The Hanoi Food Culture Festival 2024 will take place over 3 days, from November 29 to December 1 at Thong Nhat Park (Hanoi). The festival will bring together dishes with strong Vietnamese identity, while also introducing the culinary cultures of many countries around the world.
About 80 booths from embassies in Vietnam, typical traditional craft villages of Hanoi, typical culinary products of localities were displayed at the festival. In particular, the Quan Ganh sticky rice cake booth attracted a large number of diners to participate in the festival.
Banh day Quan Ganh is a specialty dish in Nhi Khe commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuat (55 years old) - a cake maker with over 40 years of experience, Banh day Quan Ganh was originally just a street vendor selling banh day on National Highway 1. Gradually, with its delicious flavor, this cake has become famous far and wide, known to many locals as well as tourists.
Quan Ganh sticky rice cake stands out with its crust made from yellow sticky rice, a type of rice with high stickiness and a distinctive aroma. Before processing, the rice is carefully screened to ensure that each grain is even and free of grit or dirt.
At around 2-3am every morning, the artisans begin the process of making the cakes: steaming the sticky rice, washing the rice and beans thoroughly, then putting them into the pounding machine. When the sticky rice is almost done, they add a little warm water to cook it evenly.
The sticky rice is then poured into a mortar and pounded into a thick, white mass. Ms. Tuat said: “If pounded by hand, it takes 4 people to do it continuously for at least half an hour. However, if pounded by machine, only 2 people need to adjust, the quality of the cake remains unchanged.”
The special thing about Quan Ganh sticky rice cake is that it is not round but slightly flat. Anyone who buys it for the first time will think that there is only one cake with a size almost as big as banh chung. In fact, each square package contains up to six small cakes placed side by side, wrapped in dong leaves and carefully tied with string.
The cake looks simple and rustic, but to make it delicious, it requires meticulousness, carefulness and cleanliness of the maker. The cake has absolutely no additives so it can only be preserved for the day. If left in the refrigerator overnight, the cake may not spoil but the crust will dry out and not taste as good as before.
Quan Ganh sticky rice cake has two types of filling: sweet and savory. The sweet filling is made from cooked mung beans, stir-fried with sugar, and added sesame and coconut. The savory filling is also made from mung beans but combined with fatty pork belly. Both types of filling cost 30,000 VND/package.
The Quan Ganh sticky rice cake stall at the food festival often sells out early. Ms. Tuat said that during the first two days of the festival, the cakes sold out by 4 p.m., while the festival lasted until 10 p.m.
Sharing on the last day of the festival, Ms. Tuat said: “I can only sell until 6pm at most. I can’t make the cakes in time to sell.”
Ms. Nguyen Mai (21 years old, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) - a customer buying cakes at the stall said: "Seeing that there were many customers, I stopped by to buy some. The cakes are very delicious. I will definitely buy them again many times."
