Hon cake is a rustic dish with a strong culinary identity of Vinh Phuc (now Phu Tho province), especially popular in Huong Canh town, Binh Xuyen district (now Binh Nguyen commune) and Hop Thinh commune, Tam Duong district (now Hoi Thinh commune).
Not only present in daily meals, this cake has also become an indispensable specialty on the tray of offerings during Tet holidays, weddings or death anniversaries of local people, showing the affection and thoughtfulness of the host when entertaining guests.
As the name suggests, banh hon looks like banh troi or banh chay but the crust is made from rice flour instead of sticky rice flour. The cake is round, about the size of a lemon.
The filling is made from scallion oil, minced meat and wood ear mushrooms. When eating, diners can feel the richness, rich flavor and attractive aroma.
Ms. Nguyen Thuy - owner of a banh hon facility in Binh Xuyen district (now Binh Nguyen commune, Phu Tho province) said that in the past, banh hon here was mainly handmade in families to serve important occasions or to entertain guests.
However, today, this dish has become more popular, not only local people but also diners from near and far love it, looking to buy it to eat or give as gifts.
“To meet the demand, some places such as Hop Thinh commune (now Hoi Thinh commune), Phuc Yen city (now Phuc Yen ward) have also established production teams and accept orders for moon cakes for holidays and weddings across the province,” Ms. Thuy shared.
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According to Ms. Thuy’s experience, to make standard-flavored banh hon, you must choose good rice such as Khang Dan rice or Tam Xoan rice. These two types of rice have moderate stickiness, so when making the cake, it will not be too dry or too broken.
Wash the rice thoroughly, remove the sand, soak in water for about 3-4 hours, then take it out, wash it again to clean it completely and let it drain. After that, people grind the rice into a fine powder, cool to the touch, if there is no machine, you can pound it manually with a stone mortar and then sift to get the powder.
The resulting dough must be used to make cakes immediately. The dough is boiled in a cast iron pot, stirring constantly until the dough thickens, then poured onto a tray, sprinkled with a little hot water and kneaded vigorously until the dough is no longer sticky to the hands.
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The filling for the banh hon is simply prepared by stir-frying a mixture of minced meat, green onions, and wood ear mushrooms, then seasoning to taste. In some places, people use raw filling, marinate it with spices, mix it well, and stuff it without having to stir-fry it first to cook it.
"The meat used for the filling should be shoulder meat, which is both soft and has both lean and fat. When cooked, it will be fatty, soft and not dry to eat," said Ms. Thuy.
When making the cake, people cut off just enough dough, spread it thinly, then put the meat filling in the middle, skillfully shape it into a circle, making sure the filling does not show through, and the cake does not break or open when steamed.
When shaping, locals often rub a little lard (or cooking oil) on their hands to prevent the dough from sticking to their hands, reducing the quality of the dish.
The finished cake will be steamed. Each layer of cake is placed in a steamer (or steamer) with steaming hot water. Cover the lid so that the bottom layer of cake has a new skin before placing the next layer of cake on top.
Simmer until the pot of cakes smells fragrant, open the lid and see the cakes turn white, meaning the cakes are done.
Locally, in addition to serving on the trays of food during Tet, death anniversaries or weddings, people also combine banh hon with se porridge, creating a delicious, unique and very flavorful dish.
Having the opportunity to enjoy Banh Hon while attending a friend's wedding in Vinh Phuc, Thuy Chi ( Hanoi ) was quite surprised by the unique appetizer here.
According to Chi's observation, each tray of food usually has 1-2 boxes of banh hon, each box has about 20 pieces. When enjoying, people dip the cakes in diluted fish sauce like the fish sauce used to dip banh cuon.
“When served on the tray, the banh hon gets cold but is still delicious. The crust is soft and firm, while the filling is rich and fatty, feeling a bit like banh te,” Chi said.
The female tourist also revealed that when sitting at the table, people usually do not eat the banh hon right away but save some to take home with a few other familiar dishes such as sticky rice, boiled chicken, shrimp paste...
“Banh Hon is easy to eat and has a nice bite. That day, my friend also gave me a box of cake to take home. I felt very happy because I got to experience another interesting specialty when eating at a country party,” the 9X shared more.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/dac-san-trong-mam-co-o-phu-tho-nhin-tuong-banh-troi-an-mem-thom-de-goi-phan-2416304.html
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