(VOVworld) – A Chung cake is an essential offering to Vietnamese’s ancestors during Tet, the traditional Lunar New Year festival. Many still remember the time when family members took turn wrapping and boiling the cakes.
Families now prefer to buy Chung cakes. But it’s fun to learn how make this traditional Tet specialty of Vietnam.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
- Sticky rice
- Mung beans
- Pork belly
- Salt, pepper, onion (MSG-optional)
Method
- Soaked the sticky rice overnight, then drain and shake with salt.
- Soak crushed mung beans in water for 2-4 hours, wash away the husks, cook, grind, and shape them into fist-sized balls
- Cut the pork into squares and season them with salt, pepper, and minced onion.
- Place dong leaves on a flat surface; put a small bowl portion of rice on it, sprinkle on half of a mong bean ball, place 2 pork squares in the middle, sprinkle on the other half of the mung bean ball, and cover with another small bowl portion of rice. Fold the leaves over, wrap the cake into a square shape, and tie it with bamboo strings.
- Place cakes in a pot padded with dong leaf stalks, pour in enough water to submerge the cakes, and boil on high heat. As the water boils off, add enough to keep the cakes submerged. Boil continuously for 12 hours. After the cakes are taken from the pot, press them to remove excess water.