"Full eyes" with traditional Southern cakes

Quang people have the opportunity to enjoy dozens of traditional Southern cakes. Photo: XH

The Southern traditional cake stall is always packed with people at the Vietnamese - Thai food shopping fair, which takes place consecutively during the first week of July.

More than a dozen cake stalls always have steam rising from their cakes mixed with the typical flavors - the aroma of milk, pandan leaves, coconut milk... that make people from Quang stop and enjoy.

Southern cakes are always eye-catching. They come from the leaves of the Western gardens, from the typical plants of the Mekong Delta alluvium. Furthermore, as a folk cake, it originates from the life of the people of that land, with rice grains attached to their breath.

That's why the typical Southern Vietnamese cake is that every dish is made from rice, sticky rice, cereals or rice flour, sticky rice flour with filling, then processed over fire (cooking, steaming, baking) to cook the cake.

I stopped at the bakery stall of artisan Tran Le Thi Hue Linh - with the brand name Co Muoi Can Tho . She "carry" from the steamer, freezer, stove, pot, not to mention hundreds of kilos of baking ingredients from Can Tho to the Central region to introduce in the most "full flavor" the traditional cakes of the Southern people.

Hands twirling like dancing, a few minutes later, a tray of steamed banana cakes, steamed rice cakes, pork skin cakes... had taken shape. While steamed rice cakes and savory tapioca cakes are simmered before kneading the dough, sweet cakes like rice cakes, pork skin cakes, and cassava cakes have the sweet aroma of fresh milk and pandan leaves.

For nearly 10 days at the Quang Nam Fair, Ms. Muoi Can Tho's cake booth was always crowded with people watching the artisans make cakes. The visual stimulation made them take out their pockets to enjoy the fresh and hot cake right from the artisan's kitchen.

While Can Tho cakes come in a variety of colors - at first glance reminiscent of the colors of boats in Cai Rang floating market, visiting An Giang cake stall, one is immediately impressed by the deep red color of An Giang palm fruit.

The Bay Nui region (An Giang) is famous for many specialties made from the palm tree - a plant that can only be found in this land. From the palm fruit, people make sugar, tea, wine and palm cake. This is also a specialty cake of the Southern region that is well-known to diners near and far.

Southern Khmer artisans, wearing a checkered scarf, slowly go through each step to get a piece of palm sugar cake with a shiny color, true to the color of palm sugar. The cake looks simple but is quite elaborate.

Palm sugar is melted and then mixed with flour according to different recipes of experienced people. Some people have to grind the palm fruit, others have to use butter and milk or add baking powder. But above all, as the name suggests, palm sugar cake must have the aroma and sweetness of the palm fruit of An Giang.

Leaving the stalls selling traditional Southern cakes, my eyes were still glued to the attractive red and green colors of the rustic tray of cassava cakes...

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/no-mat-cung-banh-dan-gian-nam-bo-3137878.html