Coconut Rice Cake
(Baonghean) -Although this rustic cake is available from north to south, the gai cake of the Coconut land has its own unique features and is considered a specialty of the Coconut land (Tuong Son commune, Anh Son district, Nghe An).
The process of making this specialty cake does not seem very complicated, but it is quite elaborate in the selection of ingredients including sticky rice, green beans, fresh ramie leaves, dried coconut, white sugar, cooking oil... Sticky rice must be the type of sticky rice from the countryside, firm and fragrant, soaked and ground until the dough is very smooth and soft. The filling includes green beans, white sugar, dried coconut meat... squeezed into small pieces. The green beans are selected to be firm and even, peeled, steamed, beaten and mixed with white sugar, and sprinkled with shredded old coconut meat. After picking, the fresh ramie leaves are washed, boiled, squeezed until dry, shredded, mixed with a little cooking oil, put in a mortar and pounded until smooth, then mixed well with the filtered sticky rice flour to create the characteristic black color of the gai cake.
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The leaves used to wrap the cake must be young banana leaves. After being collected, the banana leaves are dried and stored in a cool place. Tear the leaves into 5-6 cm pieces, skillfully spread the sticky rice dough evenly with your hands, put the cake filling in the middle, fold each corner of the leaves to wrap the cake into a mountain-shaped cake. Use soft strings to tie the two pieces facing each other into a square pair. Once the cake is wrapped, place it in a pot, turn it over, and cook over high heat for about an hour and a half, then take it out and neatly arrange it in a basket for tomorrow's market...
In the land of Coconut, there are many houses specializing in making gai cakes. The special thing about gai cakes in the land of Coconut is that the cakes are not too big, only half the size of gai cakes that have been seen elsewhere. The cakes have a fragrant smell, the filling is sweet and mild, the fatty taste of coconut meat... you can eat them forever without getting bored. The price is also very affordable, only 1,000 VND per pair. But from August to the end of January, the cake ovens are on fire all night long but still cannot sell enough.
Not only a gift from the countryside, on the days of Lunar New Year, sticky rice cakes wrapped in green banana leaves and tied with red strings are indispensable offerings on the ancestral altars of the people of the Coconut land and neighboring localities. On this occasion, anyone who has the opportunity to pass by here will surely not forget to buy a few dozen pairs of sticky rice cakes from the Coconut land to bring back as gifts for relatives...
Ms. Ngo Thi Thanh Lich (who lives on the top of Dua slope, National Highway 7A) said: her family has made a living by making gai cakes for four generations. Currently, her family consumes no less than 400 pairs of cakes every day. She placed a neat sign in front of her house with the words: "Mrs. Lich of Dua slope - Genuine gai cakes!" as if to affirm her brand.
Le Ba Lieu