Banh Chung (Chung cake) is a traditional and irreplaceable cake of Vietnamese people in the Tet Holidays and King Hung’s anniversary (10th March Lunar). For the Vietnamese, making “Banh Chung” is the ideal way to express gratitude to their ancestors and homeland.
Chung’s cake was invented by Emperor 18th Hung Prince in the contest in search of a new emperor. According to legend, there was3 000 to 4 000 years ago, Prince Lang Lieu made round cake made and square, cake Day symbolizes the sky and square Chung cake symbolizing the Earth (under the old Vietnamese perception) offering to the source.
In the old design, the Earth is square, so the shape is square Chung cake, too, to reflect the shape of the Earth. As the cakes were offered special significance and a delicious taste, Lang Lieu was chosen to be the next emperor. Since then, in honor of this eighteenth prince, the Vietnamese people still make and pastel Chung in the lunar New Year. So far, Chung Cake has become the most famous and irreplaceable traditional Vietnamese cuisine of the Tet Holiday. This legend is to remind future generations of the ancient tradition and the primary Chung cake. It also highlights the important role of rice and nature in the cultivation of aquatic rice.
In contrast to the fast food in modern life, the process of making Chung cake is time-consuming and requires the contribution of several people. Main ingredients are glutinous rice, pork meat, and green beans wrapped in a square of bamboo leaves that will give the rice a green color after boiling. The sticky rice must be very good and was soaked in water in the previous day. Rice cake is wrapped in square shape, and the wrapping power must be neither tight nor loose. Then the cake will be boiled in about 12 hours by wood. The Green Chung cake has nutrition with an original tasty flavor and may be kept for a long time. Eating Chung cake with vegetable pickles will bring you unforgettable taste!
In the traditional conception of Vietnamese people, the process of making Chung cake is the opportunity for family to come together. Sitting around the warm fire, all members in the family tell one another the past stories and are ready for a New Year with wishes of best things. Nowadays, in some big cities, the business lifestyle of modern society prevent people from preparing the cake, however, the habit of worship ancestors with Chung cake never changes. It is the evidence of the Vietnamese loyalty and deep gratitude to ancestors.
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