Banh Tet: Traditional cake in Southern Vietnam

Banh Tet (Photo: Infonet)

The Tet cake is cylindrical, made with sticky rice and filled with pork fat and beans seasoned with black pepper and shallots. It is wrapped in banana leaves and as a result, the sticky rice takes on a pale green color and a slightly leafy taste. Even though the cake is available all year, it is still considered a New Year treat. 

The cake is served with pickled scallions, vegetable pickles and fish sauce. After cooking, the banana leaves are removed and the cake is sliced into wheel-shaped servings. It may also be sliced and fried to a delicious chewy crispness.

To prevent the banana leaf from coming apart during cooking, a Tet cake is usually wrapped again several times with a length of plastic ribbon before steaming.  

People of different regions can create ingredients to make perfect Tet cakes for themselves. Can Tho is famous for its unique Banh Tet La Cam – violet glutinous rice cake.

This version of the Tet cake has a lovely purple colour because the sticky rice is soaked in purple water extracted from the leaves of a magenta plant. Inside of the cake there are tasty ingredients such as beans, pork fat, dried shrimps and salted egg yolks. All are tightly wrapped in banana leaves and cooked for hours. 

The process of making Tet cakes is time consuming, thus providing an opportunity for family members to bond and come together to celebrate the holiday spirit.   

Presently, Tet cakes have become popular with people in other regions as they are sold on the market shelves in many localities across the country.

By VNA