This is Khmer banh tet wrapped year-round to serve daily enjoyment needs and weddings, death anniversaries, not wrapped until traditional Tet like banh tet, banh chung.
Tra Cuon village (formerly belonging to Cau Ngang district, Tra Vinh province, now belonging to Vinh Kim commune, Vinh Long province). The name of the administrative unit has changed, but the reputation of Tra Cuon banh tet is still famous throughout the world, turning Tra Cuon village into the second traditional banh tet village in Vietnam, after Chuon village in Hue.
That is a great honor for Tra Cuon banh tet, because from the Central region to the South, there are countless places to wrap banh tet, creating unique and unique banh tet products. In addition, there is not only a banh tet village here but also a banh tet market, only buying and selling banh tet and cake ingredients.
Tra Cuon banh tet is said to have been created by a Khmer ethnic woman named Thach Thi Let while planning for a livelihood. At that time, banh tet was just like a regular hometown gift. But then, the delicious taste and convenience of banh tet upgraded itself to become a local specialty.
Gradually, improvements in the stage of selecting ingredients and wrapping techniques have turned Tra Cuon banh tet into a cake worthy of being present on important occasions such as Tet holidays, death anniversaries, and becoming an offering in weddings. The reason for this upgrade is that the versatility of banh tet is very broad, greatly influenced by the liberal personality of Southern residents.
Meanwhile, banh chung in the North is not easy to accept improvements, it still has to be traditional ingredients and traditional ways of wrapping and boiling to create banh chung with traditional shape and structure. Banh chung go, banh chung gac, banh chung nep cam... are not considered banh chung.
The characteristics of the land create the human personality, and the human personality creates the culinary flavor. Tra Cuon Tet cake is an example, with a rustic appearance of banana leaves, with a round cylindrical shape symbolizing a straight personality, with a beautiful cake inside when cut horizontally as if it is a fragrant, warm heart.
When admiring a slice of banh tet cut sweetly with bamboo strips, displaying the brilliant beauty of polygonal or mosaic colors, we cannot believe that it is hidden behind such a rustic banana leaf shell, created from ordinary ingredients such as sticky rice, salted eggs, green beans, pork fat.
To make delicious Tra Cuon banh tet, you must choose the best sticky rice, which people in this region call wax sticky rice. If wrapping five-color banh tet, you should choose more chrysanthemum sticky rice and dye the wax sticky rice. Green beans, choose pepper beans, small beans like pepper, rub the peel, break into pieces, soak in water until soft, then the food is cooked, smooth.
The filling of banh tet consists of fresh pork fat cut into strips, nearly as long as banh tet. Next is the yolk of salted duck eggs. In Tra Cuon banh tet, wax bananas are not used as filling for vegetarian banh tet as in other places, but green beans are used as filling.
After preparing bamboo strips and banana leaves, start wrapping. Arrange green banana leaves, not torn, on the lid or wrapping table, scoop sticky rice and pour in and spread vertically, then scoop crushed green beans and place them on top, followed by greasy meat and salted eggs located in the center.
Then skillfully wrap banana leaves, both wrapping and spreading the ingredients evenly, then wrapping them into a cylindrical shape, 3 parts of bean filling, fat meat and salted eggs are neatly placed in the center of the cylindrical shape. Only then can we use bamboo strings to wrap the banh tet piece into a very round, tight and firm shape.
It should be noted that when wrapping banh tet, the bamboo poles must be just tight enough. Otherwise, when cooking, water soaks in a lot, causing the banh tet to become mushy and watery, preventing it from being left for a long time. This is also one of the secrets to making Tra Cuon banh tet that lasts for 5-7 days without spoiling but is even more delicious and flavorful.
The wrapped banh tet sticks will be neatly arranged, carefully placed in a fairly large pot over a fiery red flame. Cooking for a long time, the pot of banh tet with boiling water sounds sizzling, the steam in the pot flies out. Banh tet is cooked for about 8 hours, then taken out to drain.
Looking at the finished Tra Cuon banh tet, you will see that the layer of banana leaves on the outside has turned pale green, inside are cooked sticky rice grains that are soft and ivory white. If it is five-colored banh tet, then cam sticky rice becomes purple, bo leaf-dyed sticky rice becomes green, gac sticky rice becomes flower-dyed, plus the yellow color of green bean filling and the orange-red color of salt eggs is enough 5 colors.
The filling of banh tet has the fatty taste of fatty meat absorbed, the savory and salty taste of salted duck egg yolks and the aroma of soft green beans. The cake slices are thickened and thin as desired, but when bitten, you will feel a balanced and harmonious delicious taste.
On Tet day, Tra Cuon banh tet village is as busy as a large workshop because they have to worry about wrapping, boiling, and delivering thousands of banh tet cakes every day. That is also when the banh tet market is most active, to take banh tet cakes throughout the six provinces of the South, and also abroad for foreigners.
Carrying a few banh tet sticks to give to each other is as simple as giving each other a bunch of home garden vegetables, a dozen chicken eggs, but it can make the recipients flutter because of the kind heart of the giver. That is the final transformation step of Tra Cuon banh tet!
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