Hot trend of Ha Giang stone cake: Looks hard as stone but is chewy and crispy

Stone cake, a specialty of Ha Giang, is causing a stir on social networks - Photo: taken from clip

Although it looks similar to Korean rice cake Tokbokki, many people are surprised to know that stone cake is a rustic, familiar specialty in the highlands of Ha Giang.

Some "netizens" on TikTok discussed: "Just hearing the name 'stone cake' already evokes so many questions. What teeth can fight against rocks?"; "It sounds like a foreign dish but in fact this is a specialty in Vietnam".

Then there are people who say that when they first bought the cake, it was literally "hard as rock". Even when two cakes were hit together, they would make a cracking sound like two rocks.

Specialties with "strange" preservation methods

In the middle of the Ha Giang mountains, there has long been a special product that has captivated many people. That is stone cake (also known as Lo Khoai cake).

Stone cakes are a specialty of the Dao and Nung people in the highlands of Ha Giang.

They often appear on traditional occasions such as holidays and Tet of the Dao ethnic group wearing ao dai.

According to legend, the traditional stone cake is made as big as a brick, round and elongated in shape.

People often leave it near streams around the house, after a few months it can be eaten.

Because in the past, in the highlands there was no electricity or refrigerators, many people did not have the conditions to preserve food. Food sources were sometimes abundant, sometimes scarce. They had to think of ways to make food last longer.

At this time, the cakes "thrown" under the rocky streams are the way the highlanders store food and enjoy it after tiring farming days.

Fried ice cake is recommended to be dipped with condensed milk or chili sauce - Photo: taken from clip

To get the original, standard stone cake is also very elaborate and takes a lot of effort.

The Dao people in long dresses and the Nung people, after harvesting ripe rice, "select" fragrant rice grains.

Mix regular rice with sticky rice in a certain ratio, then soak in water for 4 to 5 hours, after soaking, dry and grind.

Next, steam the rice flour until it is well-cooked, then pound it. Once it is soft, start shaping it into a cake as big as a brick.

But the kneading action must be done very quickly because if the dough is allowed to cool, it will not stick together.

If you are skillful, you will have a beautiful, square cake. If not, the cake will be uneven in the front and back.

Let the cake cool completely, then put it in a box and cover with straw for 3 days.

When they smell mold, people will take the stone cake to the stream to soak. Whenever they want to eat it, they go to the stream to get it.

Ha Giang stone cakes are colorful thanks to the natural colors from leaves such as pandan leaves, purple leaves, butterfly pea flowers, turmeric or gac fruit. With the combination of leaves, stone cakes also have a more delicious flavor.

The best ice cake is dipped in condensed milk.

On the social network TikTok, many young people point out countless variations of the stone cake dish.

The most common way to eat it is to fry it in hot oil or grill it on a charcoal stove (you can use an air fryer). At this point, the cake is soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, similar to the famous Korean rice cake Tokbokki.

Many people also cut the stone cake into strips to cook rice noodles - Photo: taken from clip

Many people buy this type of cake to enjoy, and film instructional clips on TikTok that fried stone cake can be dipped in fish sauce or chili sauce, but the best is still dipped in condensed milk.

Another unique way to prepare stone cake is to cook thang den.

Slice the stone cake into thin strips. Crush the ginger, then put it in a pot of water with rock sugar and boil it. Then drop each piece of sliced ​​cake into the pot, wait for the water to boil and scoop it into a bowl to eat.

Each piece of stone cake is now soft, mixed with the smell of ginger and the sweetness of rock sugar, becoming a unique dish of the highland people.

In addition, many young people also cook rock cakes with spicy sauce, like Korean Tokbokki.

Some people cut the cake into thin strips, boil it in hot water, then cook it with broth like pho, banh canh...

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hot-trend-banh-da-ha-giang-nhin-cung-nhu-da-nhung-deo-gion-20240530140629044.htm