on a tray. Use a heavy object to press the cakes for about 3-4 hours to remove excess water. If making a large batch, press for 8-10 hours.

The bánh chưng is now pressed and ready.

Note: You can also use a pressure cooker to boil the cakes for 1-2 hours depending on their size, and you don’t need to pre-cook the ingredients as in my method. I didn’t have a large enough pressure cooker, so I pre-cooked the ingredients and used a regular pot. (Photo of the smart mold included for reference.)

You can make your own square mold using a square food container or by nesting two square plastic baskets together as shown.