What kind of cake is Banh Beo? How is it made that it is the first to sell out in a rural market in Ha Nam?

No one knows since when, but Chu market rice cake - a hometown gift named after the market of Chu village (Ngoc Lu commune, Binh Luc district, Ha Nam province) has made Ngoc Lu people when away from home as well as local diners who have enjoyed it once... keep remembering, wishing, and waiting for it.

What Ngoc Lu people as well as visitors from near and far remember, look forward to, and wish for is probably the difference, which cannot be found anywhere else in this fragrant, rustic hometown gift.

The difference of Chu market banh beo is first shown in the way and process of making the cake. Unlike leaf cake, gio cake, uoi cake…, Chu market banh beo must have a mold when forming the cake.

The molds for making Banh Beo Cho Chu are usually made of wood or sometimes simply a thin bamboo stick that is smoothed and bent into a closed boat shape. The leaves are usually Dong Ta leaves, small, dark green, cut, washed and boiled in boiling water to make the leaves soft, tough, and not easily torn when making the cake.

Making Banh Beo Cho Chu does not require much effort but requires meticulousness and skill. After being boiled, the dong leaves are cut and folded at both ends to form a boat shape and then placed in a mold. The flour used to make the cake is usually selected from the country's rice flour, so that the cake is not too sticky, not too mushy, has a rich flavor and is not boring.

One of the most difficult steps, requiring a lot of experience, delicacy and dexterity of the person making Chu market rice cakes is the mixing of the flour.

The flour must be mixed with warm water, stirring constantly so that the flour does not clump, is not too thick, or too thin. After the flour is mixed to the right consistency, it will be poured into molds lined with dong leaves to form a boat shape and then put into a steamer.

The filling of Chu market banh beo is very simple, sometimes it's just fried onions and fat, or better yet, you can add a little lean meat and enough spices with onions and fat, stir-fried until fragrant.

The filling is pre-made and skillfully spread evenly on the surface of the cake when it is just steamed. The reason why the local people, especially the women who go to the market, always love and seek to buy the Banh Beo Cho Chu is because the cake has the right amount of chewiness and softness, the pure, rich taste of rice from the delta region combined with the smell of fresh dong leaves cut in the garden and the fragrant flavor of the filling makes diners can eat until full without getting bored.

Banh beo Cho Chu, an indispensable gift of the rural market in the alluvial plains along the Chau Giang River, Binh Luc district, Ha Nam province.

Chu market's rice cake is named after the Chu market and is an indispensable gift of the rural markets in the alluvial plains along the Chau Giang river: Hung Cong, Bo De, Ngoc Lu. In the past, Chu market held twelve main sessions every month: "the second, fifth, seventh, ninth" (2 - 5 - 7 - 9; 12 - 15 - 17 - 19; 22 - 25 - 27 - 29).

In the renovation period, to meet the increasing demand for consumption and trade, local people held a "market wedding" ceremony and opened more sessions, so now every day at Chu market is considered the main session, every day is crowded and bustling with goods coming and going.

In the past as well as now, among the myriad of sweets and cakes at the Ngoc Lu village market, the banh beo stall, though modestly tucked away in a corner of the market, is always in high demand and sold out very early.

I don't know if it's the rustic, pure, quintessential countryside flavor, unlike the flavor of any other countryside gift, that makes Chu market's banh beo always attract customers, always in high demand both at every market session as well as at every festival and celebration.

I don't know if it's because it has become an emotional imprint in the memory of a beloved childhood, waiting for gifts, waiting for grandmother, waiting for mother to come back to the market, memories of a time of hunger, deprivation, a time of chaos, war... but that fragrant hometown gift makes the people of Chu and Ngoc Lu villages, every time they go far away, always remember, always feel moved, wish, and look forward to the day of return.

Source: https://danviet.vn/banh-beo-la-banh-gi-lam-nhu-the-nao-ma-o-mot-cho-que-ha-nam-he-mang-ban-la-het-truoc-tien-20241122145013421.htm