Bánh chưng is a traditional Vietnamese rice cake which is made from glutinous rice, mung beans, pork and other ingredients 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 dày, which symbolized, respectively, the Earth and the SkyPeople in Bắc Ninh once added sugar in this mixture of spices.Bánh chưng is always considered an essential element of a traditional Tết, which is described by a popular couplet:[6]“ Vietnamese: Thịt mỡ, dưa hành, câu đối đỏCây nêu, tràng pháo, bánh chưng xanhTranslate: Rich meats, Pickled onions, red coupletsNêu tree, firecracker, green bánh chưngWomen wear áo dài for their tradition.Traditionally, bánh chưng requires a preparation of many ingredients, each Vietnamese family which can afford such a preparation begins to make the cake from the 27th or 28th day of the December (tháng Chạp) in Lunar calendar. In making bánh chưng, all members of the family gather with different tasks, from washing the lá dong, mixing the pork with spices, preparing the mung bean and most important wrapping all ingredients in square form and boilling the cakes. Bánh chưng needs to be carefully boiled for ten to twelve hours during which the adults and children sit together around the boiling cauldron.[6] In the countryside, to ensure that bánh chưng is available for every families even the poor ones, a fund called họ bánh chưng is jointly set up and about one month before the Tết, the accumulated capital and benefit are divided between members of the fund so that they can have enough money to prepare bánh chưng.[2]
Nowadays, the tradition of self-made bánh chưng gradually declines in Vietnam when the size of a typical family is smaller and people do not have enough time for the preparation and making of bánh chưng, instead they go to the bánh chưng shop or order cakes in advance from families which specialize in making them. Therefore, bánh chưng still appears in each family during the Tết but they are not a family product any more.[6] With the shift of bánh chưng making from family to specialized manufacturers, some craft villages became famous for their reputation in making bánh chưng such as Tranh Khúc village or Duyên Hà village both in Thanh Trì, Hanoi.[13][14]
Each year, on the occasion of the Death anniversary of the Hung Kings, a competition of making bánh chưng and bánh dày is often organized in Hùng Temple, Phú Thọ. Participants from eight different regions including Lào Cai, Hanoi and Cần Thơ are provided with 5 kg of glutinous rice, bean, 1 kg of pork so that they can make 10 bánh chưng in 10 minutes, the product of the winning team will be present in the official altar of the festival.[15] In 2005, bánh chưng makers in Ho Chi Minh City offered Hùng Temple a pair of giant bánh chưng and bánh dày, the size of the bánh chưng was 1.8m x 1.8m x 0.7m and 2 tonnes in weight after cooking, it was made in Ho Chi Minh City and subsequently transferred to Phú Thọ.[16]
Variations[edit]
đang được dịch, vui lòng đợi..