A Brief Introduction of The Sticky rice Cake (Bánh Chưng)

Sticky rice Cake (Bánh Chưng) is recorded in history as the long-standing traditional cake of Viet Nam which has a significant position in the consciousness of the Vietnamese. In Tet holiday, a pair of Chung cake is indispensable on the altar’s feast tray of Vietnamese family.

Sticky rice Cake (Bánh Chưng)is mentioned as a special and tasty dish which is imbued with national identity and wet rice civilization’s sophistication. Ingredients for this comprise of glutinous rice, mung beans, pork belly, pepper, salt, arrowroot leaves and bamboo strips. To make tasty and beautiful Chung Cakes, ingredients must be selected with extreme carefulness and sophistication. Glutinous rice must be "nep cai hoa vang" from Hai Hau Commune - Nam Dinh Province. Pork is from the pig nourished with vegetable and rice bran. Fresh and grossy green arrowroot leaves must be carefully selected and washed one by one. To assure Chung Cakes are evenly soft and nicely green, they are necessarily boiled in a tole cauldron in regular heat at least 12 hours continually. Once the cakes are well-cooked, take them out, roughly wash with water and use a towel to clean the fat on the cakes’ cover. After that, we press the cakes tightly to form square shape and to remove all exceed water.

To enjoy Chung cake, we unwrap it and use the bamboo strings to divide the cake into 8 evenly triangle pieces so that all ingredients must be included in one piece of cake. Enjoying a piece of Chung cake, we can be addicted to the softness of sticky rice, buttery taste of mung bean mixing with sweetness of meat and spiciness of pepper. If you don’t like greasy taste, you can eat Chung cake with some pickled welsh onion.

Chung cake is available all year round; however, in the New Year days, it becomes more special, beautiful and meaniSticky rice Cake (Bánh Chưng)ngful.

A Brief Introduction of The Cudweed sticky rice cake (Bánh Khúc)

Cudweed sticky rice cake (Bánh Khúc) is an original dish of Viet Nam. The cake is made from sticky rice flour doughed well with chopped cudweed leaves, filled with crushed steamed mung beans and pork belly before covered by tender steamed sticky rice. The dish boasts nice smell of cudweed leaves, buttery taste of mung beans, and spiciness of pepper.

Cudweed sticky rice cake (Bánh Khúc) is the best to be served hot. Ingredients for this dish includes glutinous rice, mung beans, pork (lean and fat), and most importantly: cudweed (Rau Khuc) which can be found along the edges of rice fields or river bank. In Hanoi, banh khuc is popular all year round but until the cudweed season in January or Febuary comes, when drizzling rains last day after day, we can enjoy the most flavorful and delicious cudweed cake. In the early morning, people pick the lush little cudweed leaves, wash carefully, crush, remove fibers and then thoroughly mix with glutinous rice flour to create a dark green dough then divide it into child’s fist- sized parts. To make stuffing, peeled mung beans are steamed, crushed, mixed with chopped pork and seasoned with seasoning mix and pepper. Arrange cudweed sticky rice balls into a steamer, put a layer of cake then a layer of soaked sticky rice. After that, we cover the steamer tightly, keep the heat gradually until rice grains are evenly cooked.

Holding a steaming hot cudweed cake in hand, just take a bite and enjoy the taste of cudweed harmoniously mixed with sticky rice, mung beans, pepper, and pork. That is strangely delicious.

A Brief Introduction of The Vietnamese rice crepe (Bánh Cuốn)

Vietnamese rice crepe (Bánh Cuốn) is a well-known rustic snack in Hanoi. In the past, once banh cuon was mentioned, we immediately thought of its most famous version "Banh cuon Thanh Tri", a tasty, frugal specility of countryside has gone into urban, a vegetarian dish without filling, “cuon (roll) but not rolled”. Nowadays, banh cuon is rolled with minced pork and served with pork ham or salted shredded pork.

Vietnamese rice crepe (Bánh Cuốn) is made of popular and folk-life ingredients: rice starch, lean pork shoulder, wood ear mushroom, shiitake mushrooms and dried shallots. The taste of rice crepes mainly depends on the skills of the cooks during mixing starch, making crepes, slipping and rolling it up. All the process must be done quickly and exquisitely to create thin, tender and intact rice plates. Minced pork are seasoned and stir-fried with finely chopped wood ear mushroom, shiitake mushrooms to make stuffing. Steaming rice sheets are laid in a little bamboo stray, added stuffing and rolled up into tasty glossy rice rolls. Rice rolls are arranged in a plate with flavorful crispy fried shallots sprinkled on the top. Banh cuon is often served with pork ham, dipping sauce and herbs (Vietnamese mint, coriander, marjoram). Bright golden brown dipping sauce is added a few drops of Ca cuong essential oil, some slices of red chilli and a little fried shallots. Picking a roll, dip into elegant sauce and enjoy the rolls along with some herb, we can feel the wonderful tastes coming from tender, smooth rice crepes, flavorful pork and shiitake mushroom, crunchy wood ear blending with the sweet-sourness of the sauce.

Being such a gracious and easily digestible food - Banh cuon is prefered by many of the Hanoians. We can enjoy Banh cuon all year round, during spring – summer - autumn and winter.

A Brief Introduction of The Fried shrimp cake in the West Lake (Bánh Tôm Hồ Tây)

Hanoi visitors should go to the West lake which is the most romantic and poetic destination to enjoy the shrimp cake. It is a specialty of the West Lake that makes Hanoian cuisine distinctive.

Fried shrimp cake is made simply with the ingredients including wheat flour and a kind of Vietnamese typical flour and fresh shrimp. The shrimp must be caught from the West Lake, they are small but firm with soft cover which is different from ones of other places. That is the reason why it is called “West lake Shrimp cake”. A mouth bowl-size cake with two shrimps on it is fried until it is well done, light golden brown and crispy. The cake is cut into 2 pieces with a shrimp on each one and enjoyed with the sauce blended of sourness, spiciness, green papaya and carrot slices and sweetness with fresh herbs.

The ideal destinations for West Lake Shrimp cake enjoyment are restaurants along the lakefront, in a poetic atmosphere of summer breeze or warm sun of winter afternoon.

A Brief Introduction of The Phu Nhi rice flour cake (Bánh tẻ Phú Nhi)

Phu Nhi rice flour cake (Bánh tẻ Phú Nhi) also called "banh rang bua" since it is shaped as the teeth of a harrow, is a traditional cake in some areas of Northern Vietnam such as Cho village located in Yen Phong, Bac Ninh; in Van Giang, Hung Yen; and in Phu Nhi, Phu Thinh, Son Tay, Ha Noi. Phu Nhi rice flour cake has a distinctive flavor which is different from one of other regions. The origin of the cake is related to a sincere love story in the village.

The ingredients of the cake are plain foods: ordinary rice, pork, wood ear mushrooms, onion, spices and phrynium or banana leaves. Selected high quality rice must be soaked in water until it is swollen. The soaked rice is ground into flour and soaked again for several days. The first step is named “drying flour”, the flour is boiled up to be thicker more glutinous and stirred steadily that makes the flour soft, smooth, not over-cooked. The next step is making cake fillings. Selected pork belly is chopped with shallots; wood ear mushrooms is soaked, washed and sliced. Those ingredients are mixed, flavored, added pepper and then stir-fried. The final step is wrapping cake. A little condensed flour is taken to sprinkle on the phrynium, the fillings is put above flour stratum and pressed in order for it to be covered by flour in long shape. The leaves are rolled up, binded by bamboo string and steamed in a steamer. The cake tastes most delicious when it is eaten immediately after taken from steamer. Unwrapping the cake, we will discover the snow-white cake inside, spreading aroma of sauce and little bit pepper.

Phu Nhi rice flour cake (Bánh tẻ Phú Nhi) is a plain palatable gift of homeland. People use a knife to cut it into small pieces, put in a plate and use with pepper fish sauce. Ones can feel flavor of the connection of heaven and earth, the greasy taste of fillings, the aroma of pepper and shallot. The cake can be made for breakfast or afternoon snack.

A Brief Introduction of The Quan Ganh sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Giày Quán Gánh)

Quan Ganh sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Giày Quán Gánh) – a specialty coming from Quan Ganh Village - Thuong Tin District - Ha Noi, is always considered as a rustic but frugal gift of Vietnamese cuisine. Envenly round white cake are arranged neatly together, each 5-6 cakes are wrapped in fresh green banana leaves, which looks so attractive.

Quan Ganh sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Giày Quán Gánh) is made by the similar process to normal banh giay, in addition of some arcana that make the label ”Banh Giay Quan Ganh”. Quan Ganh people have to carry out nearly twenty stages, in which each stage requires particular techniques to make a cake with distinctive taste of Quan Ganh. A cake is the wonderful combination of tender glutinous rice dough, buttery mung bean, and flavorful seasoned pork. Glutinous rice used in processing must be "nep cai hoa vang" with evenly grains and charming aroma. To make filling, we select plump, mung bean and fresh pork of manually nourished pigs so that the filling will be smooth and flavorful. In stead of sticky rice, a plate of Banh Giay always solemnly appears on the feast tray of Quanh Ganh village.

Quan Ganh sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Giày Quán Gánh) provides the diners with the selection among several kinds: plain rice cakes, sweet-filling cakes and savoury-filling cakes. Each one attracts the dinner by its own special taste. Many people also give Banh Giay to their relatives and friends as a tasty rustic gifts.

A Brief Introduction of The Rice flour cake (Bánh Đúc)

For a long time, Banh duc has been familiar with the Hanoians as a frual, rustic unexpensive nosh.

Making banh duc requires many details and elaboration. There are three main stages: soaking rice in limestone water or ash water, preparing the flour and cooking. Rice is thoroughly soaked for about 10 hours, or even longer in some areas, up to 3 days until the rice turns into dough. We pour the doughed mixed with limestone water into a cauldron and continually stir well. Keep the heat low so that the flour is not burned or stick to the bottom. When we scoop the flour and pour down, the flour must smoothly flow down as silk, and not stick to the ladle. Roasted peanut and grated coconut meat is scattered on the mould. We pour the cooked-flour into the mould, normally a bowl or a round bamboo tray lined with fresh banana leaves. Banh duc is served cool. A well-cooked one must be smooth, crunchy as pig skin, not sticky and without limestone smells. Pick a piece of Banh duc, dip into soy sauce and put into mouth, we will immediately feel the coolness and softness of rice flour blend with buttery taste of peanut and coconut. Banh duc is often peddled in the street of Hanoi, or more ordinally, it is put in bamboo basket and sold in rural fair.

Banh duc lac (rive flour cake with peanut) always appears in vegetarian feast tray of Hanoi pagodas. Banh duc can go with salad, minced pork, soy sauce, fried shallots or crab clear soup,… And each one has it own charming tastes.

A Brief Introduction of The Steamed rice flour cake (Bánh Giò)

Steamed rice flour cake (Bánh Giò)) is a traditional tasty nosh of Vietnam. The Hanoians are quite familiar with this simple frugal cake and often pick it as a breakfast choice

Ingredients to make Banh Gio are simple and easy to find. Rice is soaked in water, and grounded to make the dough. The filling is the mixture of stir-fried minced pork, wood ear mushroom, shiitake mushroom and shallots seasoned with a little pepper. Another important ingredient is banana leaves, used to wrap the cake. Unlike the other kinds of cake, Banh gio has quite weird shape – hinh gu (the bottom is large and the upper is gradually smaller). In the past, we tied the cake by bamboo strips, but nowadays, we can use nylon strings instead.

Rice flour cake (Bánh Giò) is the best served hot, and often kept in a bamboo basket to retain heat. Unwraping the cake, we can see glossy, smooth chubby cake inside. The dough is smoothly soft, yet not mushy and aromatic with the scent of rice starch blending with banana leaves. The filling combines the taste of minced pork, shiitake mushroom and wood ear mushroom. Banh Gio is often served with soy sauce, chilli paste and a sprinkle of pepper. Enjoying a small piece of cake, we can feel the tastes of flavorful pork, crunchy wood ear mushroom, banana leaf aroma all blending and melting in your mouth.

Steamed rice flour cake (Bánh Giò) is just a simple and not expensive dish. However, once you enjoy it, you can never forget its pure and frugal taste.

A Brief Introduction of The Sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Nếp)

Sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Nếp) in Hanoi provide a breakfast or diners like a wide range of choices with pho (rice noodles), bun (vermicelli), mien (cellophane noodles) and various kinds of cakes. Sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Nếp) – a tasty rustic cake is a preferred dish of many people.

Ingredients for this dish consist of glutinous rice flour, steamed mung bean paste mixed with stir-fried minced pork for the savoury filling cakes and sweetened steamed mung bean paste for the sweet ones. Banh nep looks like two arched hand proning together. It is often wrapped by fresh banana leaves before boiled in the water.

Sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Nếp) is cooked, the outer wrapping leaves will turn light green and easy to peel while the inner leaf often sticks to the dough. Therefore, you should carefully tear it down to assure the filling will not fall off. Banh nep - with the softness of sticky rice dough and buttery taste of mung bean will definitely bring you an amazing appetite.

Sticky rice flour cake (Bánh Nếp) is strung into clusters, hung on the handle bar of bicycles, or put in shoulder hangers of the hawkers, leisurely travels across the streets of Hanoi

A Brief Introduction of The Vietnamese sticky rice cake with pork pie (Bánh Giầy)

Sticky rice cake with pork pie (Bánh Giầy) is the traditional food of Vietnamese as an essence of the wet-rice civilization. In important occasions, Vietnamese often offer these cakes to the ancestors and godhead to express their sincere respect

Ingredients for Giay Cake are just glutinous rice and fat. It sounds simple but rice for making Giay Cake must be specially and carefully selected. Just some black grains or ordinary grains will make the cake dry, rigid and less attractive. Sticky rice is rinsed and soaked for a haft day then brought to steam. When the rice is nearly cooked, sprinkle some water to make it softer. Pouring the cooked rice in a cavas coated with a thin layer of fat liquid, the rice grains will be glossier and not stick together. The rice must be put into the mortar and finely brayed immeditately when is is still steaming hot. After 40-45 minutes braying, we rub the dough to test its smoothness. The chef keeps braying until we get a totally soft and fine dough. We do not need to shape the cakes, just pinch into the even parts then put on a tray. The hot soft dough will flatten down itself to form the pretty round cakes. We let the cake completely cool down, then put two rice cakes together and lay on prepared banana leaf.

Vietnamese sticky rice cake with pork pie (Bánh Giầy) is served with Uoc Le pork ham or cinnamon sausage. The softness of dough blending with flavor of pork ham and banana leaf makes an unforgettable dish.

A Brief Introduction of The Tro cake (Bánh Tro)

There are several places that famous for banh tro such as Tay Dinh, Vinh Phuc, Phu Yen; Binh Dinh and Dac So, Hoai Duc, Hanoi. The makers consider the cake as a homeland specialty.

The ingredients are very simple: glutinous rice, ash liquor of clean straw, a little lime, banana leaves or phrynium and molasses. Those are of plain agriculture products; however, the cake is very tasty through the farmers’ hand. Selected glutinous rice must be high-grade. To get the fragrant ash liquid, people must burn clean straw and pour the ash into basin, add a little lime to make the water deposit, and filter the water. The glutinous rice is washed, soaked in the ash water in about 3-4 hours and strained. The banana leaves or phrynium are washed and steamed to make it soft and clean. The baker must be careful, skillful while putting the rice in the leave tidily, rolling up the leave, folding the leave’s edge tightly, then boiling the cake. The cake needs to be cooled down that makes its taste fresh. The tiny cake is split into small pieces and used with molasses which is soft and dark red sugar and flavors the aroma for the cake. The cake’s flavor is adhered by cooked glutinous rice and the fragrance of straw ash liquid making the cake unique.

Tro cake (Bánh Tro) is unwrapped, looks attractive, soft in amber color, smelled ash of straw making people reminisce about their warm and lovely village.