(VOVWORLD) - The 12th Chung Cake (Traditional Square Sticky Rice Cake) Festival opened at The Cliff Resort & Residences in Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province.
 Foreign tourists make chung cakes. (photo: VOV) |
Hundreds of Vietnamese and foreign tourists wearing traditional costumes joined the festival to learn about the traditional cake, its history and recipes and attempted to make one by themselves.
Chung cake is an essential part of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year(Tet) celebration, but for many visitors, it’s quite new to them. After learning about the Chung cake’s origins and its significance in Vietnamese culinary culture, especially Tet celebration, they engaged in the competition of cake wrapping.
With the organizers’ guidance, tourists from Australia, Finland, and South Korea had an entertaining experience wrapping Chung cakes. They arranged the dong leaves in molds, added sticky rice, green beans, and pork inside, folded the leaves, and tied the cakes with bamboo stripes. Each person tied their name to their cake, so after it was boiled, the cake could be returned to them.
Tourist Zagoruyko of Kazakhstan said that she loved learning the meaning of the chung cake and Vietnam’s traditions during Tet. She enjoyed the atmosphere of everyone wearing Vietnamese traditional costumes and making chung cakes.
Phùng Kim Vi, a representative of the Organizing Board, said the annual Chung Cake Festival has always attracted a big number of tourists.
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“This year we have created a new dish from rice, which we call it arasini. Tourists will enjoy Vietnamese chung cakes with pickles, fermented onions, and braised pork and try a new dish made from rice.”
During the festival, tourists also experienced calligraphy writing making to he figurines, and playing with coconut leave puzzle. This year Mui Ne in Phan Thiet province welcomes tourists from 50 countries, which shows its growing popularity as a travel destination when spring comes.