Ingredients for making black banh chung
Every December 28, 29, and 30, Tay ethnic people in Van Chan district, Yen Bai province, get together to wrap black banh chung to burn incense and commemorate their ancestors.
The steps to make “black banh chung” in the highlands have many unique differences compared to the way to wrap green banh chung in the lowlands. Especially the ingredients to make black banh chung are carefully selected by the people of the Northwest.
In particular, a special ingredient makes this cake different from traditional banh chung, which is charcoal powder from the Núc Nác tree. The Núc Nác tree is both a food plant and an extremely valuable medicinal plant of the Vietnamese people.
Burn the Núc Nác tree to get charcoal to dye fragrant sticky rice to make black steamed rice.
Ms. Hoang Thi Hien, a Tay ethnic in Chan Thinh commune, Yen Bai province, said: "The elaborate process of making black banh chung is drying and burning the Núc Nác tree trunk into charcoal. The Núc Nác charcoal is still red, put into a fresh bamboo tube, wait for the inside to gradually burn into black charcoal, then take it out and pound it, then sift the charcoal powder and mix it with sticky rice.
The best rice used to make black banh chung is the sticky rice of the local people, the most famous is Tu Le sticky rice. The charcoal powder of the Núc Nác tree and the delicious fragrant sticky rice are mixed together and pounded again until smooth. The filling for the black banh chung is made from green beans and fatty pork belly. The pork is thinly sliced and marinated with spices, pepper, and onions before being wrapped, said Ms. Hien.
Criteria for wrapping black banh chung to choose a bride
Like other Tay families in Van Chan district, Yen Bai province, when all the children and grandchildren have returned home, the family of Mr. Ha Van Hieu, a Thai ethnic group in Tan An ward, Nghia Lo town, Yen Bai province, slaughters a pig and wraps black banh chung to prepare for Tet.
The ingredients to make the cake also have many special things with the flavor of the highlands and especially the black color of the cake is created from charcoal of the núc nác tree or the salt tree in the forest.
Mr. Ha Van Hieu said: "Basically, the way to arrange the ingredients to make black banh chung is similar to traditional banh chung. According to the previous customs of the Thai people, wrapping black banh chung is one of the criteria for choosing brides."
The Thai ethnic group believes that a girl must know how to wrap Chung cake beautifully, when peeled off the cake must be shiny black, have a sticky texture and when enjoying the cake, it must have the full aroma of sticky rice, the sweetness and fat of highland pork, the rich taste of green bean filling, the strange taste of forest plants, then she is a skillful, capable girl, will be a good wife, a good daughter-in-law.
The wood of the núc nác tree is dried and burned black into charcoal. This charcoal burning process is the longest, usually taking 2-3 hours. When burning, you have to watch the stove, so that the wood burns just enough to become charcoal, then you have to turn off the stove, take out the charcoal and put it in a jar, otherwise the charcoal will burn to ashes.
Ms. Lo Thi Yen, Thai ethnic, in Chao Ha village, Nghia Lo commune, Nghia Lo town, Yen Bai province said: "Black Chung cake is wrapped by hand, the cake is about 30cm long, about 6 - 7cm in diameter. When wrapping black Chung cake, people use 2 dong leaves placed head to tail, spread a bowl of rice underneath and add green beans and pork. Then, add another layer of green beans and finally cover with a layer of black rice and wrap it up.
How to make black Chung cake Muong Lo - the mountainous area of the Northwest has long been famous as a culinary and cultural feature of the Tay and Thai ethnic groups.
After wrapping, the black banh chung is put into a pot and boiled for 6-8 hours until the cake is soft and supple. When the cake is taken out, the black banh chung is washed with cold water to clean the grease on the cake crust. After that, the banh chung is hung in pairs in the attic to dry and prevent mold, Ms. Yen shared.
When cutting the cake, the Tay or Thai people often use the bamboo strings wrapped around the cake to cut the cake into round slices. The sticky, delicious black banh chung, blending the flavors of sticky rice, green beans, pepper, and fatty meat, resembles the harmonious connection of ethnic people when Tet comes and spring comes.
In addition, there is another way to refresh the taste buds when enjoying this black banh chung dish, which is to grill the cake. Place the cake with the leaves intact on the hot coals until the aroma of sticky rice, cardamom and fatty meat spreads in the air, awakening everyone's senses.
People eating black banh chung will feel the fatty taste of pork belly and the aroma of sticky rice.
In addition to appearing on the Tet meal tray, black banh chung also appears on holidays and death anniversaries of the Tay and Thai people here.
Black Chung cake is not simply a traditional dish, the cake also reminds descendants of the hard life of their ancestors to appreciate the upbringing.
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