 | |
| Course | Main course |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Vietnam |
| Region or state | Regions ofVietnam |
| Serving temperature | Hot, room temperature, fried |
| Main ingredients | Glutinous rice,mung bean,pork |
| Other information | Traditionally consumed duringTết |
Bánh chưng orbanh chung is a traditionalVietnamese dish which is made fromglutinous rice,mung beans,pork, and other ingredients.[1]
According to legend, its origin traces back to Lang Liêu, a prince of the lastking of theSixth Hùng Dynasty. He earned his place as successor by creatingbánh chưng andbánh giầy, which symbolize the earth and the sky, respectively.[2]
Considered an essential element of the family altar on the occasion ofTết, the preparation and consumption ofbánh chưng are cherished traditions deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture.[3] While closely associated withTết,bánh chưng is enjoyed year-round as a staple of Vietnamese cuisine.
According to the bookLĩnh Nam chích quái (Extraordinary stories ofLĩnh Nam) published in the 14th century, the creation ofbánh chưng was credited to Lang Liêu, a prince of the lastSixth Hùng Dynasty of theHùng dynasty (c. 1712 – 1632 BC). It was said that in choosing a successor among his sons, the monarch decided to carry out a competition in which each prince brought a delicacy representing the sincerity of the ancestors on the occasion ofTết, whoever could introduce the most delicious dish for the altar would become the next ruler of the country. While other princes tried to find rare and delicious foods from the forest and sea, the eighteenth prince, Lang Liêu, who was the poorest son of the Hùng king, could not afford such luxurious dishes and had to be content with everyday ingredients, such as rice and pork. He created one cake in the square form of earth calledbánh chưng and one in the round form of sky calledbánh giầy from these simple ingredients. In tasting the dishes offered by his son, the Hùng king foundbánh chưng andbánh giầy not only delicious but also a fine representation of the respect for ancestors. Therefore, he decided to cede the throne to Lang Liêu andbánh chưng,bánh giầy became traditional foods duringTết.[4][5][6] Lang Liêu founded the Seventh Hùng dynasty (c. 1631 – 1432 BC).
Considered an indispensable dish ofTết,bánh chưng is placed on the family altars to honor the family ancestors and pray to them for support in the new year.[7] Wrapped in a green square package,bánh chưng symbolizes theearth,[8] the various ingredients ofbánh chưng, which come from all the products of nature, also emphasize the meaning ofbánh chưng with Vietnamese people.
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The required ingredients ofbánh chưng areglutinous rice,mung bean, fattypork andblack pepper,salt, sometimes greenonion, andnước mắm for salty taste.[9] In the wrapping stage, one needslá dong, strings split fromgiang (Maclurochloa sp.), one type of bamboo which has long node, and sometimes a square mold in wood so thatbánh chưng can be wrapped in a better shape,lá dong, which is popular only in Southern Asia, can be substituted bybanana leaves or evenlá bàng.[10]Lá dong andgiang strings have to be washed carefully in order to preserve the taste of the cake,giang strings may be soaked in water or steamed so that they become flexible enough for wrapping and tying. People often choose high-quality rice and beans for makingbánh chưng.[11] The mung beans are soaked in water for approximately 2 hours and the glutinous rice for 12 to 14 hours. The mung beans are drained, cooked and mashed into a paste. The fat in the pork is preferred forbánh chưng because its fatty flavor associates well with the glutinous rice and mung beans. After being sliced in approx. half-inch thick strips, the pork is mixed with pepper, onion, salt andnước mắm. Sugar can also be added to this mixture of spices.[12]
The cake is wrapped in the following order. First, thegiang strings and twolá dong leaves are placed as the square base for thebánh chưng. Then glutinous rice is stuffed inlá dong, followed by mung bean, pork, more mung bean and finally another layer of rice so that bean and pork can be respectively in the center of the cake. The ingredients are carefully wrapped inlá dong and bound bygiang strings in the square form. In order to get a near-perfect square-shaped cake, the maker can use a square mold to help in the wrapping and pressing the ingredients to fill the corners of the square mold. To keep the cake frommold or being spoiled,bánh chưng should be wrapped as tight as possible.
The prepared cakes are arranged in a large pot (with recommended spacing between cakes, using chopsticks, bamboo or other spacers). The pot is filled with fresh water and boiled for hours until they are cooked thoroughly. As the water evaporates during cooking, more boiled water should be added to keep the cakes submerged at all time. The outer-most layer of rice turns green because the rice absorbed the color oflá dong.[9] Onebánh chưng is often divided into eight (triangular shaped) or nine (square shaped) pieces, usually by using the verygiang string that bounded the cake.[13] As the cake was formed from several ingredients, the taste ofbánh chưng varies from part to part with different flavors of glutinous rice, pork, bean and even the wrappinglá dong.Bánh chưng is often served with pickled onions or vegetables,chả lụa andnước mắm. After unwrapping,bánh chưng remains edible for several days when stored in the refrigerator,[13] while an unopened one can be kept for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.[14]Bánh chưng can also be frozen and thawed again for consumption, though the quality is not as good as a fresh cake.Bánh chưng has thewater activity value aw of about 0.95 and itspH is approximately 6.4.[15]
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Bánh chưng is always considered an essential element of a traditionalTết, which is described by a popularcouplet:[8]
Vietnamese:Thịt mỡ, dưa hành, câu đối đỏ
Cây nêu, tràng pháo, bánh chưng xanh
Translation: Rich meats, pickled onions, red couplets
Nêu tree, firecracker, green bánh chưng
Women wearáo dài for their tradition. Traditionally,bánh chưng requires the preparation of many ingredients, each Vietnamese family that can afford such a preparation begins to make the cake on the 27th or 28th day of the twelfth month of theVietnamese calendar (tháng Chạp). In makingbánh chưng, all members of the family gather to perform different tasks, from washing thelá dong, mixing the pork with spices, preparing the mung beans and most importantly wrapping all ingredients into the square form and boiling the cakes.Bánh chưng needs to be carefully boiled for ten to twelve hours during which the adults and children sit together around the boiling cauldron.[8] In the countryside, to ensure thatbánh chưng is available for every family even the poor ones, a fund calledhọ bánh chưng is jointly set up and about one month before theTết, the accumulated capital and benefit are divided between members of the fund so that they can have enough money to preparebánh chưng.[4]
Nowadays, the tradition of self-madebánh chưng gradually declines in Vietnam when the size of a typical family is smaller and people do not have enough time for the preparation and making ofbánh chưng.[16] Instead, they go to thebánh chưng shop or order cakes in advance from families that specialize in making them. Therefore,bánh chưng still appears in each family during the Tết but they are not a family product anymore.[8] With the shift ofbánh chưng making from family to specialized manufacturers, some craft villages became famous for their reputation in makingbánh chưng such asTranh Khúc village orDuyên Hà village both inThanh Trì,Hanoi.[17][18]
Each year, on the occasion of theDeath anniversary of the Hung Kings, a competition of makingbánh chưng andbánh dày is often organized inHùng Temple,Phú Thọ. Participants from eight different regions includingLào Cai, Hanoi andCần Thơ are provided with 5 kg of glutinous rice, bean, 1 kg of pork so that they can make 10bánh chưng in 10 minutes, the product of the winning team will be present in the official altar of the festival.[19] In 2005, bánh chưng makers inHo Chi Minh City offered Hùng Temple a pair of giantbánh chưng andbánh giầy, the size of thebánh chưng measured 1.8m x 1.8m x 0.7m (71 x 71 x 27.5 inches) and weighed 2 tonnes after cooking, it was made in Ho Chi Minh City and subsequently transferred to Phú Thọ.[20]
While being normally eaten warm or at room temperature,bánh chưng also be fried up and served in the form of a crisp pancake. It is then calledbánh chưng rán orbánh chưng chiên(friedbánh chưng).[21] WriterVũ Bằng in his bookThương nhớ mười hai (Longing of the 12 months) mentionsbánh chưng rán as a delicious dish during the cold winter of Hanoi.[22]
In some regions, instead ofbánh chưng, people makebánh tét: a cylindrical cake with almost the same ingredients asbánh chưng.[8][21] A similar cake asbánh tét is made in some regions in the North but with the namebánh tày,bánh chưng dài (longbánh chưng) orbánh dài.[23][24] Bánh tày is often made with a small quantity of mung bean and little or no pork, so that it can be preserved for a longer period.Bánh tày can be cut in slices and fried likebánh chưng rán.
TheSan Diu people has another variation of the longbánh chưng with a hump in the middle of the cake – hence it is calledbánh chưng "gù" ("humped"bánh chưng). Besideslá dong,bánh chưng "gù" is wrapped with an additional type of leaf namedlá chít.[25]
There are also variations ofbánh chưng forvegetarians andBuddhists, such asbánh chưng chay (vegetarianchưng cake) orbánh chưng ngọt (sweetenedchưng cake). Instead of being stuffed with pork these cakes are filled withmolasses orbrown sugar.[4] In these variations sometimes the glutinous rice is mixed withgac, giving the cake a red skin considered more appetizing. In the countrysidebánh chưng chay was once made by the poor families who could not afford pork for stuffing. They replaced pork withcardamom, black pepper and cooked mung bean. This type ofbánh chưng was eaten with molasses.[26]
| Dumplings | |
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| Rice cakes | |
| Pancakes | |
| Rice noodles | |
| Other | |
