One more Lunar Year is ending. The Tet holiday is near coming. The weather is also coming to Spring. My surroundings is transforming to welcome a new spring. It makes me be excited to welcome a new spring being full warm, full colorful, especially, it is filled feelings.
The Tet holidays is the chance for us, Vietnamese, to show our gratitude, our Filial Piety; This is the chance for us, all of members in the family to get together, to tell each other, to share each other many things in our life during a year - joy and sadness . On this vocation, we will make many kinds of traditional food. Such as jams, sweet cakes, and main disks for lunch, dinner, ...
"Thịt mỡ, dưa hành, câu đối đỏ,
Cây nêu, tràng pháo, bánh chưng xanh"
Today, I would like to introduce to all of you one of those traditional foods called "Bánh Chưng" shaped square and made from sticky rice, green bean and fat meat being simple and essential foodstuffs in our daily meal. We make and present it to our ancestor to present our gratitude and filial piety on the special holidays.
The legend is said that the first "Bánh Chưng" was made by Lang Liêu, the eighteenth Prince of King Hung VI to worship the ancestor on the Tet holidays. His conception was that the earth was square and the greatest. He wanted to admire that the Grace of our ancestor is as immense and beautiful as the earth. "Bánh Chưng" be symbolic of the earth. Green of leaves covered Sticky Rice is symbolic of the green of the earth's surface covered by immense Rice fields. Sticky Rice encloses Green Bean and Fat Meat shows the protection for all species of the earth.
"Bánh Chưng" is boiled during 12h make fat meat melt then blend into sticky rice and green bean. At this time sticky rice looks glossier and covered by green. Flavor of sticky rice, green bean, fat meat mingle with flavor of leaves, a little pepper taste and rather salty to form a specific flavor and fragrance.
Today, making "Bánh Chưng" becomes our traditional activity. It influences a part of forming our personality, our love for our homeland, our country.
For my large family, 14 years ago and many years before, on the 2 days before the Tet, I, my father, my brother and my sister used to help my mother to make "Bánh Chưng". During 5 years later, after my mother departed this world, my father and my siblings were helping me to make "Bánh Chưng". During 9 years later, every the Tet, since I got married, I have made "Bánh Chưng" to present my ancestor, my mother and my father. We, each member of this large family have never forgotten such happy instant. The instant when all members in family have a chance to cluster round each other. Adult make the cake, children shout for joy. Especially, the time during the night we cook it. All members are over night to boil "Bánh Chưng". My parents used to tell us life's stories, past thing, tell us what happened with their life, how they enjoyed the life, ... It makes the family sentiment be more steadfast.
After here, I would like to share with you the ingredients and direction how to make it
A) Ingredients: for of 8 pieces (weight: 0.8kg/piece well done)
1) Sticky Rice: 3kgs
2) Green Bean peeled: 1kg
3) Fat Meat:1kg
4) Green leaves such as banana leaves or arrowroot leaves: 50 leaves (20x30cm)
(link refer to the picture http://www.prosperitywithnature.com.au/legumes-and-vegetables/26-queensland-arrowroot.html)
5) Bamboo string: 32 strings (length: 120cm)
6) Salt: 6 tsp
7) Pepper: 1 tsp
B) Direction:
I. Preparation: 1.5hours
1) Bamboo strings: soak in water 1h so that they can be soft
2) Leaves: soak in water 30' so that they can be soft, wash, dry
3) Fat meat: wash, cut into 8 equal pieces then mix with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper
4) Sticky Rice: wash, mix 5 tsp of salt then soak it in water for 1h
5) Green Bean: wash, soak in water for 15', cook (same was as cook rice), pound, divide into 8 equal parts
6) knead green bean powder into square so that fat meat in the middle of it
II. Wrap: 1hour
7) fold leaves so that each one has shape of one of corners of cube like pyramid
8) join 4 pyramids together like basket has a square bottom and height 10cm
9) put sticky rice into the basket (step 8) so that its height 1cm then put the square of step 6 above sticky rice layer of step 9 then continue cover by a layer of sticky rice (more 1cm)
==> total height of sticky rice, green bean and fat meat is about 5cm
11) fold down the remainder of basket to wrap sticky rice, green bean and fat meat in leaves
12) tie (neither tight nor loose) bamboo strings around square shape
III. Boil: 12hours
13) boil during 12h
IV. Preserve
14) take out then wash paste around cover, dry
15) squeeze the cake by laying it on flat then weigh down on it
Keep in normal condition during 7 days
Comments
@Expector, Thanks!
@Prixary,
OK, I will take video this time.
:)
@Ehab Nassif,
Thank you for your time reading my writing.
:)
Hello Trouong thi thanh
thank you for your nice blog
I dont think I have chance coz I will have to work till the day berofe New Year Eve when all of Banh Chung are available for eating hehe.
I'm thinking maybe you need to make a video so that other people can know how to wrap the cake. It's the hardest part.
Yes @Pixary,
I can.
Please try this time! Of course, it will be difficult for you at the first time.
The first time I did 14 years ago.
The picture in this post is my products last year.
I help my dad to prepare to make Bánh Chưng almost every year. My only duty is to wash the green leaves :D My mon will prepare all ingredients and my Dad is the one who wrap and boil those cakes.
For more convenience, nowadays my dad boil them at daytime so we dont have chance to stay overnight in kitchen to watch them :D
BTW, can you make this cake by yourself? I have never done it :)
@Luci,
I think you can not find any "Bánh Chưng" in Vietnamese restaurant, but you maybe find in Vietnamese market on the Tet holiday in your country.
@noaslpls,
:) It takes time
It look like very complicated dish to prepare.
Woow... it looks like a gift, well done, guess I should visit some vietnamese restaurant or our neighbours who come from Vietnam ... anywayz to prepare it ... I have no banana leaves here :-D something too exotic for poor european people..
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