The market on Phung Hung Street, District 5, sells many types of Chinese cakes such as pomegranate cakes, to cakes, sugar cakes, and fortune cakes, bustling with buying and selling on the days leading up to Tet.
The market is over 50 years old and is located at the corner of Phung Hung - Nguyen Trai Street. Here, dozens of colorful cake stalls stand out on the street corner, bustling with business since December 20.
Traditional cakes such as to, chen, phat tai, trai pomegranate, xep, bao are often offered by the Chinese community at the beginning of the year. In addition, this place also sells items to decorate the family altar and house during Tet.
Many families are taking advantage of the opportunity to sell and make cakes right at their stalls. At Mr. Tam’s stall, nearly a dozen employees have been busy making pomegranate cakes for a week now.
The outside of the cake looks like a pomegranate, covered with sesame seeds, painted red like flower petals, and filled with peanuts, malt, and green rice. After shaping, the craftsman will cut and mold 4 flower petals before frying. Each cake is usually painted with the words "blessing", "prosperity", "great luck"...
Pomegranate cakes are often offered to the Kitchen Gods, New Year's Eve, and displayed in the house until the end of Tet. According to belief, the cakes will bring good things to the whole family, especially love.
On the morning of February 5 (December 26), Ms. My Quyen, from Binh Tan District, drove to the market to buy pomegranate cakes, crepes, and altar decorations. These cakes are usually sold by weight, at around VND300,000/kg.
"I bought 6 pomegranate cakes for my whole family to offer on New Year's Eve, costing half a million dong. For Chinese people, these cakes are indispensable during Lunar New Year," said the 65-year-old customer.
At the next stall, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Vui, District 5, bought eight peach-shaped sugar cakes for Tet offerings for more than one million VND. "My husband is Chinese, so for the past few years he has been coming to this market to buy Tet offerings," Ms. Vui said.
Sugar cakes are also a hot item during Tet, priced from 40,000 to 120,000 VND each. The cakes are made from colorful blocks of sugar, often with gold bars, dragons, peaches, tangerines, grapefruits, lotus flowers, etc.
Banh to is a flat, round cake made from sticky rice flour and sugar, then steamed. It usually comes in two colors, white and yellow, with red letters printed on the top. The cake costs about 25,000 - 100,000 VND each, depending on the size.
In Chinese, Banh To is called Banh Glue, which means sticky rice cake, so that families can eat it together to bond together. In addition, the name of the cake is also homophonous with "nien cao" which means a better new year. Therefore, this dish is indispensable in the Chinese New Year's offering tray.
Fortune Cake has a spongy texture like sponge cake. The main ingredient is fermented rice flour, baked until it spreads into four segments like a flower.
The name of the cake in Chinese is also a homonym, describing the process of the cake's formation as "blooming" and also "prospering". The cake is offered on New Year's Day to pray for prosperity and luck in work.
The market also sells peach cakes and steamed buns, which are also offerings for the New Year of the Chinese community in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to traders, a week before Tet, Phung Hung Street is bustling with buyers and sellers. However, the busiest time is on the 30th of Tet, before New Year's Eve.
On normal days, the market still sells cakes and snacks, but it is not as bustling as during Tet.
Visitors to the market should go a week before New Year's Eve, parking at the nearby Ha Chuong Assembly Hall. Around this area, there are also attractions such as On Lang Assembly Hall, Nghia An Assembly Hall, Ba Thien Hau Pagoda, Luong Nhu Hoc lantern street, Hai Thuong Lan Ong traditional medicine street and many restaurants with typical Chinese culture in Saigon.
Quynh Tran - Vnexpress.net
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