Unique "overcoming difficulties" banh chung hen of Dien Chau people

Tet for Vietnamese people is an occasion for reunion, an occasion to show gratitude to ancestors for the achievements of a year of hard work. Therefore, every time Tet comes, no matter where they go, people always turn to their family and clan. For those who are far from home for many different reasons, if they cannot return, they still carefully prepare for their small family a truly traditional Tet in the land where they live. That means peach blossoms, kumquat trees, apricot blossoms... and of course green Chung cakes.

Dien Chau, where the famous Bung River meanders and flows into the sea, the 1980s of the last century were difficult days for me. That hardship and toil weighed heavily on my mother's shoulders, so she invented the banh chung hen. My family had many siblings, and both my parents worked as farmers. In my hometown's sandy soil, there was only one crop of rice grown a year. The reddish-brown quail rice variety, although very sweet and fragrant, had low productivity. After the rice harvest, spring came to plant peanuts. There were only two main crops a year, so poverty persisted year after year.

Clams were used to make banh chung filling when pork was still expensive and rare. Photo: Le Thang

During Tet, my family often wraps two types of banh chung, one with pork filling, this type is only for guests and offerings. The second type of banh chung is filled with… don (sea mussels). To give the banh chung a rich flavor, the mussel filling is mixed with lard. The banh chung with mussel filling has the sweet taste of mussels, the fragrant smell of mud and of course the fatty taste of lard.

My brothers and I ate so much mussel-filled cake that we were sick of it. Some people might ask why there was such a strange cake? Actually, it all came from poverty. On the beach, we would just use a ladle to scoop up the mussels and fill a basket. On Tet, for my family, there was only enough pork to wrap a few fatty rolls and a pot of braised meat to store for offerings during the three days of Tet. The little left was only used to wrap banh chung.

The filling for Banh Chung Hen is made from stir-fried mussels mixed with lard. Photo: Le Thang

In my hometown, on the first day of Tet, children have to bring a full tray to their parents' house. Families with children who have started their own families have to prepare a tray to bring to both their parents' house. The time is determined by each other to bring the tray. In my family, because my father is the eldest son, on the first day of Tet, we only bring one tray to my maternal grandparents' house. And of course, the pair of banh chung that we bring must be filled with pork. At that time, my siblings and I were still young, so we didn't understand anything. When we saw our mother preparing a tray of banh chung with pork filling to bring to our maternal grandparents' house, we often cried loudly because we regretted it. One year, my younger brother and I, when my mother wasn't paying attention, changed the banh chung with don (sea clam) filling to the offering tray. My parents didn't know, so they carried the tray to my maternal grandparents' house, and we still followed my mother around carelessly. When the offering was finished, my grandfather brought the banh chung to the kitchen to slice it, and tears kept flowing from the corners of his eyes. My grandmother hid it and replaced it with a pair of banh chung from her maternal grandparents' house.

We kept that secret deep in our hearts until now. But even so, on the first Tet away from home in my life, I made banh chung with mussel filling. Of course, at that time, I did not feel bored like when I was young, but instead, it was full of sweet flavor.

The pot of banh chung that my mother made is a memory of the old Tet holiday that has been associated with many generations. Photo: Trung Ha

Now, when that once difficult banh chung is just a memory, every time I think about it, I still proudly hum:

My hometown
Where the Bung River overflows into the sea day and night
The sea gate roars and waves crash into the open sea.
Where my mother still bends her back on the beach
Scratching the child, dragging the child tired
My mother
Big foot on the sand dune
Pressing the toes until they bleed
Waiting for the water to recede deep into the ground
Those don't crack the sea
Skinny hands with a chipped lip
Scratching the whole sky and earth
Find don

Banh chung hen is not only a unique dish but also a memory of a difficult but warm childhood with parents. Photo: Quoc Dan

So, my hometown still exists and the beach has now become a famous beach of Nghe An province. My hometown has many high-rise buildings built close together, prosperous and wealthy, but I will never forget my mother's banh chung hen.