VietNamNet Bridge – As of the 24^th day of the lunar December (January 27) The Chuon village in Phu Vang district, in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue has entered the busiest time of the year. The village has supplied banh tet (cylindric glutinous rice cake) for local people and neighboring provinces for hundreds of years.

Bánh tet is a Vietnamese savory but sometimes sweet cake made primarily from glutinous rice, that is rolled in a banana leaf into a thick, log-like cylindrical shape, with a meat or vegetarian filling (such as mung beans), then boiled. After cooking, the banana leaf is removed and the cake is sliced into wheel-shaped servings.

The process of making banh tet usually begins the day before the lunar New Yer or Tet holiday where the ingredients are prepared then cooked for at least six hours in a pot of boiling water. The first step is assembling the ingredients - glutinous rice and mung bean paste and cooked pork fat. Next, the ingredients are layered on top of banana leaves before being tightly wrapped together with strings. To prevent the banana leaf from coming apart during cooking, banh tet are usually wrapped again several times with a length of plastic ribbon before boiling in a large pot of water.

Banh tet is a must have traditional food in the central and southern Vietnam.  It is similar to banh chung (square glutinous rice cake) in northern Vietnam during the Lunar New Year. It demonstrates the importance of rice in the Vietnamese culture as well historical values. During Vietnamese Tet, family members would gather together and enjoy feasting on banh tet, the central food of this festive Vietnamese holiday celebrates the coming of spring.

The cake is eaten during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday, dipped in fish sauce or without chilli, and can be eaten together with pickled scallions. The cake can also be fried.

Hereafter are pictures featuring banh tet making at the Chuon village:

PV