The
weather is perfect, or close to perfect, and many traditional festivals are
celebrated throughout the country, each with features distinct to the region,
whether it is the associated legend, musical tradition or religious ritual.
Green pulp: Grinding ngải cứu to make the cake.—Photos dulichcaobang.com
It
also happens to be the best season for visitors to discover many culinary
specialties, some of them more uncommon and unusual than others.
HCM
City residents Nguyễn Kiều Lâm and her two sons recently visited the northern
province of Cao Bằng. They wanted to see the famous, historic Pác Bó cave and
the Thác Bản Giốc Waterfall. A couple of festivals at the King Lê and Na Sầm
temples were also part of their itinerary.
“We
enjoyed the beautiful landscapes everywhere, but what stands out for us as most
special are the tasty dishes served by the Tày or Nùng ethnic minority vendors
at traditional festivals,” Lâm said.
Lâm
said her two sons could not have enough of
a dish called lợn quay (roast pig). The pieces were soft and its golden
red or reddish brown skin so crispy that they wanted to eat more even after
finishing of a large portion.
Lâm’s
elder son Hồ Nguyên Ngọc said it was the first time that he was enjoying such
an aromatic and tasty dish, the fragrance of the dipping sauce made with mắc mật leaves (a kind of wild wampee
tree found in the province) making it very special.
He
asked Nông Ích Lai, a Tày man in Hòa An District (about 15km from the downtown
Cao Bằng City), to please reveal what made the dish so irresistible.
Lai,
who has sold lợn quay for more than
20 years at festivals in his district and in the city, was kind enough to
indulge Ngọc.
Lai
said that before Tết arrived, he would go to remote communes in Nguyên Bình
District to buy organic pigs of about 20-25kg per pig each and raise them at
home.
“I
mix the mắc mật leaves with dried
onions, garlic, fish sauce, salt, and a
pinch of traditionally made spice and put all the dumplings in the pig’s belly
and sew it well before pouring a small cup of wild honey on the pig.”
He
said roasting technique was rather difficult. The pig had to be turned
regularly over a wood charcoal fire for about three hours. If it was not done
properly, the pig could get burned, the meat could become dry and the skin
would not be crispy.
Apart
from lợn quay, Lâm and her sons also
tasted ngải cứu and mò-mè-xu-héc cakes made by the Tày and
Nùng ethnic groups in the province.
Done to a turn: Roast pig sells very well at Spring festivals.
Shapes and sizes: The mò mè xu héc cake is highly favoured by children.
Shades of green: The Ngải cứu (wampee) leaf cake is a specialty of the Tày and Nùng people in Cao Bằng Province.Photos dulichcaobang.com
Lai’s
neighbor Đoàn Thị Huyến, a famous wampee cake maker in the district, got the
recipe from her grandmother.
“I
have to wake up very early in the morning to pick up the wampee fruit from my
garden to ensure its freshness and then boil it in a special “ashes water” for
between two and three hours until it is well-cooked.
“Then
the ngải cứu leaves should be
carefully washed and then mixed with glutinous rice powder. The cake’s dumpling
is a mix of ground fried black sesame and cane sugar,” Huyến.
The
cake can be steamed or fried, but steamed is healthier, she said.
Lâm
said she enjoyed the cake’s combination of fragrant glutinous rice powder and
the special flavor of ngải cứu leaves “so much.”
“I
could feel it cooling my body and satisfying craving taste,” Lâm said.
Local
herbalist Tạ Ngọc Oánh, 70, said the leaves are particularly good for pregnant
women and the elderly.
The
leaves, apart from being nutritious, help reduce pain from injury, provide
relief from itching, and is good for treating colds and headaches, as also
improve blood circulation, Oánh said..
“I’ve
used the leaves to treat my patients, and many of them with these ailments have
recovered,” he said, reiterating that the ngải cứu cake is very good for
human’s health.
Oánh’s
wife, Nông Thị Tiếu is famous for her mò mè xu héc, a traditional cake made by
the Tày and Nùng people.
This
cake is also made from glutinous rice but knead into the shapes of animals such
as buffalo, cow, pig, dog, cat, and bird. After kneading and shaping, the cakes
are pan fried either in vegetable oil or pork fat. The crispy, chewy and sweet
taste makes these cakes very popular at local festivals.
Tiếu
said her mother taught her to make to the cakes when she was a little girl. “It
sells particularly well at festivals. Children enjoy it a lot.”
By Ha Nguyen/ VNS