Refreshing Dinh Lap rice cake - Lang Son Newspaper and Radio and Television Station

- Banh gio is a traditional cake that is often made by people in Dinh Lap district on the occasion of Doan Ngo Festival (the 5th day of the 5th lunar month) every year. Due to the increasing demand of customers, in recent years, some households in the district have produced cakes to sell on the market all year round. Dinh Lap Banh gio has a yellow color, when eaten, the cool taste mixed with sweet molasses makes many diners remember it forever.

Báo Lạng Sơn•09/05/2025

People in Po Tau village, Dinh Lap commune, wrapping traditional banh gio (photo taken in May 2025)

As one of the households specializing in producing traditional banh gio, Ms. Ninh Thi Dien, Po Tau village, Dinh Lap commune said: In the past, on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, people here made cakes to worship their grandparents and ancestors. With the delicious and attractive flavor of the cake, many customers look to buy banh gio to enjoy, so since 2022, my family has started making cakes every day to sell. On average, my family wraps from 1,500 to 2,000 banh gio each month. During peak months (April and May of the lunar calendar) every year, there are days when my family wraps nearly 1,000 cakes, selling them for 20,000 VND/cake. From the traditional banh gio making profession, my family has an income of more than 100 million VND/year.

Like Ms. Dien’s family, realizing the demand of many diners wanting to enjoy the district’s traditional banh gio, many households in Dinh Lap town and the communes of Dinh Lap, Cuong Loi, Thai Binh have produced banh gio every day for retail and wholesale to customers. The whole district currently has about 10 families specializing in producing and selling traditional banh gio. Customers are mainly people in the province and tourists, wholesale customers in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Bac Giang , Bac Ninh…

According to households specializing in making and selling gio, to make a batch of delicious, sticky and beautifully colored cakes, the important step is choosing rice, followed by gio water to soak the rice and leaves to wrap the cake. Accordingly, the rice to wrap the cake is upland sticky rice; gio to filter the water to soak the rice must be gio burned from some types of forest trees such as: núc nác tree, thành ngạnh tree, mai ma tree, tap tat tree. The rice is washed to drain and soaked in clear gio water. After 8 to 10 hours of soaking, people scoop out the rice to wrap the cake. The characteristic of Dinh Lap gio cake is that the cake is large (weighing from 4 to 5 taels/piece), wrapped in winter leaves (small leaves like cogon grass picked from high hills). The wrapper must skillfully arrange each small leaf crisscrossing each other to fit enough to wrap 1 bowl of rice, then use 6 strips to tie the 2 ends and in the middle of the cake. The tighter the bamboo is tied, the firmer the cake will be when boiled and will not be soggy.

When boiling the cake, people will use light gio water to boil it. The boiling time lasts from 10 to 12 hours. A delicious gio cake is when peeled off, the cake has a golden color, when eaten, the first feeling is a slightly strong but cool taste, then the sweetness of honey mixed with the stickiness of sticky rice.

Ms. Hoang Thi Thuan, Gieng Day Ward, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province said: In 2023, when I visited a friend's house, I enjoyed the traditional banh gio of Dinh Lap District. My first impression was that the cake was big, wrapped in small leaves like thatch leaves, soft and flexible, with a beautiful caramel color. When eaten, dipped in sweet, fragrant molasses, creating a refreshing, nutritious dish for health. Since then, I have regularly ordered cakes for my family to enjoy, invite friends and give as gifts to relatives.

Ms. Vu Thi Huong, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dinh Lap district, said: Gio cake is a traditional product of local people. In recent years, some households have made cakes all year round to sell, contributing to preserving traditional occupations and increasing family income. In the coming time, the department will orient and guide people to build and develop the district's traditional Gio cake product into an OCOP product (One Commune One Product program). At the same time, support and create conditions for bringing products to participate in display and introduction at fairs and exhibition events in and outside the province. Thereby, contributing to spreading and developing products, helping people increase income from traditional occupations.

It can be seen that, from the traditional cake making profession, people not only preserve the traditional cake making method of their homeland but also help people here increase their income and improve their lives.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/thanh-mat-huong-vi-banh-gio-dinh-lap-5046154.html