Bnh chng is a traditional Vietnamese dish made of sticky rice, mung beans, and pork, wrapped into dong

leaves, which are a member of the arrowroot family. It is steamed for eight hours and is served during the New Years celebrations called Tt Nguyn n or Tt for short. This celebration lasts three days and is held each year between 21 January and 21 February. A few days before the feast, families will gather round to prepare these parcels and cook them communally because they need to be watched over while they are steaming. Everybody makes a virtue of necessity, invites friends around, and spends a whole night together eating, drinking and telling tales while preparing this special dish. Bnh chng was apparently invented by one of three sons to a king who were competing to become his successor. The best dish would win the crown, and bnh chng made the grade because it symbolized the world. The rice stands for the earth and the stones, the mung beans stand for plants, and the pork meat stands for animals and human beings. The round rice cake the winner came up with symbolized the heavens. This recipe uses bamboo leaves instead of dong leaves. Our version is also smaller which means that the cooking time is less.
"Banh Chung" (Chung cake) is a traditional and irreplaceable cake of Vietnamese people in the Tet Holidays and King Hungs anniversary (10th March Lunar). For the Vietnamese, making "Banh Chung" is the ideal way to express gratitude to their ancestors and homeland.

Banh Chung is a traditional dish considered an essential element of the Tet the Lunar New Year of Vietnam. The origin of Banh Chung can be traced to Hong Bang Dynasty when the 6th Hung Emperor ruled the land (before the Birth of Christ). Sadly thinking he was too old to lead the country, Hung Emperor wanted to find the one to inherit his position and sit on the throne. Therefore, he held a cooking contest for his 21 sons, and who could fully satisfy his taste would be the winner. Most princes set out on their journey to find special, exotic and far-fetched food, except for Lang Lieu the 18th son of Hung King, also the poorest and loneliest since he lost his mother at a young age. Not having enough money to afford such delicacies, Lieu just stayed around his house. Thanks to the help of a fairy in his dream, Lieu came up with 2 types of cake called Banh Chung and Banh Day and started baking exactly like what he had been told.

Chung Cake On a spring day on which all the princes labor had to be presented, Lang Lieu and his wife brought Banh Chung and Banh Day to the emperor while other princes presented such expensive and unusual dishes. Others sneered at Lieus cakes, but Hung Emperor was deeply impressed by the special flavor of these cakes. He asked Lieu about the meaning of these cakes. Lieu said that he had cooked the glutinous rice, then molded it into a round rice cake, and called it Banh Day as it symbolized the sky we live under; he also cooked a square rice cake, stuffed it with cooked bean paste and ground meat in the middle, and called it Banh Chung, which was symbolic of the earth we live on.

After that, Hung Emperor decided that Lieu was the winner and passed his throne to him. Since then, Banh Chung and Banh Day become traditional foods during the Tet.

Chung Cake In addition, Banh Chung can be fried to serve Banh Chung Ran a delicious for such cold February in Vietnam. In some other regions, especially the Southern part of Vietnam, Banh Chung can be wrap in a cylindral shape with same ingredients, called Banh Tet. A similar one to Banh Tet is Banh Tay or Banh Chung Dai (Long Banh Chung), served solely in the North with mung bean and little or no pork, he nce, can be preserved for a longer period. There are also many variations of Banh Chung according to regions, religions and likings such as Banh Chung Gu (Humped Banh Chung) of San Diu people, Banh Chung Chay (Vegetarian Banh Chung) for vegetarians and Buddhists, Banh Chung Ngot (Sweetened Banh Chung), etc.

Chung Cake In traditional context, the process of making Banh Chung is an occasion for Vietnamese family members to get together. Sitting around the warm fire, talking and telling each other past stories, they get ready for a New Year with lots of good wishes. Although nowadays, not many Vietnamese families keep this habit anymore, Banh Chung is still an irreplaceable dish of Vietnamese ancestor altar on the occasion of Tet. It is the evidence of the Vietnamese loyalty and great gratitude to their ancestors. The importance of Banh Chung has already gone into poetry: Tht m, da hnh, cu i Cy nu, trng pho bnh chng xanh Translation: Rich meats, Salty onions, red couplets Nu tree, firecracker, green banh chung.