Banh giay lang co, a plump rustic cake, when you open the basket, the aroma fills the whole village, a famous specialty of Hung Yen.

Nestled next to Ecopark urban area, about 2km from DT. 379 road, Cuu Cao commune (Van Giang district, Hung Yen province) has long been famous for its rustic, small, white, smooth Banh Giay of Gau village with a special sticky and fragrant flavor that anyone who has tasted it once will never forget.

The brand of Banh Giay Lang Gau, Cuu Cao Commune, Van Giang District, is a famous Hung Yen specialty with delicious softness and aroma, which is compared: "A high tray of food/ Is not as good as Banh Giay Lang Gau".

That song is enough to express the quintessence and deliciousness of the famous specialty cake of Longan land. The small cakes are skillfully placed on a green banana leaf.

It looks eye-catching and somewhat simple, but to produce a batch of fragrant and soft cakes is a multi-step process, requiring skill, sophistication and a secret recipe.

People in Gau village are very careful in choosing ingredients. Ms. Hoang Thi Nham, who makes delicious banh giay in Cuu Cao commune, said: Banh giay is very picky about rice. The rice used to make the cake must be grade 1 golden sticky rice, the rice grains must be plump, firm, and all ten grains must be shiny for the cake to be soft and fragrant.

After soaking, the rice will be steamed into sticky rice and pounded while still hot, so that the cake will be soft, smooth and retain its delicious flavor.

In the past, people in Gau village used to pound rice cakes in the traditional way with a stone mortar and wooden pestle. This step required at least 4 people, 2 to pound and 2 to stir the sticky rice in the mortar. Nowadays, thanks to machines, only one person can do it.

However, even when using machines, the people making cakes in Gau village still have to use wooden pestles and pound them in a "rolling" style so that the sticky rice is evenly smooth. The more carefully they pound, the more sticky and sticky it is to meet the standards.

The Banh Giay cakes from Gau village, Cuu Cao commune, Van Giang district are a specialty of Hung Yen, skillfully placed between green banana leaves.

The process of making the cake filling is quite elaborate, requiring the skill of the maker. The cake filling is made from green beans.

After being carefully "selected", the beans are soaked in warm water at about forty degrees overnight, then the shells are removed, steamed until soft and fluffy, the beans are pounded until smooth and finally formed into small balls.

Ms. Hoang Thi Nham shares more experience in making cakes: To make the cake chewy and elastic, the baker must use clean hands to squeeze the sticky rice dough into small, even balls.

Then shape, roll into a ball, flatten and spread the dough evenly, add the filling and roll it tightly.

The trick is to be quick, keep the cake shiny and smooth, and hide the filling in a way that looks nice.

There are 3 types of Banh Giay Lang Gau: Vegetarian, sweet and salty. Vegetarian Banh Giay has no filling and is usually eaten with ham or sausage.

Sweet cakes are made with cooked, mashed green beans, stir-fried with sugar and shredded coconut. Savory cakes include green beans, fat and pepper, bringing a unique flavor when enjoyed.

Nowadays, in addition to traditional white sticky rice cake, many families also create sticky rice cake, pandan leaf sticky rice cake, and gac sticky rice cake.

A qualified Banh Giay from Gau village is one where the cake's meat is both soft and smooth, with the fragrant aroma of yellow sticky rice, mixed with the cool taste of banana leaves, the light sweetness of coconut, the richness of green beans, the richness of fatty meat, and covered with a layer of green beans on the outside.

Thanks to the meticulous and careful preparation at all stages, Gau village's rice cakes have their own unique traditional flavor.

This rustic cake is not only a hometown gift, a breakfast dish sold in rural markets, nowadays, the soft white rice cake wrapped in green banana leaves is famous far and wide.

Many people buy it to display on the ancestral altar on Tet, holidays or engagements, weddings in the countryside or conferences, parties in the city.

Nowadays, life is so busy that pounding machines have gradually replaced the familiar mortar and pestle, but the flavor of the cake is still rich, fragrant, and full of meaning and affection.

Source: https://danviet.vn/banh-giay-lang-co-thu-banh-que-map-u-nu-mo-ro-ra-la-thom-khap-lang-dac-san-hung-yen-noi-tieng-20250319082718634.htm