Bánh chưng

Vietnamese rice cake

Bánh chưng (IPA: [ʔɓajŋ̟˧˦ t͡ɕɨŋ˧˧]) is a traditional Vietnamese food which is made from glutinous rice, mung beans, pork and other ingredients. Its origin is told by the legend of Lang Liêu, a prince of the last king of the Sixth Hùng Dynasty, who became the successor thanks to his creation of bánh chưng and bánh giầy, which symbolized, respectively, the earth and the sky. Considered an essential element of the family altar on the occasion of Tết, the making and eating of bánh chưng during this time is a well preserved tradition of Vietnamese people. Besides the Tết holiday, bánh chưng is also eaten all year round as Vietnamese cuisine.

According to the book Lĩnh Nam chích quái (Extraordinary stories of Lĩnh Nam) published in 1695, the creation of bánh chưng was credited to Lang Liêu, a prince of the last Sixth Hùng Dynasty of the Hùng dynasty (c. 1712 – 1632 BC). It was said that in choosing a successor among his sons, the monarch decided to carry out a competition in which each prince brought a delicacy representing the sincerity of the ancestors on the occasion of Tết, whoever could introduce the most delicious dish for the altar would become the next ruler of the country. While other princes tried to find rare and delicious foods from the forest and sea, the eighteenth prince, Lang Liêu, who was the poorest son of the Hùng king, could not afford such luxurious dishes and had to be content with everyday ingredients, such as rice and pork. He created one cake in the square form of earth called bánh chưng and one in the round form of sky called bánh giầy from these simple ingredients. In tasting the dishes offered by his son, the Hùng king found bánh chưng and bánh giầy not only delicious but also a fine representation of the respect for ancestors. Therefore, he decided to cede the throne to Lang Liêu and bánh chưng, bánh giầy became traditional foods during Tết. Lang Liêu founded the Seventh Hùng dynasty (c. 1631 – 1432 BC). Considered an indispensable dish of Tết, bánh chưng is placed on the family altars to honor the family ancestors and pray to them for support in the new year. Wrapped in a green square package, bánh chưng symbolizes the earth, In the wrapping stage, one needs lá dong, strings split from giang, one type of bamboo which has long node, and sometimes a square mold in wood so that bánh chưng can be wrapped in a better shape, lá dong, which is popular only in Southern Asia, can be substituted by banana leaves or even lá bàng. Lá dong and giang strings have to be washed carefully in order to preserve the taste of the cake, giang strings may be soaked in water or steamed so that they become flexible enough for wrapping and tying. People often choose high quality rice and beans for making bánh chưng. The mung beans are soaked in water for approximately 2 hours and the glutinous rice for 12 to 14 hours. The mung beans are drained, cooked and mashed into a paste. The fat in the pork is preferred for bánh chưng because its fatty flavor associates well with the glutinous rice and mung beans. After being sliced in approx. half inch thick strips, the pork is mixed with pepper, onion, salt and nước mắm. Sugar can also be added to this mixture of spices. The cake is wrapped in the following order. First, the giang strings and two lá dong leaves are placed as the square base for the bánh chưng. Then glutinous rice is stuffed in lá dong, followed by mung bean, pork, more mung bean and finally another layer of rice so that bean and pork can be respectively in the center of the cake. The ingredients are carefully wrapped in lá dong and bound by giang strings in the square form. In order to get a near perfect square shaped cake, the maker can use a square mold to help in the wrapping and pressing the ingredients to fill the corners of the square mold. To keep the cake from mold or being spoiled, bánh chưng should be wrapped as tight as possible. The prepared cakes are arranged in a large pot (with recommended spacing between cakes, using chopsticks, bamboo or other spacers). The pot is filled with fresh water and boiled for hours until they are cooked thoroughly. As the water evaporates during cooking, more boiled water should be added to keep the cakes submerged at all time. The outer most layer of rice turns green because the rice absorbed the color of lá dong. As the cake was formed from several ingredients, the taste of bánh chưng varies from part to part with different flavors of glutinous rice, pork, bean and even the wrapping lá dong. Bánh chưng is often served with pickled onions or vegetables, chả lụa and nước mắm. After unwrapping, bánh chưng remains edible for several days when stored in the refrigerator, Bánh chưng can also be frozen and thawed again for consumption, though the quality is not as good as a fresh cake. Bánh chưng has the water activity value aw of about 0.95 and its pH is approximately 6.4.

While being normally eaten warm or at room temperature, bánh chưng also be fried up and served in the form of a crisp pancake. It is then called bánh chưng rán or bánh chưng chiên
(fried bánh chưng). Writer Vũ Bằng in his book Thương nhớ mười hai (Longing of the 12 months) mentions bánh chưng rán as a delicious dish during the cold February of Hanoi. In some regions, instead of bánh chưng, people make bánh tét: a cylindrical cake with almost the same ingredients as bánh chưng. Bánh tày is often made with a small quantity of mung bean and little or no pork, so that it can be preserved for a longer period. Bánh tày can be cut in slices and fried like bánh chưng rán. The San Diu people has another variation of the long bánh chưng with a hump in the middle of the cake – hence it is called bánh chưng "gù" ("humped" bánh chưng). Besides lá dong, bánh chưng "gù" is wrapped with an additional type of leaf named lá chít. There are also variations of bánh chưng for vegetarians and Buddhists, such as bánh chưng chay (vegetarian chưng cake) or bánh chưng ngọt (sweetened chưng cake). Instead of being stuffed with pork these cakes are filled with molasses or brown sugar.