Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves are a common sight on the offering trays and in the kitchens of Vietnamese families.
The cake has an upright triangular shape, which can be interpreted according to the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements: the triangle represents the Yang Fire on the outside, enveloping and harmonizing with the Yin Earth of the cake inside.
The colors of the cake also symbolize the colors of the earth. Returning to the earth, yet the yin and yang are in harmony, leading to rebirth and growth. That is the logic of creation.
Throughout Quang Nam province, people traditionally make glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. The leaves are harvested from the mountains and transported to the lowlands. The glutinous rice is soaked thoroughly with carefully filtered sesame ash. The dumplings must be wrapped evenly and firmly, ensuring that the leaves don't break after boiling and that they have an attractive triangular shape. The glutinous rice takes about 6 hours to cook thoroughly and blend with the ash and the color of the leaves.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, holding a string of glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves, you can smell the fragrant aroma of fermented glutinous rice wafting through each layer of leaves...
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