Although since ancient times, banh chung and banh giay have been two indispensable dishes during Tet holiday of Vietnamese people, until now, not all places have banh giay on Tet holiday. In Ha Nam island region of Quang Yen town, there is a type of cake that is indispensable in holidays, Tet, Ra co ho, festivals and weddings - that is banh giay, especially the brilliant orange-red gac banh giay, bringing the colors of spring and luck of the first days of the new year.
Nowadays, when banh giay is made more industrially to serve the great demand of consumers, producers often grind flour to make cakes instead of pounding cakes to increase productivity. Therefore, many people do not believe that there are still banh giay cakes pounded every day to bring to the market. Witnessing the traditional banh giay making profession in the island region of Ha Nam (Quang Yen town), we went there to learn and experience pounding cakes, enjoying hot, delicious banh giay cakes made from the skill and dedication to preserving the traditional profession of the bakers here.
Banh giay is a long-standing delicious specialty in the island communes of Ha Nam. Banh giay is indispensable in holidays, Tet, family feasts and weddings... Ha Nam people use banh giay as an offering to their grandparents and ancestors and also as a simple but heartwarming dish and gift to give to relatives and visitors, especially during the spring. Therefore, the demand for banh giay on Ha Nam island is still high and to this day the traditional profession of making banh giay is still preserved.
Located just a hundred meters from the main road of Ha Nam island commune, in a small alley, the house of Mr. Vu Dinh Kinh and Mrs. Ngo Thi Nhan (zone 5, Phong Coc ward, Quang Yen town) is still bustling with the sound of pounding rice cakes every day. Mrs. Nhan is still rolling large baskets of rice, talking to us with a bright smile and sharing: "Her family has been doing this job for 20 years, also preserving the traditional job left by their ancestors. Making rice cakes also has its hardships, but when the cakes reach the hands of the people and tourists, and are praised for being delicious, her husband and I are very excited."
According to Ms. Nhan, to make delicious banh giay, the most important thing is to choose yellow sticky rice, otherwise the cake will not be soft and fragrant. After choosing the rice, it must be soaked in warm water for about five or six hours, then taken out and drained. If making white banh giay, just take the soaked rice to steam sticky rice to pound the cake. In Ha Nam, especially during Tet, the demand for gac sticky rice is higher because the cake has a beautiful, eye-catching red-orange color, symbolizing luck, so the process will have to add a step of mixing rice with gac to cook sticky rice.
Previously, rice cake makers like Mr. Kinh and Mrs. Nhan often cooked sticky rice in a large pot on a wood stove, which took about 1 hour to make a batch of sticky rice. But over the past year, they shared that they “had to move forward with the technology era” by investing in cooking with an electric steamer, which cooks the sticky rice faster, only taking 30 minutes, and ensures cleanliness.
The most interesting part of our experience was watching the two rice cake makers pounding and shaping the cakes. Pounding the cakes is considered the most important step. The pounding pestle is a small wooden mallet covered with a non-stick material such as areca leaves soaked in soft water…
When the sticky rice is cooked, Mrs. Nhan quickly scoops it out into a basket, batch by batch. The amount of sticky rice depends on the customer's request, but usually 1.5kg will make one cake. "Hot sticky rice must be pounded quickly to get a batch of hot sticky rice cake. If it cools down, the cake will be less sticky," Mrs. Nhan shared.
So the sticky rice had just come out of the steamer when the two workers pounded and shaped the cake very quickly. Mr. Kinh was always moving the pestle up and down the basket of sticky rice, while Mrs. Nhan was quickly flipping the sticky rice to match the pounding rhythm. Her hands quickly flipped the sticky rice that was still hot and steaming with a fragrant aroma.
According to Mr. Kinh, the technique of pounding and forming the cake is not simple, it requires practice. The pounder needs to be healthy and have good technique to make the cake soft and also ensure the safety of the person forming the cake. Both must coordinate well with each stroke of the pestle until the sticky rice is soft and smooth.
At this time, the person making the cake will skillfully roll the edges of the cake so that the cake is both round and high, not flat. Very quickly, the hot, round, orange-red gac sticky rice cakes are placed on green banana leaves, fanned to cool and shape. We stood and watched, unable to help but exclaim when the finished cakes were shiny, very attractive and beautiful, the aroma spreading throughout the yard. The sticky rice cakes made by Ha Nam people are bigger and fuller than those made in other places. This has been their concept since ancient times, it is the heart of the later generations to their ancestors and also the heart of the people of Ha Nam living a full life together.
Mrs. Nhan used scissors to trim the leaves, then wrapped them in a bag so that the rice cakes would retain their elasticity while ensuring food hygiene and safety.
On normal days, the family will only make about 20 banh giay to sell to local people. On holidays, Tet, especially on the occasion of Chap To, Ra co ho and when there are guests ordering weddings, the number of banh giay can be up to 200 or more.
Visitors to Ha Nam on weekdays can buy banh giay to enjoy or as a gift for relatives. When eating, people often cut the cake into small pieces, served with pork roll, squid roll. If they need to take it far away or keep it for a long time, the cake will be cut into small pieces and stored in the refrigerator. When eating, they can fry it to get a hot, crispy, chewy and delicious cake. Enjoying it, you will be fascinated by the rich and sweet flavor of fragrant sticky rice wrapped in the cake with all the effort and sophistication of the people here. Eat the cake once and remember the flavor forever so that next time you have the opportunity to pass by, you will definitely stop by to buy it and also understand more about a traditional profession, imbued with the cultural value of the residents of Tien Cong land.
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