"Unlike rice cake in other locations, Cho Village’s rice cake is particularly tasty and delicious because it is wrapped up in dong (phrynium) leaves, a kind of leaf that grows in forests. In other locations makers often wrapped the cake in banana leaves," elderly villager Hoang Thi Ly said.

The cake is as big as two fingers but it is filled with stir-fried minced pork, fragrant mushroom, quality fish sauce, dried onion and pepper.

“These ingredients create a special savour of the cake,” Ly said, adding that no one, even the elderly, did not know exactly when the cake came into being but it is sold available in Bac Ninh from street vendors to luxury restaurants.

The cake is never missing during big anniversaries such as Tet (Lunar New Year) or wedding parties.

It should be eaten hot, and the naturally fragrant from dong leaves makes mouths' water.

Ly said to make such tasty rice cake, makers have to choose quality new rice. 

The rice should be soaked in water and ground into wet powder. During the soaking process for three days, the water must be changed 3-4 times. 

“The most important step is how to cook the wet powder so as to save it from being burnt. Makers have to pay special attention to this step if not it will spoil the whole lot,” she said. 

After being wrapped up and tied the cake is being steamed for 25 and 30 minutes, Ly said.

In the past, the rice cake was only made during the Tet holiday or anniversaries such as engagement or wedding ceremonies, but now it is made year-round to meet increasing demand.

Nguyen Thi Nhung, a big producer of the rice cake in Cho Village, said her family makes 1,500-2,000 cakes daily and 5,000-7,000 cakes during special occasions.

“The cake particularly sold well during these days including cold days and festivals such as Lim, one of the biggest festivals in Bac Ninh, where flocked thousands of visitors and travellers across the nation,” Nhung said, adding that all of them buy the cake home to enjoy it and to gift their relatives and friends.

A traveller from Hanoi, Tran Thi Sau, said she often visits Bac Ninh’s Lim Festival every year to enjoy folk songs and also Cho Village rice cake.

The cake’s price is affordable at VND10,000 per piece.

“When enjoying the cake I also have a feeling that it reflects clearly special soul and characteristics of locals and this rural land,” Sau said. 

Source: Vietnam News