Bánh Nướng: A Patterned Crust Around Nuts, Candied Fruit and a Salted Yolk
A thin golden crust that holds the mold's pattern, and a filling that is textured rather than smooth: chewy candied fruit, crunchy seeds, savory sausage, and a salty yolk sitting in the center.
On the night of Tết Trung Thu, the Mid-Autumn Festival, Vietnam Tourism describes families setting five kinds of fruit and festival cakes on the ancestral altar, and only afterward sharing mooncakes together under the full moon. The cakes on that table are called bánh trung thu, a broad name for the festival's sweets.
The cake in this article is one particular kind: bánh nướng, the baked mooncake, pressed in a mold so that a flower or geometric pattern stands out on its golden surface. Inside is nhân thập cẩm, a "mixed" filling of nuts and seeds, candied winter melon and ginger, Chinese-style sausage, cooked meat and citrus aromatics, wrapped around a salted duck egg yolk. The soft, mochi-like bánh dẻo is a different cake, and it is not covered here.
The recipe follows a single home recipe by Vietnamese food writer Sophie Pham of Delightful Plate, for 8 cakes of about 100g each. Its challenges are the long list of filling ingredients and the mold. The yield and weights are the recipe's stated values, and this recipe has not been kitchen-tested by our editorial team.
Bánh trung thu means Mid-Autumn cake. Bánh nướng means baked cake, and bánh dẻo the soft, sticky kind. Nhân thập cẩm is the mixed filling. Searching with these Vietnamese names alongside "Vietnamese mooncake" makes it easier to find the specific style.
Two Mooncakes on the Tết Trung Thu Table
According to Vietnam Tourism, the Mid-Autumn Festival came to Vietnam from China and is celebrated in several countries, but Vietnam keeps its own legend: the story of Cuội and the banyan tree, told and retold as folklore rather than history. The festival falls at a time after the harvest when families spend time together, and children carry lanterns in processions while lion dances move through the streets.
Vietnam Tourism also describes the custom of offering five fruits and cakes on the ancestral altar before the mooncakes are eaten. It presents two main types: bánh nướng, with a baked wheat crust, and bánh dẻo, soft and sticky. Within both, shapes, patterns and flavors range widely, from sweet to savory. These descriptions come from a national tourism introduction, so they are best read as common customs rather than rules followed by every family or region.
You can find more dishes from the same country on the Vietnam page.
The Mixed Filling: Sweetness, Aroma, Meat and Seeds in Layers
Nhân thập cẩm is not a single fixed recipe. In Sophie Pham's version, candied winter melon (mứt bí) and candied ginger (mứt gừng) bring sweetness and chew; lap cheong (lạp xưởng), roasted chicken and pork floss bring savory depth; cashews, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds and white sesame bring crunch; and orange peel and kaffir lime leaves bring a bright citrus lift. She treats lap cheong as the most important of the meats.
Her recipe treats several parts as adjustable. The salted duck egg yolks are optional, and so are some of the meats, including the chicken and pork floss; the nut and seed mix can also be changed. She aims for a total filling of about 480–500g including the yolks, so whatever you change, each cake still gets 60g. Because the candied fruits are already sweet, no extra sugar goes into the filling. This article uses the version with every listed ingredient and all 8 yolks as its base.
Other Vietnamese recipes go their own way. A Vietnamese-language recipe from Unispice, for example, also uses nuts, candied winter melon, lap cheong and lime leaves, but adds five-spice powder, uses different proportions and bakes in three stages. Even under the same name, the mold, ingredients and baking steps differ, so the amounts and steps below follow one recipe only and are not mixed with others.
Ingredients for 8 Baked Mooncakes (about 100g each)
Each cake is 60g of filling (including one salted yolk) wrapped in 40g of crust. Divide the wine and sesame oil before you start, so the portions for the yolks and the egg wash don't end up in the filling.
Weigh the finished filling and divide it into 8 balls of 60g each, yolk included. The full ingredient list is not guaranteed to come out at exactly 480–500g; any shortfall or leftover has not been checked, so weigh what you have rather than scaling the table up or down.
Golden syrup made at home needs at least a week before use, which is separate from the baking day. Store-bought golden syrup may give a different result.
These cakes contain wheat, egg, cashews, sesame and soy (soy sauce). Sausage, pork floss, candied fruits and roasted seeds can contain further allergens depending on the product, so check every label. The filling uses only cooked meats; lap cheong is blanched and then cooked in the pan. Use roasted chicken that is already fully cooked.
Equipment
- 100g mooncake mold with a floral or geometric pattern
- Kitchen scale that reads in 1g steps
- Small saucepan for blanching
- Frying pan or wok
- Food processor or chopper for pulsing the nuts
- Steamer
- Plastic wrap
- Mixing bowl and a cover for resting the dough
- Rolling pin (optional; fingers work too)
- Baking tray and parchment paper
- Thin skewer or toothpick for poking holes
- Soft pastry brush
- Oven thermometer, to check the real oven temperature
Choosing and Swapping Ingredients
The most useful items to track down at an Asian or Vietnamese grocer are lap cheong (lạp xưởng), candied winter melon (mứt bí), candied ginger (mứt gừng), roasted watermelon seeds (hạt dưa), salted duck egg yolks, Mei Kuei Lu wine (rượu Mai Quế Lộ) and a 100g mooncake mold. Searching by these general names, in English and Vietnamese, is the easiest way to find them.
Within this recipe, these changes stay in bounds:
- Nuts and seeds: rearrange the mix according to what you can get.
- Meats: leave out the roasted chicken, or some of the other meats.
- Salted yolks: leave them out, but keep each filling ball at 60g by adjusting the other ingredients.
- Flour: use cake flour for a slightly softer crust.
Lap cheong and candied winter melon shape the character of this filling. Replacements for them have not been tested here, so if you swap them, treat the result as your own variation rather than this recipe. Fillings from other regions, such as a lotus-seed paste, are a different mooncake, not a substitute for this one.
Method: Filling, Yolk, Crust, Mold and Two Bakes
Have the golden syrup ready (at least a week old if homemade), and divide the wine and sesame oil into their portions. The filling has to cool before wrapping, so make it first.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The filling won't hold together | Too little oil or binder | Add a little more oil and toasted glutinous rice flour, a little at a time, until a squeezed handful holds |
| The yolk is off-center | The filling wasn't built evenly around it | Start with 20–25g under the yolk, then tighten the plastic wrap around the ball |
| The pattern is faint | Dough didn't reach the corners of the mold, or the wash pooled in the grooves | Press the handle a few times on a flat surface; brush the wash in thin coats |
| The crust tears while wrapping | Dough stretched too thin | Flatten it evenly and keep it thick enough to cover the filling without strain |
| The color is too pale or too dark | Oven running hot or cool, or tray differences | Check with an oven thermometer and judge the last bake by color as well as time |
Sophie Pham writes that her cakes did not crack even without misting them with water, baking in several stages. That is one cook's result with this recipe, not a rule; other recipes and ovens may behave differently.
Meaningful Variations
- Without salted yolks: keep each filling ball at 60g by adjusting the other ingredients.
- A different nut and seed mix: rearrange the seeds according to what you can find.
- Without chicken: leave out the roasted chicken.
- A softer crust: use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.
- A lye-water crust: if you want a crust made with lye water instead of baking soda, switch to a separate recipe built for it as a whole, rather than mixing it into this baking-soda version.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between bánh nướng and bánh dẻo?
Vietnam Tourism describes bánh nướng as the mooncake with a baked crust, and bánh dẻo as the soft, sticky kind. This article covers only the baked bánh nướng.
Do I need all of the meats, nuts and seeds in the filling?
No. Sophie Pham's recipe treats the salted yolks as optional, allows some of the meats (including the chicken) to be left out, and lets you rearrange the nuts and seeds. Whatever you change, keep each filling ball at 60g.
Can I make the crust without lye water?
This recipe uses a small amount of baking soda in place of lye water (kansui). It is not an exact equivalent. If you want a lye-water crust, choose a recipe written for it rather than mixing methods.
How do I get a clear pattern from the mold?
Dust the mold and your hands with flour, press the handle a few times on a flat surface so the dough fills every corner, and brush the egg wash thinly so it doesn't fill the grooves.
Can I eat them right after baking?
Sophie Pham writes that the crust is dry just after baking and softens as the cakes rest, and she suggests covering them in a cool, dry place and eating them after 2–3 days. She also gives refrigeration guidance after that. These cakes contain cooked meat and egg, and that resting and storage advice has not been checked against food-safety guidance, so we don't present it as safe room-temperature storage. Follow your local food-safety guidance for foods containing meat and egg.
Is nutrition information available?
Not for this article. Nutrition has not been calculated for this version.
Sources
- Sophie Pham, "Vietnamese Mooncakes (Banh Trung Thu Nhan Thap Cam)," Delightful Plate. The recipe followed here: 8 baked mooncakes of about 100g, the ingredient list in US measures, the filling, yolk, crust and egg wash, portion weights, resting time, wrapping and molding, the 185°C and 165°C bakes, cooling and resting, and which ingredients are optional. One home cook's recipe, not the single standard for Vietnam. https://delightfulplate.com/vietnamese-mooncakes-banh-trung-thu/
- Vietnam Tourism, "Vietnam's magical Mid-autumn Festival." The festival's background and the legend of Cuội and the banyan tree, the post-harvest family setting, lantern processions and lion dances, altar offerings of five fruits and cakes, the difference between bánh nướng and bánh dẻo, and the variety of shapes, patterns and flavors. A tourism introduction, not a study of food history. https://vietnam.travel/node/495
- Unispice / Unikery, "Công thức chuẩn làm Bánh Nướng Thập Cẩm." A different Vietnamese recipe for mixed-filling baked mooncakes, with five-spice powder, other proportions and a three-stage bake, used only for comparison. https://unispice.vn/mon-ngon-moi-ngay/banh-nuong-nhan-thap-cam/
