YummY Vietnam

Banh Giay (sometimes be misspelled by Banh Day) is a traditional Vietnamese cake to express the gratitude of their descendants to ancestors and the land of the country. The cake is usually made of finely pounded sticky rice. The cake is usually made on Lunar New Year and the 10th day of the third lunar month (on the anniversary of Hung Vuong’s death).

Banh Giay is related to the Lang Lieu legend, which happened in the 6th Hung King period. Accordingly, a prince named Lang Lieu had a dream about a round rice cake which symbolizes the sky, and a square one which symbolizes the land. These two are used to present to his father in the first day of spring. In addition to explaining the origins of Banh Chung and Banh Giay, this legend reminds descendants of the nation’s traditions and the importance of rice and nature in wet rice civilization.

Banh Giay are quite popular and sold in many places, but when it comes to delicious cakes, there are two famous regions of making tasty cakes in the North, they are Gay village, Hien street (Van Giang - Hung Yen) and Quan Ganh (Nhi Khe - Thuong Tin - Ha Tay).

Typically, the most common cake is non-filling cake. However, to enrich and diversify the taste of this traditional cake, you can also skillfully fill it with mung beans. Here, with familiar and simple ingredients such as sticky rice flour, rice flour and mung beans … you can completely make your cakes at home with the recipe below.

Ingredients for making Banh Giay with pork rolls

Ingredients for 4 pairs of cakes:

• 300gr sticky rice flour
• 1 half teaspoon of rice flour
• A little seasoning
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 spoon of cooking oil
• 300ml of fresh milk or water
• 4 slices of pork rolls
• Banana leaves

Steps for making Banh Giay with pork rolls

Step 1:

 

Firstly, warm milk or water to prepare for kneading dough. Put glutinous rice flour into a bowl, add salt, seasoning powder, cooking oil and mix well, then pour fresh milk and knead the dough to become soft, smooth and without sticking your hands. Cover bowl and rest the dough for 20 minutes.

Step 2:

After 20 minutes, you divide the dough evenly into 8 pieces, roll each piece, then use your palms to press each dough evenly.

Step 3:

Pour water into the pot and boil, add a small amount of cooking oil into the broth, then put the cake into the boiling pot until the cake floated, boil for 1-2 minutes and ladle it out, drain and cool the cake.

Step 4:

Cut banana leaves into a circle that is as big as a cake, next you cut pork rolls into slightly thick slices, put a piece of cake on the banana leaf, then put a pork roll into the middle, put a further cake and put a piece of banana leaf on top, and you have a delicious and beautiful pair of Banh Giay with pork rolls.

Banh Giay with mung beans

Ingredients for making Banh Giay with mung beans

• For the filling: 200gr peeled mung beans, 70gr sugar, 1 pinch of salt, cooking oil
• For the crust: 200gr glutinous rice flour, 10gr rice flour, 50gr sugar, 180ml warm water, 1 pinch of salt, 1 small spoon of cooking oil.

Steps for making Banh Giay with mung beans

Making the filling:

Step 1:

Wash mung beans and soak for 3 to 4 hours until it is soft, pour mung beans into a pot, add a pinch of salt, steam it.

Step 2:

Ground mung beans in a mortar or put them in the blender, take 1/3 of the beans out to spread a layer of the cake.

Step 3:

The remaining beans are put into a non-stick pan, add sugar, cooking oil, a little water and stir-fry over low heat until you can hold beans without sticking hands and turn off the stove. If you like, you can add a little coconut grated into the filling, which make the cake tastier.

Step 4:

Wait for the mung beans to cool down and then roll it into small balls, wrap it tightly so that the beans do not dry, so the filling cake is finished.

Making the crust:

Step 5:

Pour warm water into a bowl, add sugar, a pinch of salt, cooking oil, stir well.

Step 6:

Pour the mixture of sugar and water into the flour bowl and mix well, knead until it become a soft dough. Cover and rest the dough for 20 minutes.

Step 7:

Make even round rolls, then make it flat and put mung bean rolls in the middle, tightly wrap for the filling not to be leaked out, so you finish.

Step 8:

Put a pot of water on the stove and boil, then put each cake roll and boil until the cake is cooked for 1-2 minutes, and take out, drain, gently press for slightly flat cake.

Step 9:

After the cake cools down, put it in the bowl of mung beans, roll the cake to stick with 1 layer of mung beans outside to complete the cake.