Preparing and Filling the Banh Chung

1. Soak the rice for at least 4 hours, or until it doubles in bulk. Soak or cook the mung beans for the filling. Marinate or cook the pork.

2. Lay out two banana leaves side by side and overlapping to make an oblong sheet, with their dark sides facing downward. Place a third banana leaf running across the first two at a right angle, with the dark side facing downward. Stack a fourth banana leaf over the third, again at a right angle, with the dark side facing upward. You now have two leaves forming a cross, with the two original leaves beneath.

3. Drain the rice. Mound 1 cup of rice into the center of the banana leaves, in the middle of the cross. Shape it into a rough square where the banana leaves overlap. Pat it down gently.

4. Season the mung beans and mash them. Measure out about 1 cup of the beans, and knead in several pieces of pork. Shape the pork and bean mixture into a rough square, slightly smaller than the square of rice. Center it carefully on top of the rice.

5. Mound another cup of rice over the filling. Smooth it to match the size and shape of the lower half of the cake. Ensure that the rice encloses the filling completely.

Folding the Leaves

1. Identify the lower of the two leaves that form the cross shape under your rice. Lift up its ends. Fold them carefully over the rice filling, creasing them lightly to form the first two sides of a neat square.

2. Hold the ends of the first leaf in place with a finger. Fold the second leaf to make the remaining sides of the square.

3. Fold the sides of the bottom two banana leaves, providing an outer wrap around the first two leaves. Tie it in place with a piece of raffia or cotton twine.

4. Turn the bundle, and fold one open end of the banana leaves as you would if wrapping a Christmas gift. Turn its sides inward, making a crease, and then fold it at the edge of the rice bundle and bend the long part of the leaf back over top of the twine. If your leaves go past the far edge of the square, trim away the excess, using a pair of sharp scissors or kitchen shears.

5. Rotate the bundle so the other open end faces you. Repeat the previous steps. This time, when you fold the end of the leaves over top of the bundle, fold the tips underneath and crease them to keep them in place. This closes the opening where water might enter and make the rice mushy during cooking. Tie the outer leaf in place with a second piece of twine.

6. Loop one or two more pieces of twine around the bundle in each direction to hold the rice firmly in place. Press and crease the edges of the bundle to give them a sharp appearance. To cook, simmer the bundles in water for 6 to 8 hours or until the cake is well plumped by the swelling rice but slightly cushiony when squeezed.