YummY Vietnam

Tet cake or Cylindrical glutinous rice cake is also known as the New Year cake because it is often made on Tet holiday of Vietnamese people. Ingredients for Tet cakes are similar to Banh Chung; however, Tet cake also differs from banh chung in terms of wrapping and shape; banh chung is square and this cake is long cylindrical. Besides, to wrap this cake, people often use banana leaves instead of Dong leaves.

Tet cake has a long cylindrical shape, so in the South, it is also known as the Đòn Bánh Tét (Bánh Đòn). People often hang banh Tet, connecting two load cakes with dried banana strings to form a pair.

You can make this cake with salty filling (fatty meat, shrimp, mung beans) or sweet filling (mung beans, bananas). However, most of Vietnamese people usually make the filling with fatty meat and mung beans like banh chung. You can tighten it by nylon string or bamboo string.

There are two ways to eat Tet cake: The first way is that people use a knife to cut Tet cake into bite-sized pieces, then peel off the leaves and strings. The second is that you can peel off the wrapper, then using the string, one hand holds the cake, the other holds the bamboo string, the mouth keeps the rest of string, cutting the cake into slices. Peeling the wrapper and cutting carefully.

There is a following simple recipe for making Tet cakes that you can refer to and learn from!

Ingredients for Banh Tet recipe

• 2 kg sticky rice
• Mung beans
• 1 kg pork belly
• Banana leaves: 1 bunch, with long, intact banana leaves.
• A bunch of bamboo string
• Marinating spices (seasoning, pepper)

How to make banh tet recipe

Step 1: Preparing ingredients

Sticky rice: After you have chosen delicious sticky rice, you need to wash it. Note: Washing the rice until the water is clear. Next, you soak the rice for about 12 hours in cold water. Then pour the rice into a draining bowl and mixing the rice with a pinch of salt. This makes the cake tastier instead of being pale without salt.

Mung beans, you need to soak for about 8 hours to full of water, then, clean the shell. Continue to pour the beans and steam to soften, spread the beans to cool quickly.

Cleaning the banana leaves and wiping the leaves with a soft cloth. Finally, you drain the leaves in a clean, windy area.

Marinating pork side: Delicious meat is a tip to make a delicious cake. Accordingly, that the lean meat causes the filling is not juicy, the fatty meat makes the cake taste brackish. Therefore, you should choose pork belly that has both lean and fat to make the filling. Meat should be washed, cut large pieces with moderate thickness. Minced dried onion, pepper, and MSG are marinated with meat to make tastier and more delicious.

Step 2: Wrapping banh tet

Preparing a clean tray and pre-set 2 strings with evenly spaced. Putting 2 banana leaves on the string, the previous leaf overlaps half of the latter.

Putting a bowl of rice in the middle, evenly spreading in a rectangular cake mold. Next, adding the beans in the middle, adding the meat, next, pouring a bowl of mung beans and on top is a bowl of sticky rice. Covering the filling carefully with sticky rice.

Folding the leaf in a leaf-shaped shape and using a string to fix it, folding the leaf corner and standing the cake up.

At the same time, gently patting around the cake and folding the top of the upper leaf to close to the body. Quickly using the bamboo string to tie the cake. Turning the cake over and tie the other. Using lots of strings to tie the cake.

Finally, boiling the cakes for 8 - 10 hours.

When you boil a cake, you need to put bricks or heavy objects on the cakes to avoid the cake breaking when it is cooked. After taking the cake, washing the cake with water and rolling it again before peeling.