If you're unfamiliar with Tet sticky rice cakes (banh chung and banh tet), the must-have food for Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration, chances are you may be asking, "Is it an adobe brick or doorstop wrapped in banana leaf?" At Viet delis, bakeries and grocery stores, you'll find them this week and next displayed on tables. The weighty cakes will be wrapped in plastic with red or gold ribbon tied around them to make them look extra festive for this most important holiday.
Banh chung are the square ones, and banh tet are the cylindrical ones. They are the same, but the major difference lies in their shape. Northern Viet people are partial to the square banh chung whereas central and southern people prefer the round banh tet. Banh chung is the name that most people use. My family prepared and ate banh chung because my mother hails from a
town named Hai Duong, which is right outside of Hanoi (in the northern
region).
Other than the shape variation, banh chung are traditionally wrapped in the large green leaves called la dong (Phrynium placentarium, which is related to arrowroot). Banh tet are wrapped in banana leaves. Banana leaves impart a wonderful tea-like aroma and flavor to the rice and since la dong aren't available abroad, Viet people living overseas use banana leaves to wrap banh chung and banh tet. Regardless, the cakes are boiled for 6 to 8 hours, depending on size.
Getting the cakes to look like nice squares and cylinders requires finesse. To
appreciate the wrapping process and get a few tips, check these out:
- Video on how to wrap banh chung the old-fashioned way
-- without a mold, using la dong (rush/arrowroot leaves) tied with
strips of reed and cooked over coals. Note how they've lightly tinted
the rice pale green with food coloring, something that's definitely not old-school but a modern, widespread practice in Vietnam. - Download step-by-step photos of how to wrap banh_chung_in a wooden mold
. The mold is my preferred method because it's much easier
to get the square shape, a hallmark of the sticky rice cakes. The
photos correspond to my detailed recipe for banh chung in Into the Vietnamese Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 2006).
What's inside the wrapping? The leaves encase sticky rice, in the center of which there's buttery mung bean and opalescent bits of pork and pork fat. The filling is simply seasoned with salt, pepper, and a touch of fish sauce. It's filling food that can be made in advance and sit around for days, which makes it great for Tet, when you're suppose to have fun, not slave in the kitchen. The leaves impart a wonderful tea-like quality to the rice. When you eat a fresh hot, one, the rice is soft and chewy sweet. The beans are plush and rich and the pork contributes a wonderful savoriness.
How to eat Tet sticky rice cakes and what to serve them with? Square banh chung are cut into wedges (use unflavored dental floss) so each portion has a fair share of rice, mung bean and pork. Round banh tet are cut into thick slices. It's often the case that the cake is eaten with some sugar, which sounds weird but is a great combination of flavors. Banh chung and banh tet may also be fried to a delicious chewy crispness too. The photo above is of a market vendor on Phu Quoc island frying banh tet; here's a fair amount of food coloring in her rice.
Viet people typically serve the cakes with tangy, sweet pungent pickled shallots, garlicky
pickled daikon, and various kinds of Vietnamese charcuterie -- silky
sausages and head cheese. Pigs were often slaughtered for Tet so people
use some of the meat and offal for charcuterie, which keeps around.
There's often a long-simmered dish too in which pork or beef is cooked in caramel sauce.
If you don't make them buy them, like many Vietnamese living abroad
do these days. Check Viet markets and delis, or Chinese markets where
there's a large Viet clientele. The cakes sit out at room temperature.
Poke them to make sure they're fresh.
Chuck says
Thanks for posting my question and for the great step-by-step photos. I have never attempted to make banh chung, maybe it's time to give it a try!
Andrea Nguyen says
Chuck, banh chung is at core, regular people's food. There's no reason why you can't make them. They come together in the most fascinating -- architectural -- way. Every time I make them I'm amazed when I lift the mold off and the thing sits there like a small green box!
amy says
I'm making these tomorrow morning. I will update my progress as well as include a photo. Wish me luck!
Andrea Nguyen says
Can't wait to see your banh chung, Amy!
Amy says
I finished the banh chung last night. Yes, it took more than 12 hours, a burnt finger, and a few tears but I made banh chung! I have to say, there is nothing more rewarding than waiting 9 hours (it takes 7 hours to boil AND you have to let it cool for at least 1-2 hours) and then opening the wrapping to see if it looks edible. It was so worth it, and (maybe I'm biased here... maybe I'm not) but it is the best banh chung my mouth has ever tasted. I will never go and buy banh chung at the loca
Andrea Nguyen says
Amy, I am soooo darn proud of you I could squeal -- perhaps as a goodbye to the year of the pig. Homemade ones are fabulous and I delighted/thrilled that you've had the experience of such a Vietnamese culinary accomplishment.
Sylvie says
Awesome website. I have to give it a try myself for this Banh Tet. I think I can manage it! Either way, trying is already winning half the battle! 🙂 Happy New Year!
Liz says
I enjoyed this article very much. I am Vietnamese, but was born in the U.S. While growing up, my mother taught me to make many traditional Vietnamese dishes. Each year, for Tet, we make about a dozen banh chung to eat for the next few weeks. I usually have to explain when I eat it for breakfast at work, so now I will just send a link to this page! Thank you!
Andrea Nguyen says
You're welcome, Liz!
Karen Highschool says
These recipes stink i'm vietnamese and i say that these recipes are wrong!
Andrea Nguyen says
Karen Highschool -- There is no recipe here so I don't know what you are referring to. More specifics would be helpful.
Oanh says
Question - it appears from the photos that the inner mold (the one made from bamboo leaves) gets wrapped up with the banh chung and steamed...? Or do you discard the bamboo leaves altogether?
Thanks for your help! I can't wait to surprise my family. 🙂
TK says
Oanh: I am pretty sure the bamboo leaves are cooked as well. You discard the bamboo leaves just before eating.
Andrea: Finally bought your cookbook after trying out some of your recipes online. I am SO excited to make banh chung. My mom has no faith in me... she told me not to bother making it because it is so hard to do, but your recipe is very detailed and straightforward and I am determined to make it. I have re-read your recipe in the book multiple times and have bought the ingredients.
Andrea Nguyen says
Oanh: TK is absolutely correct. The bamboo leaves are meant to be cooked. They get wrapped up in the foil and boiled for hours.
TK: Thanks for taking time to check out Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. I wrote it for all of us so we can learn more about and maintain Vietnamese cooking traditions. You'll knock the socks off your mom!
If you care to share photos of your banh chung, I'll highlight them to the world!
Oanh says
Great success! I scorched the bottom of two pots with foil marks but several days (and sleepless nights tanking up boiling pots on an hourly basis), I have eight beautiful, perfectly square banh chung to call my own. They are a little lacking in meat (I will have to call them diet banh chung -- I was wondering why I had so much meat left over) and maybe a little waterlogged despite pressing & drying but otherwise delicious! It's a few days early, but they are definitely going out as gifts.
FY
Hong Linh says
hi where do you get the wooden mold for 'banh chung'? thanks
Hong Linh says
Uh, i forgot: also where do you get the green banana leaves and the strings to tie the cakes before cooking them? and can you use the pressure cooker to make it faster? thanks. HL
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Judy Le says
I would love to try this recipe! I've just married into a Vietnamese family and am learning to cook some of the traditional recipes. I'm English/Scottish in heritage myself, (Vietnamese food is SO much tastier!), and I'm wanting to make this TET special!
Question: Doesn't leaving them out at room temp for several days (like in the stores) make the meat go bad?
(...a sensitive Canadian-Western stomach asking...) 😉
Thanks for everything! I refer to your site often!
Happy Lunar New Year!
marlon says
A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out.
Nickle says
I can't wait to try this one.
Mr. Cooking Grill says
I can't wait to try this one.
Johannes Pong says
Interesting how the Cantonese eat jung on Tuen Ng (Doan Ngo) but there is one place in Northern Guangdong, Zhaoqing (Shiuhing in Cantonese) that is famous for their square shaped jung that they traditionally make during New Years. Perhaps that's where the Vietnamese custom came from. Zhaoqing was a very important place in Southern China until the Qing dynasty, so there must have been a lot of cultural influence from there.
GretchenJoanna says
If I poke one and it is NOT fresh, what will happen?
Andrea Nguyen says
Then you've got a not-so-fresh one. I'd move on or take your chance and boil it to refresh it.
BK says
Hi Andrea! What do you think the refrigerator shelf life is for an unopened banh tet? Got some a week ago that I forgot to eat and plan to freeze and enjoy later 🙂
Andrea Nguyen says
I've frozen banh chung for a year! Banh tet would last just as long. They're so well wrapped in banana leaf. Just remember to thaw and reboil to refresh them. Refrigeration is fabulous for these things. Chuc Mung Nam Moi to you and your family!
BK says
Thank you! I guess I’m also concerned about the banh tet being a week old in the refrigerator too — how long can these things last before going bad?
And happy (belated) new year to you!!