There’s
a funny folk tale about a little boy who wanted to learn to be a miser. He was
eventually introduced to a teacher who had any students. The teacher studied
the boy from head to toe, then told him to return the next day with only a rice
pancake, or banh trang, as an
initiation gift.
The
next morning the boy returned carrying a rice pancake and a rooster. The
teacher told the child to keep the bird and the boy replied that the rooster
wasn’t a gift. He had brought it along just in case some grains of rice fell
from the rice pancake when the teacher accepted it. They way, no speck of rice
would be wasted.
Upon
hearing this the teacher sighed and said that the boy need not return after
all, since he was already more miserly than the teacher and had nothing more to
learn.
Central
to this tale is the rice pancake, a cheap and familiar food throughout
Vietnam’s countryside. In the South, there are many varieties that are used in
different ways. They can be eaten with sweet or savory foods such as blood pudding,
noodles, soup, duck eggs, and minced pork. These rice pancakes are popular for breakfast,
as mid – morning and late – night snacks, at ancestor ceremonies, and during
the New Year.
People
in the delta town of Ben Tre are very proud of their rice pancakes, which are
called banh trang My Long. Typically
offered at Tet, these pancakes come in three varieties: with coconut; milk; and
milk, eggs and coconut.
The
best coconut pancakes (banh trang dua)
feature rice from Tra Vinh and coconut milk from Ben Tre. They are spongy,
moist and taste of coconut. The smell of these cakes being grilled over a fire
is hard to resist.
Plain
rice pancakes (banh trang) are made
of rice flour that is soaked overnight. After being finely ground and stored for
some time in a terra cotta pot, the rice paste is poured and cooked. In the
past, these cakes were made using a terra cotta pot full of water that was
covered with two layers of linen. The pot was placed on the fire. When the
water boiled, the cook used a dipper made from a coconut shell to pour rice
batter over the cloth and steam it.
A
thick layer of rice batter is used to make banh
trang. A thin layer of rice batter is used to make rice paper rolls. Even
thinner payers are used to make the wrappers for spring rolls.
When
the pancake is done, the cook uses a bamboo stick to pick it up, and then dries
it on a bamboo rack. When one side is dry, the pancakes are flipped over. They
are usually arranged in ten layers.
Beside
roasted rice, sesame seeds are an important ingredient in another tasty rice
pancake, banh trang me.
A
popular poem states:
“I go far away and miss the sesame
rice cakes
The rural scent floating in the
air”
While
meals made with rice paper rolls tens to be quite complex in the North, settlers
in the South created new, and simpler versions. They used fresh – picked
vegetables and herbs from their gardens and caught fish in nearby ponds and
steams. The fish were grilled, often without seasoning.
Before
rolling, the rice cakes are wet. It there is no filling, they can be eaten
plain dipped in fish sauce. All sorts of fillings may be added. Common
ingredients include meat, fish, rice vermicelli, herbs, and mustards green
bananas. After being tightly rolled in rice paper, the rolls are dipped in a
sauce, sugar, chili and garlic.
A
saying from northern Vietnam compares husband and wife to two types of rice
pancakes, a banh da (dry pancake) and
a banh da (rice flan).
A
popular southern verse states:
“I wish to take a crispy rice cake
I wish to love a girl who will
always keep her word”
If
you visit southern Vietnam, be used to try local delicacies like roasted paddy
fields in salt, sour fish soup and bun
mam noodles. Last but not least, sample some rice pancakes. This humble
dish has inspired so many poets and singers, like the anonymous composer of
this folk song, which is sung when rowing when rowing on the delta’s myriad
waterways:
“Yo
– heave ho…
Pray
for the matchmaker and for a party of rice cakes
Pray
for the matchmaker and for a cat of sugar
We
make a commitment to love
Even
in poor conditions, we still agree …”
This
article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vietnam Heritage Travel
For
original article, please visit:
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