Fragrant square and round cakes

Banh chung and banh giay always hold a special place in the Vietnamese people's consciousness, being an indispensable product in the ancestor worship and Hung King worship of the Vietnamese people. Over thousands of years of history, the craft of making banh chung and banh giay has always been preserved, maintained and developed in many rural areas across the country. In Phu Tho , from May 2023, the craft of making banh chung and banh giay in Viet Tri city, Cam Khe district and Tam Nong district has been officially recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The delicious, soft white rice cake has become a gift from the Ancestral Land chosen by many tourists when visiting the Hung Temple Historical Site.

Banh chung and banh giay - two types of cakes symbolizing "round sky, square earth", are associated with the legendary story about the filial piety of Prince Lang Lieu during the reign of the 6th Hung King. After thousands of years of history, banh chung and banh giay are still preserved intact in shape and flavor by the Vietnamese people to worship their ancestors.

Nowadays, banh chung and banh giay are indispensable offerings in every holiday, death anniversary, wedding, and are familiar hometown gifts for all Vietnamese people. Especially for the people of Phu Tho, the profession of making banh chung and banh giay has become a cultural tradition, custom, and unique ritual that cannot be found anywhere else.

Xom Village in Hung Lo Commune, Viet Tri City is considered the birthplace of Chung Cakes for King Hung. Since 2017, Hung Lo people have successfully built the brand "Hung Lo Chung Cakes" and developed it into a traditional craft village. Up to now, Hung Lo Chung Cakes have been chosen as a product to serve the province's tourism industry.

Pounding rice cake at Mo Chu Ha village, Bach Hac ward, Viet Tri city.

If Xom village, Hung Lo commune is considered one of the cradles of the Chung cake making profession in Phu Tho, Mo Chu Ha village, Bach Hac ward, Viet Tri city is a famous locality for the Giay cake making profession and the Giay cake pounding competition to offer to the King.

Mr. Do Quang Le - artisan making sticky rice cake in Mo Chu Ha village said: Mo Chu Ha village still pounding sticky rice cake with stone mortar and bamboo pestle, this is a traditional cultural beauty preserved from generation to generation. This is also the secret to making the most fragrant, white and delicious sticky rice cake that not every locality can do. In January and on the occasion of Hung King's death anniversary every year, our villagers organize a sticky rice cake pounding contest to review the tradition of "When drinking water, remember its source" and prepare soft, fragrant and rich sticky rice cakes to offer to our ancestors.

Hung Lo Chung Cake, Viet Tri city is introduced to tourists and international friends.

This is a contest held annually by Phu Tho province at the Hung Temple Festival to recreate the contest of making offerings to ancestors from the time of Hung Kings founding the country. The first prize winning team will have the honor of representing the people of the whole country to make products to offer to ancestors on the anniversary of Hung Kings - the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month of the following year.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Thuy - Provincial Party Committee member, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism affirmed: In the flow of the Hung King worshiping belief of Vietnamese people, the square Chung cakes and round Giay cakes from legend have been passed down, preserved and developed by the community into the current Chung cake and Giay cake making profession. Entering the period of renovation, economic development, stable people's lives, the Chung cake and Giay cake making profession has increasingly become an indispensable need, meeting the needs of serving festivals and spiritual tourism of the people. Through the development of the profession, it has contributed to preserving and promoting cultural values, arousing pride in the historical traditions of the nation; showing respect for the achievements and creativity in the labor of the people; at the same time, contributing to promoting and introducing the unique cultural and culinary features of the Ancestral Land to domestic and foreign tourists.

Thanh Tra

Source