STRANGE "CHUNK AND LISTEN" CAKE
In Ma's House in Bao Vinh ancient town (Phu Xuan district, Hue city), Ms. Phan Nu Phuoc Hong gently put the candied cypress powder into a small copper mold and pressed the lid down on the powder. Then, she removed the mold, revealing the ancient, sophisticated patterns. Witnessing Ms. Hong making Poria cocos and talking about the meaning of each cake, the French tourists were "eyes wide open". They were excited to experience and bring back the cakes that they had made themselves. "During these days before Tet, I choose to introduce and let visitors participate in the steps of making Poria cocos, thereby helping them understand more about the traditional Tet holiday of the nation", Ms. Hong shared.
Ms. Phan Nu Phuoc Hong demonstrates how to make Poria cocos cake for French tourists to see.
As a nostalgic person and a lecturer in culinary arts (Hue College), Ms. Phuoc Hong is knowledgeable and often makes old cakes. She believes that Phuc Linh cake is a typical example of the exchange of cake-making art between regions. Phuc Linh cake is made in the same way as Khao cake in the North but has different basic ingredients. If in the North it is roasted sticky rice, Hue people only make it with tapioca starch. Since the Nguyen Dynasty, Phuc Linh cake has been elevated when it is used in the trays of offerings in palaces and royal courts with a more luxurious ingredient, lotus seed flour, replacing tapioca starch. From then on, this type of cake has become diverse in decorative patterns. Depending on the occasion of worship or tea party, the cake will be printed with the words Phuc, Loc, Tho, Double Happiness, drawings of flowers, etc.
“My family still keeps an ancient bronze mold with a dragon printed on the cake. Only families from the royal family have this type of cake mold,” said Ms. Hong. According to the explanation of the famous culinary artist of Hue – Mai Thi Tra (92 years old), the Chinese name of the arrowroot is Poria cocos, the cake is made from arrowroot powder, so it is called Poria cocos cake. “Hue’s Poria cocos cake is made purely from arrowroot powder and white sugar, not using tapioca starch and coconut milk like in the South. The cake is crispy and melts quickly in the mouth, has a cool taste, and a light aroma,” Ms. Tra further analyzed.
As someone who tasted this cake in the 90s of the last century, I can never forget the taste of each cake. The most memorable moment is when I bite into a piece of cake and hold it in my mouth, the tapioca starch just melts without having to chew, sweetening my palate. The cake does not need any fancy jam filling, nor is it elaborately prepared, but it leaves a deep impression on many people, perhaps because of the way it is enjoyed, "sucking and listening".
CHERISH THE WHITE CAKE
Old artisan Mai Thi Tra gives detailed instructions for those who want to make standard Hue-style fu linh cakes. First, you need a rectangular bronze mold with decorative carvings inside. Prepared ingredients include 500 grams of tapioca starch, 400 grams of white sugar, 10 pandan leaves, and white mirror paper. “Pitacosa starch can be steamed or roasted with pandan leaves for fragrance. If roasted, the leaves are crispy when the dough is done. Put sugar and 1 cup of water on the stove and simmer until thick, let cool and grind until smooth. Sift the flour into a tray, add sugar, mix well and rub until smooth. Leave for a while for the sugar and flour to absorb each other and then print the cake,” Ms. Tra imparted.
Poria cocos cake with pure white powder wrapped in transparent mirror paper
Starch powder - the main ingredient to make Poria cake
Exquisite copper cake mold with printed lids
The cake printing process requires placing the mold in the tray so that the dough is full, pressing the lid to make the cake firm. To have a beautiful, clear pattern, use 2 thumbs to press and rotate the cake to make it firm and even. 2 thumbs press down the lid, 2 index fingers pull the mold up and then take out the cake; place the cake on a flat surface lined with clean paper to dry until crispy. "Wrap the cake in white mirror oil paper to distinguish it from other types of lotus cake. Poria cake belongs to the dry type of cake, can be used for a long time", said Ms. Tra.
The process of making the cake does not sound difficult at first, but according to the story of People's Artist Hoang Thi Nhu Huy, in the past, to have a white fu ling cake wrapped in cellophane, the process of making tapioca starch was extremely hard. When the harvest season came, Mrs. Nhu Huy and her sisters dug up the long, slender, white-fleshed tapioca tubers containing a lot of starch... Then, they cut and peeled them, crushed them, and mixed them all with clean water, filtered out the fibers, and only took the liquid powder solution like milk, let it settle at the bottom of the container, and drained the water. Continue to add clean water, stir well, settle, drain the water a second and third time to make the powder really smooth. After that, the powder was dried in the sun.
“High-quality flour is completely dry, light and smooth when rubbed by hand. Tapioca starch is a good food, providing many nutrients and easy to digest for all ages,” Ms. Nhu Huy shared. Through field trips, researcher Tran Nguyen Khanh Phong was informed by artisans that in order for the cake dough to be fluffy and fragrant, the steaming stage must be very careful to avoid dripping water into the dough tray. When cooking sugar, stir constantly until smooth. A delicious cake is one that when eaten, you will feel the cool taste of the flour melting in your mouth.
Ms. Phuoc Hong misses the glorious past of Hue's old Tet cakes. Over the years, she has tried to research, experiment and successfully make many types of cakes, including Phuc Linh cake. "I welcome groups of tourists and students to experience making cakes with the desire to spread the quintessence of Hue cuisine, so that everyone knows that Hue used to have such delicious cakes," Ms. Hong confided.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giu-huong-tet-xua-hoi-sinh-banh-phuc-linh-185250119223545888.htm
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