Fragrant herbs, square and round cakes

Việt Nam•11/04/2024

Sticky rice cakes (Bánh chưng and Bánh giầy) have always held a special place in the hearts of Vietnamese people, being indispensable products in the ancestor worship tradition and the Hung Kings worship belief of the Vietnamese nation. Throughout thousands of years of history, the craft of making sticky rice cakes has been preserved, maintained, and developed in many rural areas across the country. In Phu Tho province , since May 2023, the craft of making sticky rice cakes in Viet Tri city, Cam Khe district, and Tam Nong district has been officially recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The soft, fragrant white rice cake has become a popular souvenir 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 and square earth" – are associated with the legendary story of Prince Lang Lieu's filial piety during the reign of the 6th Hung King. Throughout thousands of years of history, banh chung and banh giay have been preserved in their original form and flavor by the Vietnamese people as offerings to their ancestors.

Today, banh chung and banh giay (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) are indispensable offerings at every Tet holiday, ancestral worship ceremonies, and wedding, and are familiar gifts from the countryside for all Vietnamese people. Especially for the people of Phu Tho, the craft of making banh chung and banh giay has become a cultural tradition, a custom, and a unique ritual unlike anywhere else.

Xom Village in Hung Lo Commune, Viet Tri City, is considered the birthplace of the sticky rice cake offered to King Hung. Since 2017, the people of Hung Lo have successfully built the "Hung Lo Sticky Rice Cake" brand and developed it into a traditional craft village. To date, Hung Lo sticky rice cakes have been selected as a product to serve the province's tourism industry.

Making sticky rice cakes in Mo Chu Ha village, Bach Hac ward, Viet Tri city.

While Xom village in Hung Lo commune is considered one of the cradles of banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake) making in Phu Tho province, Mo Chu Ha village in Bach Hac ward, Viet Tri city, is famous for its banh giay (Vietnamese sticky rice cake) making and the banh giay pounding competition held to offer to the King.

Mr. Do Quang Le, a rice cake maker from Mo Chu Ha village, said: "Mo Chu Ha village still pounds rice cakes using stone mortars and bamboo pestles. This is a beautiful traditional cultural practice preserved from generation to generation. This is also the secret to making the most fragrant, chewy, and perfectly white rice cakes, a feat not every locality can achieve. In January and during the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day every year, our villagers organize a rice cake pounding competition to commemorate the tradition of 'Drinking water, remembering the source' and prepare delicious, fragrant, and flavorful rice cakes to offer to our ancestors."

Hung Lo sticky rice cake from Viet Tri city is being introduced to tourists and international friends.

This is an annual competition organized by Phu Tho province at the Hung Temple Festival to recreate the traditional competition of making offerings to ancestors, dating back to the time of the Hung Kings' founding of the nation. The winning team will have the honor of representing the entire nation in making the product to offer to the ancestors on the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day - 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: Within the tradition of worshipping Hung Kings, the square banh chung and round banh giay cakes, passed down through legend, have been preserved and developed by the community into the craft of making banh chung and banh giay as it is today. Entering the period of reform, with economic development and stable living standards, the craft of making banh chung and banh giay has become an indispensable need, meeting the demands of festivals and spiritual tourism. Through the development of this craft, it contributes to preserving and promoting cultural values, arousing pride in the nation's historical traditions; demonstrating appreciation for the achievements and creativity of the people; and at the same time, contributing to promoting and introducing the unique cultural and culinary features of the ancestral land to domestic and international tourists.

Thanh Tra

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