Lang Son's specialty "picked strawberries" has black skin, yellow flesh, delicious and "cools the heat"

The ingredients used to make the cake are quite special and have a highland flavor: sticky rice, cardamom, black pork, green beans, and especially the black color of the cake is created from charcoal from the núc nác tree in the forest. Photo: vietnam.vnanet.vn

Elaborate from raw materials to processing techniques

In the feasts of the Bac Son people on holidays, Tet or important occasions, besides roast duck, mountain ginger sausage, hill chicken, khau nhuc, wormwood cake... black banh chung is always an indispensable dish.

The skill in making the cake has even become a "measure" of one's ability to do housework, so the locals still pass on the saying: Black Chung cake is a specialty for Lang Son men to choose wives, and for parents-in-law to choose daughters-in-law.

In the past, the cake only appeared on holidays and Tet. Nowadays, people wrap it all year round to serve tourists , meeting the needs of visitors from all over. Thanks to special ingredients, the cake can be preserved for 15 - 20 days while still maintaining its softness and aroma.

The cake is made from sticky rice, green beans, local pork and rice straw ash - the elements that create the characteristic black color.

“The rice must be golden sticky rice, with large, round, plump grains. The meat must be home-raised pork belly, seasoned with spices and pepper. Some households even add cardamom to enhance the aroma,” said Ms. Duong Thi Mui, Bac Son commune. The mung beans are soaked until soft, steamed, then mixed with scallions, grease, and pepper to make the filling.

What makes the black banh chung different is the ash from sticky rice straw. After the harvest in the 10th lunar month, people choose the golden sticky rice straw, dry it, burn it into ash, and store it carefully. When making the cake, the ash is sifted to get the finest part and mixed with sticky rice to create a shiny black color. Some places also use the dried trunk of the núc nác tree, burn it into charcoal, then pound it finely to mix with the rice.

The maker must rub and mix well by hand so that the ash sticks to each grain of sticky rice, then sift out the excess ash. The cake is wrapped by hand, without a mold, about 28-30cm long, 6-7cm in diameter, tied evenly and tightly with bamboo strings.

Before boiling, the cakes are soaked in cold water and then placed in a pot, boiled for about 8 hours. The heat must be monitored evenly so that the cakes are fragrant and cooked. When taken out, the cakes are washed with cold water and drained.

A standard cake must be round, firm, and when peeled off, the bamboo strip lines are clearly visible on the body. People often use the bamboo strip to cut the cake into slices.

1(3).jpg — The black color of the cake is made from the ash of the bark of the núc nác tree. The bark is dried, burned to ash and finely ground.

Unique cake, "cooling", memorable

Black Chung cake has a shiny black sticky rice crust, golden bean filling, embracing a harmonious layer of pink and white pork belly, fragrant with pepper, dong leaves, local pork and green beans.

Combined with sticky rice straw ash, the cake has a rich, fragrant, cool taste, does not cause a hot throat or stomach like many other types of sticky rice cakes, so it is considered a dish that helps "cool down" the body.

“Every holiday or Tet, even though children live far away, they return home to slaughter pork, pick dong leaves, and prepare ingredients to wrap banh chung. That atmosphere creates the typical warmth of Bac Son people,” Ms. Mui shared.

Nowadays, black banh chung has become a specialty that attracts visitors to Bac Son. Many people, after enjoying it, immediately order some to bring back as gifts. Each cake costs from 40,000 to 60,000 VND.

According to Vietnamnet, Tuoitre

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/dac-san-chon-dau-cua-xu-lang-co-vo-den-ruot-vang-an-ngon-lai-ha-hoa-402710.html