YummY Vietnam

‘Banh Troi nuoc’ (glutinous rice ball) is an indispensable dish of Vietnamese people whenever the Cold Food Festival comes, (the March 3^rd of every Lunar Year). It is offered by the Vietnamese people to worship their ancestors, showing their gratitude and the tradition of “When drinking water, think of its source.”

Many stories are saying that this type of cake was originated from China, but several legends stated that ‘Banh Troi, Banh chay’ was first introduced from Hung Vuong era. The custom of making these cakes is to recall the myth of “wrapping hundreds of eggs” of Ms. Au Co.

You may see that the Cold Food Festival is only popular in the northern provinces. In the South, very few people know about this holiday. There are almost no Southern families participating in this day, except for families of Northern origin. However, there is the fact that practically the North people migrated to the South also follow the custom there and the Cold Food Festival is gradually ignored. That’s why this festival is not widely distributed in this area.

Banh Troinuoc offered on the occasion of the Cold Food Festival, basically has the appearance of Banh It of the South. However, it is surely not the same. There are also some people who thought that this cake is ‘Che Troi Nuoc’ of ​​the South, but it is unfortunately not. This Northern dish is cooked with water to make it ripe and is eaten as a dry cake. There is no sugar water served as Che Troi Nuoc.

Also, the filling in Che Troi Nuocof the South is usually the slightly salty green bean. Meanwhile,the filling in Banh Troi Nuoc of the North is often the palm sugar. Hope that above is sufficient information for you to distinguish between these two dishes, as well as food culture between regions.

Today, let’s explore Vietnamese glutinous rice ball recipe recipe and how to making Banh Troi nuoc at home to prepare for the upcoming Cold Food Festival!

Ingredients for banh troi nuoc recipe

• Glutinous rice flour: 0.5 kg
• Palm sugar diced: 200 grams
• White sugar: 200 grams
• Grated coconut: 100g
• Ginger: 100 grams
• Roasted sesame or white sesame: 100 grams
• Peeled green beans: 100 grams
• Salt

How to make Banh Troinuoc recipe

Step 1:

Pour the glutinous rice flour in a large bowl then slowly pour the water in. Stir until the dough is solid, smooth and wait 15 minutes. It is possible to buy a variety of powders to add color to your cakes.

Step 2:

Palm sugar: If you buy a large part, cut it into small pieces, squares, fit the size of the cake. If you buy ready-made sugar, it is very convenient as you can move to the next step.

Step 3: Mold the cake.

Firstly, divide the dough into long fibers, 1.5-2cm in diameter and use a knife to cut them to a length of about one finger. The division of the flour will help your drifting pellets more evenly, avoiding balls with different sizes, which lack aesthetics.

The dough was mixed into small pellets and pressed flat.

Put the cut sugar into the middle.

Continue squeezing the dough to keep the sugar balls closed, avoiding the air entering and causing the flat cake after boiling. Try to do this step carefully; otherwise,it will crumble while heating.

Step4:

Put the pot of water on the stove, add grapefruit water and vanilla essence to create the cake aroma. When the water boils, pour all cakes into that pot and cook. After the cakes are floating, take them out and put in a bowl of cold water. This way will prevent the cake from sticking together.

Step 5:

Then, place the cakes onto a plate and sprinkle roasted sesame on the top. It is possible to prepare the cassava flour soup to eat with them.

The successful product must be white, the balls are even, and the inside is not broken. When eating, the crust of Banh Troi nuoc is soft yet chewy and its sugar filling need to be dissolved entirely. That said, it will melt when you bite one piece. People can feel the delicious taste with enough sugar in the filling to sweeten the crust.