Sticky, delicious and ‘a bit fatty': Vietnam's 12-hour Lunar New Year delicacy
The wrapped cakes of glutinous rice, green beans and pork belly have for centuries been one of several dishes prepared in a frenzy at home specially for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, which begins on Wednesday.
Hong, 55, has laboured over the dish – which must be boiled for 12 hours over a wood fire – almost every year for the last four decades. Nguyen Thi Thuy Hong wraps 'banh chung' outside her house on the outskirts of Hanoi. Photo: AFP
'We can buy ready-made banh chung but it doesn't create that Tet atmosphere,' she said, explaining she enjoyed the process of cleaning leaves, soaking rice and pre-cooking beans in the very early morning.
'It keeps me busy, and it's tiring, but I still love making the cake myself.'
According to an oft-told legend, the banh chung recipe was first prepared thousands of years ago by a Vietnamese prince who wanted to impress his father in a bid for the throne. A Vietnamese woman eats 'banh chung' rice cake in Hanoi. Photo: AFP
Pleased with the cake's flavour and impressed with his son's demonstration of respect, the king duly handed down his crown.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How Tsui Hark and Tony Ching followed up on the classic fantasy film A Chinese Ghost Story
Directed by Tony Ching Siu-tung and produced by Tsui Hark, A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) set the style for the colourful fantasy martial arts films of the 1990s. Advertisement The story, set in a mythical China, featured Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing as a naive debt collector who falls in love with a beautiful ghost played by Joey Wong Cho-yee. Here we look at two very different sequels Tsui produced. A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997) Animations have never been a favourite of Hong Kong producers, despite the popularity of Japanese anime in the city. This 1997 Tsui Hark -produced production, coming a few years before the McDull films , was the first local animated film. It keeps the bare bones of the original storyline, but makes it more appealing to younger teens by focusing on a virginal romance, with lots of anime-style ghosts and monsters. The main theme of a female ghost (voiced by Anita Yuen Wing-yee ) seeking to lay her spirit to rest with the help of her mortal lover ( Jan Lamb Hoi-fung ) is the same. But the similarity stops there. Tsui's main concern is whizz-bang cartoon action with characters and style in the vein of the Japanese Dragonball Z anime series, which was popular on local television at the time. A still from A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997). Photo: Film Workshop 'The animated version sees Tsui remould the story for a young 1990s audience,' this writer wrote in the Post in 1997. 'It is action-packed, mixing the ghostly atmosphere of the original with some anime style characters and wild computer-generated effects.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- South China Morning Post
20,000 Hongkongers ride Disneyland Resort line as it opens in 2005 – from the SCMP archive
This article was first published on August 2, 2005. Disney isn't open, but 20,000 pay to ride Mickey's caboose By Dennis Eng Advertisement Disneyland has yet to open and they could not buy tickets when they got there – but nearly 20,000 people tried out the train service from Sunny Bay to the theme park on Monday (August 1, 2005). The only glitch came early in the day, when one of the driverless automated trains stopped at the wrong point along the platform of the Disneyland Resort station at 8am, leaving it out of alignment with the platform screen doors and delaying passengers for two minutes. The MTR's head of operations, Wilfred Lau Cheuk-man, played down the incident, saying that the six weeks left until the park's opening gave time to work out 'a few teething problems'. Part-time female 'customer service ambassadors' were on hand at both stations to assist passengers and answer any questions. Children excitedly look through a Mickey Mouse-shaped window on a Disneyland Resort line train on August 1, 2005. Photo: Dustin Shum By 8pm, 18,500 passengers had used the line, which will be able to carry 10,800 passengers an hour when the park opens on September 12.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Dozens of Hong Kong, overseas Tottenham fans gather for club-themed drone show
Dozens of spectators, largely local and overseas Tottenham Hotspur fans, arrived hours before a drone show on Wednesday night at the Hung Hom waterfront as the city celebrated its first major football festival. Advertisement As many fans stood just outside or inside the Kerry Hotel in hopes of attracting their favourite players' attention, others walked around the premises and along the harbourfront to get a prime view of the show, which is due to start at 7.30pm. 'It's my first time seeing it, and I'm looking for something a little flashy,' said Ha Byung-jun, a 21-year-old student and Tottenham fan from South Korea. The drone show will feature dynamic Tottenham-themed animations and images, paying tribute to the club's storied heritage and passionate global supporters, designer OWOWWW Creative (Hong Kong) said. According to the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club's website, the drone show aims to mark the team's very first north London derby game outside the UK against Arsenal, and pay tribute to the club's history. Advertisement For some Tottenham fans, the show also provided an opportunity for them to see their favourite team at the hotel, with some even arriving early in the hopes of getting a photo with or an autograph with their favourite players. Among them was Caleb Shun, a 20-year-old local Tottenham fan, who said he had been outside the hotel with his friends since midmorning to get an autograph and a photo with South Korean Son Heung-Min, the club's captain and forward.
