"A feast for the eyes" with traditional Southern Vietnamese cakes.

People in Quang Nam province have the opportunity to enjoy dozens of types of traditional Southern Vietnamese cakes. Photo: XH

The stall selling traditional Southern Vietnamese cakes was always packed with people at the Vietnam-Thailand food and shopping fair, which took place consecutively during the first week of July.

More than a dozen stalls selling steaming hot cakes, with their distinctive flavors – the aroma of milk, pandan leaves, coconut milk – have captivated the people of Quang Nam, making them stop and enjoy.

Southern Vietnamese cakes are always visually appealing. They come from the leaves of the Western Mekong Delta's orchards and from the characteristic herbs and plants of the Mekong Delta's alluvial plains. Furthermore, as traditional cakes, they originate from the lives of the people of that region, with rice grains intertwined with their very breath.

Therefore, a characteristic of Southern Vietnamese folk cakes is that they are all made with rice, glutinous rice, grains, or rice flour, glutinous rice flour, along with fillings, and then cooked over fire (boiling, steaming, baking) to make the cake.

I stopped at the pastry stall of artisan Tran Le Thi Hue Linh - with the brand Co Muoi Can Tho . She brought everything from steamers, freezers, stoves, pots, not to mention hundreds of kilograms of ingredients from Can Tho to Central Vietnam to introduce the most authentic traditional Southern Vietnamese pastries.

With nimble hands, like a dance, a few minutes later, a tray of steamed banana cakes, glutinous rice cakes, pork skin cakes... were ready. While the savory fillings of glutinous rice cakes and tapioca cakes were simmered before kneading the dough, the sweet varieties like steamed rice cakes, pork skin cakes, and cassava cakes were fragrant and sweet with the flavor of fresh milk and pandan leaves.

For nearly 10 days at the Quang Nam fair, Ms. Muoi Can Tho's cake stall was always crowded with people watching the artisans make the cakes. The visual appeal compelled them to reach into their wallets and enjoy a fresh, hot cake right in the baker's kitchen.

While the cakes from Can Tho are full of vibrant colors—at first glance reminiscent of the colorful boats in the Cai Rang floating market—visiting the An Giang cake stall immediately strikes you with the deep red hue of An Giang's palm fruit.

The Bay Nui region (An Giang province) is famous for many specialties made from the palmyra palm tree – a tree unique to this area. From the palmyra palm fruit, people make sugar, tea, wine, and palmyra palm rice cakes. This is also a Southern Vietnamese specialty cake that is well-known to diners near and far.

The Khmer artisan from Southern Vietnam, with a checkered headscarf, slowly and meticulously performs each step to create a beautifully glossy palm sugar rice cake, the color of which matches the palm sugar. This seemingly simple rice cake is actually quite elaborate to make.

Palm sugar is melted and then mixed with flour according to different recipes passed down through generations. Some people grate the palm fruit, while others use butter and milk or add baking powder. But above all, as the name suggests, palm sugar rice cake must have the fragrant aroma and delicate sweetness of the palm fruit from An Giang province.

Leaving the stalls selling traditional Southern Vietnamese cakes, my eyes were still glued to the alluring green and red colors of the rustic cassava noodle cakes...

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/no-mat-cung-banh-dan-gian-nam-bo-3137878.html