But for food lovers, Binh Dinh is the
land of “banh it la gai” a rice-based treat with a distinctive black color and
refreshing flavor.
The name indicates the two common
features of the cakes – “it” means “little” to refer to the size of a serving
for it only takes two to three bites to finish off a cake, and “la gai” ic a
kind of thorn leaf commonly found in the central region. It is an irreplaceable
ingredient that gives the cakes its unique color.
Despite their seemingly unappetizing
look, the pyramid-shaped cakes draw food lovers with their la gai aroma and the
refreshing flavor of the stuffing made from ground coconut or ground green
bean.
But making the tiny cakes is a
time-consuming process that requires both hard work and patience.
Banh it la gai is made from five ingredients, the others being sticky rice, sugar, and banana leaf.
The la gai leaves are washed,
boiled, and ground in a stone mortar until they become a black powder.
But they grow only between August and
the Lunar New Year which falls between mid-January and mid-February, and are
preserved for use during the rest of the year.
Yen, a cake maker in the province’s Quy
Nhon city, said: “To preserve la gai for later use, we mix the leaves
with sugar. Five kilograms of the leaves are mixed with 3.5 or four kilograms
of sugar.”
The mixture is then cooked over a fire
until it achieves a jelly-like consistency and turns black. In this state it
can be preserved for months, according to Yen.
The quality of the cake is heavily
dependent on this cooking process.
“The mixture must be cooked for exactly
the right length of time,” she said. “If it is undercooked, the cake will be
watery, and if it is cooked for too long, the cake will turn hard.”
Only quality glutinous rice will give
the cakes their chewy texture. The rice is soaked overnight in water before
being ground and kept in a bag for a day or two. When it dries, it forms a
block of flour which is again ground.
The rice flour and the la gai
mixture are mixed together and ground yet again to create the cake’s chewy
texture.
“This is the secret of making the
cakes,” Yen said. “If you skip this step, the cakes will still look good but
some people will be able to distinguish the difference in quality between them
and those made from dough that has been ground twice.”
The stuffing can be made from either
ground coconut or green bean though the latter is less common due to the hard
work involved in making it.
The beans are soaked in water and cooked
over a fire.
“You have to stir the beans constantly
or else the bottom will burn,” a Binh Dinh local said.
The beans are ground and rolled into
small balls for use as filling.
The cakes are then steamed and wrapped
in banana leaves to form little pyramid-shaped packages with square bottoms.
The banana leaves are often heated over
the fire or dipped in hot water to soften them, making it easier to wrap the
cakes.
Banh it la gai whose aromatic, sweet taste is said to complement the bitter
flavor of green tea, is often used as deserts or mid-day treats in festivals
and parties.
It is a tradition for newly-wedded
brides to make banh it la gai to gift to their parents three days after
the wedding as a gesture of gratitude to them and ancestors after moving to
their new home.
From
being a simple treat invented by Binh Dinh locals, banh it la gai has
nowadays become a must-try delicacy for visitors to the coastal province and an
essential gift to take back home to their families. - Source: vietnewsonline