VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi has many specialties on offer but one of the most renowned snacks which most visitors to the capital want to bring home as a gift for family and friends is banh com (sweet, soft and fragrant green rice cake).

Green rice is filtered using a flat bamboo basket before it is packed in lotus leaves

Banh com originates in Vong Village, Dich Vong Hau Ward, Cau Giay District, around eight kilometers from central Hanoi.

The cake is made from young rice. How to make it is a secret and in most families there, the cake making technique is passed down to sons only because people are afraid that daughters might leak the secret recipe to their husbands’ families.

It is complicated to make the cake. Whether it is glutinous and fragrant depends on the skills and experience of makers. How to choose rice, monitor heat levels from the stove, and roast and grind rice is very important.

On September 222, machinery replaces some stages of manual work but making the cake is a hard job as it does not guarantee high income. Therefore, the number of families maintaining the traditional craft in the village is on the wane.

A man grinds roasted green rice using a machine   Young green paddy is used for making com, a green rice cake     Finished com       Green rice is roasted. The process needs to be done by experienced people to make sure that heat levels are appropriate – Photos: Phuong Dung