ONLY IN HUE
In the bustling days of the end of the year, on the bustling Ba Trieu fashion street (Thuan Hoa District, Hue City), there is a petite old lady, wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress and a conical hat, carrying a basket to sell sticky rice cakes. She is Tran Thi Gai (83 years old), the only person in the ancient capital of Hue who still keeps the profession of making cakes that used to only appear during Tet and last until around the 4th or 5th lunar month. "This job requires little capital and a lot of work. I love this job that I have only been doing until now, but the profit is not much. I love it because thanks to this sticky rice cake stall, I have raised my children. I love it because many people tell me not to give up the job, it would be a waste," said Ms. Gai.
Mrs. Gai does not know when the “banh duc mat” was created, but she remembers exactly that she has been doing this job for nearly 50 years. She said that the “banh duc mat” profession originated in Lai The village (Phu Thuong ward, Hue city) by a woman who created it from field rice, an ingredient that is criticized for being hard when cooked, but quickly solidifies when used as flour. The profession taught women how to do it, and then they used it as a way to make a living. About 30 years ago, in Hue, “banh duc mat” vendors spread throughout the city. Therefore, the “banh duc” stall became a familiar image, deeply imprinted in the minds of many people every spring.
Mrs. Tran Thi Gai - the last person in Hue who still knows how to make honey cake
According to researcher Tran Nguyen Khanh Phong, banh duc is a traditional dish originating from the North and brought to Hue. While banh duc in the North and South often has fillings, Hue banh duc leaves the original dough when making the cake. Mr. Phong said that in Hue there are two types of banh duc. If white banh duc is seasoned with fish sauce, green banh duc (colored from the leaves of the bong bong tree, or sâm cau tree) is eaten with molasses. This is considered a dish that brings luck in the new year, so Hue people often eat green banh duc to receive good luck at the beginning of the year.
“In particular, eating green rice cake with honey does not use a spoon or chopsticks like some other cakes, but must use a bamboo knife. Green rice cake has a rich, crispy taste of the cake mixed with the sweet aroma of honey, a gift with a strong hometown flavor that only Hue has,” said Mr. Phong.
ENJOYING CAKE IS ALSO A LOT OF EFFORT
The sight of Mrs. Tran Thi Gai carrying her basket to the street every day to sell molasses cakes has become familiar to many people in Hue. The 7x and 8x generations who have eaten her cakes will probably never forget the taste of the green, chewy, sticky rice cakes mixed with the sweetness of molasses.
“The ingredients for making the cake depend on the season of the leaves, so I usually only make the cake in winter until near summer. This is the time when the leaves have the most beautiful color and aroma. After the season, the leaves get old and if I still try to make the cake, the green color will turn black, which is not attractive,” Ms. Gai shared.
The green rice cake looks very attractive.
Banh duc mat is a dish that is believed to bring luck to the people of Hue at the beginning of the new year.
Listening to Mrs. Gai’s story, the steps of making the cake are quite simple, but witnessing her preparing each step until the cake is delivered to the customers’ hands, you can see how hard she works. First, after choosing the satisfactory field rice, she washes it, grinds it, and then sieves it to get the smooth rice water. Next is the step of creating the green color for the cake. Mrs. Gai often takes the leaves of the Bong Bong tree, crushes them with pandan leaves in a stone mortar, then takes the leaves and shakes them with water, squeezing them dry. This water is mixed with a little lime water and then mixed with the rice flour water.
“The process of stirring over the fire requires me to be present at all times to stir the rice flour until it thickens. If I do it quickly, the flour will not be able to stick together, but if I do it slowly, the flour will easily burn, and the whole batch of cakes will be wasted…”, Mrs. Gai said, rubbing her eyes from the smoke from the kitchen.
When the cake has thickened, she quickly removes the firewood from the bottom of the pot, leaving only a few embers. When the cake is cooked, she pours the hot dough onto a bamboo tray lined with fresh banana leaves and flattens it so that the cake is only about 2 cm thick. The cake is usually made in the afternoon, “sleeping” overnight to cool, and then the next morning, it can be followed to the street by Mrs. Gai.
To properly eat banh duc molasses, you must use a paddle dipped in molasses and then skewer it into the cake.
This step is only… half done. True to its name, the next step is to “refine” the molasses. To have a pot of thick, brown molasses that can stick to a fork, the baker must have a lot of experience. When cooking the sugar water, Mrs. Gai often stirs it evenly over a low flame and adds a little lemon juice. The final step is to sharpen the paddle (fork). From old bamboo sticks, she carefully splits and shapes them into paddles about 5 cm long, with one end pointed. “These paddles look simple, but if you don’t have them, the banh duc won’t taste right. Bamboo paddles have good adhesion, so when you rotate them around in the jar, the molasses will stick to them just enough to make them taste good. Next, use the paddle to skewer the cake. Pucker your lips to pull the paddle out and the cake will fit neatly in your mouth,” Mrs. Gai smiled toothlessly.
Hue in the last days of the year, it is drizzling. Mrs. Gai still leisurely carries her carrying pole to the street. Just seeing her figure, regular customers will call her or stop their motorbike to buy cakes. She carefully cuts diamond-shaped pieces, about the size of a thumb, and puts them on a banana leaf to give to customers. Each bunch costs 20,000 VND. “When I no longer have the strength, that’s it, but as long as I am healthy, I will continue to make honey cakes. Many people say that I have become a “rare commodity” so I try to keep the profession, both enjoying my old age and contributing something to Hue cuisine,” Mrs. Gai confided. (to be continued)
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