


A revolution in mixing has landed. Shop Halo Pro Spiral Mixer now.
Free 5 Year Warranty Guarantee. Register Your Products Here.
This celebratory pork belly, mung bean, and shrimp floss pizza comes to us from Vietnamese-American Chef Tuan Tran, the pizza-maker and restaurateur and host of the YouTube series, Cooking with Chef Tuan. Inspired by traditional Lunar New Year fare, this pizza is loaded with crispy, salty, umami flavors.
When he set out to come up with a recipe for a pizza to celebrate Tét, Tuan immediately thought of bánh tét, the sticky rice cake he and his family eat to ring in the new year. For the uninitiated, these banana-leaf wrapped rolls are filled with sticky (or glutinous) rice, pork belly and mung beans and then steamed. Salty, tender, and a little sweet, these flavors also make for a great pizza.
Tuan grew up in Michigan, eating Italian-American pizza alongside Vietnamese dishes, so naturally, he created a recipe that fuses the two (or more)cultures. He chose some of his favorite Vietnamese ingredients — fish sauce, shrimp floss, and mung beans, among others — to layer on a pizza that draws inspiration from the flavor combinations of traditional Italian pizzas.
Starting with the base, Tuan drew inspiration from traditional pesto and put his own twist on it using Thai basil, cilantro and peanut pistou for a bright green, nutty, fresh sauce. He adds a drizzle of fish sauce to the pesto as a nod to the typical Italian addition of anchovy. A bit of shrimp floss (dried shrimp that’s been rehydrated, then blitzed in a food processor) is added on top–– for a salty, fishy bite. Mung beans (small, green legumes with a buttery, nutty flavor) combined with a hit of nutritional yeast add a crumbly texture r and a Parmesan-like flavor profile. But the main attraction of this pizza is the crispy pork belly. Tuan often takes a shortcut when making this at home, as he buys his pork belly from one of his favorite local Chinese restaurants, but if you’re up for the challenge, we’ve got a Vietnamese porchetta recipe that walks you through making it from scratch.
If you’re looking for a pork belly substitution, Tuan suggests that “a cube of mortadella will also give you a traditional shape and familiar mouthfeel,” as it mimics the sliced portion size and taste of a silky, steamed pork belly in bánh tét. So, if you’re not ready to take on making your own pork belly or you live closer to an Italian deli than a Chinese restaurant, cubes of mortadella work great.
All of these flavors combined make for a delectable pizza that’s both familiar and celebratory for the Lunar New Year or any other time of year. Upon the first bite of his new concoction, Tuan summed it up nicely by saying, “it just hits home.”
Pork for 12 pizzas, toppings for 4
40 minutes
4 hours, 10 minutes
By Tuan Tran
Tuan Tran
Chef Tuan Tran is a pizza-maker, restaurateur and host of the YouTube series, Cooking with Chef Tuan.
Sign up to unlock a world of pizza! From mouthwatering recipes and expert tips to make next-level pizza and bread, to exclusive promotions and product updates. Unsubscribe anytime, no hard feelings.
By submitting this form you consent to receive marketing emails and to Ooni processing of your data. Your data is safe with us, see our Privacy Terms.
Back to top
Pay Securely With