Banh Chung Essay

329 Words2 Pages
Bánh chưng (sticky rice cake) is a traditional Vietnamese rice cake. It is made from glutinous rice, mung bean, pork and other ingredients. Traditionally, bánh chưng requires a preparation of many ingredients, each Vietnamese family begins to make the cake from the 27th or 28th day of the December in Lunar calendar. In making bánh chưng, all members of the family gather with different tasks, from washing the banana leaves, mixing the pork with spices, preparing the mung bean and most important wrapping all ingredients in square form and boilling the cakes. Bánh chưng needs to be carefully boiled for ten to twelve hours during while the adults and children sit together around the boiling cauldron, the warm fire, talking and telling each other past stories, they get ready for a New Year with lots of good wishes The origin of Banh Chung can be traced to Hong Bang Dynasty – when the 6th Hung Emperor find the one to inherit his position and sit on the throne. Therefore, he held a cooking contest for his 21 sons, and who could fully satisfy his taste would be the winner. Lang Lieu – the 18th son of Hung King, also the poorest and loneliest since he lost his mother at a young age. Not having enough money to afford such delicacies, Lieu just stayed around his house. Thanks to the help of a fairy in his dream, Lieu came up with 2 types of cake called ‘Banh Chung’ and ‘Banh Day’ and started baking exactly like what he had been told. In the contest, Hung Emperor was deeply impressed by the special flavor of these cakes and asked about meaning of these cakes. Banh Day symbolized the sky we live under and Banh Chung was symbolic of the earth we live on. After that, Hung Emperor decided that Lieu was the winner and passed his throne to him. Since then, Banh Chung and Banh Day become traditional foods during the

More about Banh Chung Essay

Open Document