In the Quan Ho villages of Kinh Bac, there is a custom of friendship, confiding, and connecting with each other. When I arrived at Diem village (Hoa Long ward) to learn about the dark green banh khuc, I learned more about the Quan Hoai Lang Diem family making friends with the Quan Hoai Trung family. In Hoai Trung, there is also a typical cake on the Quan Ho rice tray to treat customers with areca flower cake.
On the dark dune day of January, I returned to Bac Ninh, to Hoai Trung village to learn about this unique cake. On the way to the village, I passed Lim hill - where the biggest Spring festival in Kinh Bac region takes place. The festival has passed, there are no more tourists, so I stopped and sang in the vibrant spring atmosphere. Lim Hill returns with an ancient, quiet appearance, with the sound of Quan Ho folk songs like resounding from famous festivals and meetings.
Taking me to the village cultural house, Mr. Duong Duc Thang (49 years old), Vice President of Quan Ho Club Hoai Trung enthusiastically told me about the areca flower cake in the Quan Ho rice tray of the village. Born into a family with a tradition of playing Quan Ho, Mr. Thang is very passionate about exploring and researching the restoration of traditional parades and performances, as well as the Quan Ho cuisine of the village.
Sharing about the areca flower cake, Mr. Duong Duc Thang immediately said that according to the elders, this cake is also called " Quan gift cake" because it was once offered to Quan district to enjoy. Therefore, the way to make areca flower cake is very elaborate and elaborate. There are two types of cake: salty and sweet. In particular, salted fillings use very "strange" ingredients.
"To make this cake, there must be areca flowers. During the flower season around the third lunar month, when the areca nut blooms, when there is a fragrant smell, the flowers will be cut down and stripped away, said Mr. Thang. Flowers, areca nut trees, and areca nut trees are taken to dry. Grind and simmer the areca nut to get the juice, then knead the areca nut until smooth.
Regarding the cake crust, there are 2 main ingredients: yellow sticky rice and popular rice. With 1kg of rice, there are 8 rice branches, 2 rice branches, soaked for enough time to puree to mix with the pickling water of the areca nut, then strain for the flour. When collecting the flour, the baker will add the bao tu acortic powder and colored water from the pre-ored fruit and thoroughly absorb it.
Not only the crust, the filling of areca flower cake also selects the ingredients that Mr. Duong Duc Thang shares: "the tools of the past are very delicious".
In the space of the exhibition room, there are hundreds of valuable artifacts and relics associated with the daily lives of Quan Ho artisans such as: Kneaded trays, bowls of wind, chopsticks, etc., so when hearing about the ingredients for making the salty filling of areca flower cakes, it is truly "refined".
The salty filling of the cake includes pork intestines, peach cheeks, fried fat in tournos, throat intestines or chicken breast. These ingredients are not chopped but must be diced, then added a little shiitake mushroom, wood ear, spices, and ice on the fire to give a golden fragrance.
The sweet filling includes green beans and pork fat to add the sticky rice. In particular, when the filling is finished, you have to sprinkle it on the dried areca flowers in just enough quantity.
Areca flower cakes when wrapped to steam are in two forms: semi-cular shape (similar to Diem village's banh khuc) or round shape. When cooked, the cake turns beautifully yellow, and the occasional aroma is like the scent of areca flower blooms blooming at night. Taste the cake, the scent of areca flowers get even more delicious. The skin is thick, slightly tough, and the inside is filled with the possibility of a light sandy areca flower plank. However, the more you eat it, the sweeter and more fragrant it is.
Areca flower cakes are strange and strange but also familiar, because in the ancient Vietnamese countryside, areca was a familiar tree, just like the saying: "Before areca, after bananas". Areca is also the childhood of countless people, with familiar images such as some fresh areca nuts in betel, areca molasses she uses a cool fan for summer lunch... Areca flower cakes, when heard their real names, are fragrant, reminiscent of the flower beds of white areca nuts, growing down and then falling into the yard, or falling in water.
Revealing the story, Mr. Duong Duc Thang immediately introduced to me more traditional customs that the village still preserves. That is the way Quan Ho communicates in a disciplined and elegant way. That is the village festival opened on the 12th of the first lunar month, very bustling and bustling with Quan Ho singing activities at the communal house and pagoda gate. Or that is also areca flower cake, a typical dish that only exists in the village and has been passed down since ancient times, and is still preserved by the brothers and sisters to show the fragrant heart of welcoming guests to play.
