Irresistible Hue Sweet Delicacies

Tet sweet delicacies, a culinary secret in Hue, are irresistible and fascinating.

In Huế, the last month of the lunar year is cold, but not gloomy. The sun emerges with a tender warmth, chasing away the clouds and caressing the yellow mai flowers that dance in the breeze. They have transformed from tiny buds like buttons into round green pearls on brown branches, awaiting their bloom. Tet is near! The city and its bazaars are alive with hues and aromas of various delicacies for the festive occasion.

The sweet cakes for Tet are collectively called “cộ bánh”  in Huế. The term “cộ” comes from “cỗ” meaning a feast or a banquet, but it is uttered with a strong tone in the Hue dialect. As a feast, it presents a varied assortment of cakes. Huế, Vietnam’s ancient seat of power for centuries, has always been abundant in refined sweet treats.

Five Well-known Treats on Cộ Bánh

What kinds of cakes make up cộ bánh in the eyes of a true Hue native?

Mai Thi Tra, a Hue culinary artist, is nearly 90 years old this year. Her grandfather taught King Duy Tan, her aunt married King Duy Tan, and her father was a district governor under the Nguyen Dynasty. A literature teacher by profession, she devoted her retirement to teaching and honoring Hue cuisine. Under her skillful hands, the most popular Tet cakes came to life on the white porcelain plate: mung bean seal cakes, lotus cakes, su se cakes, black sticky cakes and toasted cup cakes.

The first type of cake is bánh in đậu xanh, or mung bean seal cake. Unlike the bigger ritual cakes in the North, the seal cake in Hue is small and square-shaped like an ancient seal. It has a pale yellow hue like a silk garment and is wrapped in vivid paper. Apart from mung beans, seal cakes can also be made with arrowroot, baby lima beans, or glutinous rice. Seal cakes are the essential element of cộ bánh, so Hue people often call them bánh cộ.

Next is bánh sen tán – lotus cake. Cooked lotus seeds are ground and sweetened, then shaped into bright yellow balls. They are wrapped in shiny cellophane with festive fringes at both ends, like twinkling stars. Since lotus seeds are costly, people often use mung beans instead to make bánh đậu xanh (mung bean cake). When I was a child, I loved lotus cakes and mung bean cakes, because they were soft and moist, and their appearance was more splendid than the finest marbles I had ever seen.

Another delicious treat in cộ bánh is bánh su sê (su-sê cake). It rests in a charming box of coconut leaves. The box is square, but its lid can be square or pentagonal. When you open the box, you see a white, foggy layer of tapioca flour, sprinkled with fine coconut flakes. Below, a golden mung bean and coconut paste gives a touch of color and sweetness. The cake has a gummy texture on the outside and a creamy one on the inside.

Another unique and tasty cake in cộ bánh is bánh ít đen (black sticky cake). This cake is a dark beauty, round and smooth like a polished egg, tucked in a layer of green banana leaves. The leaves are folded into a cute bucket like a gold bar, a distinctive look that is exclusive to Hue. When you bite into the cake, you will be delighted by the harmony between the sticky dough and the crisp yet soft filling. The filling is made of mung bean, candied wax gourd and orange peel, full of sweetness and freshness.

The only cake that goes “naked” in cộ bánh is bánh thuẫn. Its five “petals” spread out like joyful mai flowers welcoming the new year. It is usually enjoyed crunchy, but I have a special preference for the ones that are fresh from the mold. Eggs, sugar, and flour, after dancing together, landed on the hot cast iron mold, creating a sweet, rich, and fragrant masterpiece. The cakes are soft, warm, and filled with the sweet smell of eggs and sugar, melting smoothly on the tongue. 

In the past, whenever the tempting fragrance of bánh thuẫn’s toasted egg and sugar mixture wafted in the air, we Vietnamese felt the thrill of Tet.

Hue’s Disappearing Sweet Delicacies

Some of the sweet delicacies in cộ bánh are as rare as diamonds these days.

The first example is bánh măng bánh mận (bamboo shoot cake and plum cakes), which are inseparable buddies. Bamboo shoot cake is made from glutinous rice flour, syrup and thinly sliced bamboo shoots. It is presented as square pieces, covered with a thin layer of starch. Plum cake is its twin, except coconut flakes take the place of bamboo shoots and roasted sesame seeds exchange for starch.

Plum cake and bamboo shoot cake wear pink and yellow cellophane dresses respectively. They represent happiness and prosperity. Ms. Hoang Thi Kim Cuc wrote about them in her book Cooking Hue Food (1943) when they were probably still in fashion, but now they are almost forgotten.

Fortunately, bánh sâm (ginseng cake) and bánh dứa (pandan cake) are not yet extinct in Huế, thanks to Mr. Lang Nguyen in An Thanh village, Quang Dien district. Mr. Nguyen is 90 years old this year, and has been making cakes since he was 15 years old.

Every year, two months before Tết, he begins his preparation. He carefully chooses the best ingredients: glutinous rice, beans, lotus seeds, and so on. He remembers that in the past, people from different families and villages would visit his house to order the cakes ahead of time. 

They ordered by dishes, with a certain number of cakes per dish. For instance, ginseng cakes were 5 per dish, while lotus cakes were 10. I suppose that’s why cộ bánh is also known as “bạt bánh”, which means “a dish of cakes”, by Hue locals.

With great care and patience, Mr. Nguyen prepares the baby lima beans for the ginseng cake. He peels and washes them, tossing away any bad seeds. Blending the finely ground cooked beans with syrup, he makes a flexible dough to be crafted into cakes resembling ginseng roots. They are roasted slowly over a charcoal fire for three days. The cakes are now pure white and crunchy. But they are not done yet. They need two small green red belts to be complete.

The legend of ginseng cake says that it was created by a royal concubine of the Nguyen Dynasty, to impress the King and wish him longevity. She shared the secret with her descendants, who passed it onto the people of Huế. Since then, the ginseng cake has become one of Huế delicacies during Tet.

Bánh dứa, or pandan leaf cake, has a crust made of glutinous rice flour and tapioca starch mixed with pandan leaf juice. Mr. Nguyen gently sifts the mixed flour on a hot pan to form a thin crust and then adds a peanut and coconut filling. Skillfully folding the cake into a rectangle, he uses a bamboo knife to trim the edges neatly. The cake has a lush green color of young rice plants. He also makes yellow and orange cakes to brighten up the cake dish.

The ginseng cake and pandan leaf cake are so intricate that Mr. Nguyen does not have the energy to make many, even though there are always people ordering them. Recently, when his daughter agreed to learn the craft, he was overjoyed. He couldn’t stand to see these delicacies disappear.

The last but not the least cake that Huế people seldom make now is bánh bó mứt (candied fruit cake). Aromatic roasted glutinous rice flour and clear sugar syrup are kneaded together until smooth and elastic, then colorful bits of candied fruits are stirred in. The cake is rolled into a long block, dusted with glutinous rice flour and sliced, then wrapped in transparent cellophane paper.

Its slice has floury white edges and a pale yellow inside. You can spot specks of orange carrot, yellow pineapple, honey ginger, dark brown dried banana, and white wax gourd. Tasting one piece, you will be amazed by the changing levels of sweetness from the mild sweetness of carrots, the tangy sweetness of pineapple, the light sweetness of wax gourd and banana, and the zesty sweetness of ginger. Glutinous rice flour binds all these subtle flavors together into a delicious and refined treat.

Kim Long Village and the Cake Towers

Besides the cake dish, cộ bánh also has a stunning presentation as a cake tower.

The cake tower is a magnificent sight, with at least seven tiers of tiny seal cakes stacked neatly on top of each other. Each cake is a perfect square, with a delicate pattern of longevity or flower embossed on its surface. 

The seal cakes and their towers are famous products of Kim Long village, a peaceful and ancient place where Lord Nguyen built his palace in the 17th century. The Kim Long villagers used to offer the cakes to the kings and lords for Tet. The village is famous for its skillful and diligent artisans, who have preserved the tradition of making seal cakes for generations. 

The cakes require a lot of patience and precision. The villagers have to cook, mix, pound and sift the mung beans until they get a fine pale yellow powder. Then they fill a square bronze mold with the powder, scrape off the excess, and press the cake firmly. They move so fast that you can barely catch a glimpse of their hands. Before you blink, the cake is already done, lying in its tray to dry with a beautiful pattern on its surface.

Once dried, the cake is wrapped in cellophane of five typical colors: red, yellow, green, purple, white. These are colors of the god flag – a traditional Vietnamese flag often flown during festivals and religious ceremonies. It represents the five elements: fire, wood, earth, metal, and water; and also reflects the harmony and balance between nature and human life. Hue people trust its meaning and believe it will bring luck and prosperity to their home.

The cake tower is a masterpiece of craftsmanship and patience. The glue holding the cakes together is made from rice flour and tapioca starch, free from chemicals. The tower builder carefully arranges seal cakes as tiny bricks, applying just the right amount of glue to keep them in place without making them soggy. The tower ascends gracefully like the Phuoc Duyen tower of Thien Mu Pagoda, a historic landmark on the banks of the Hương River. The cake tower can have as many as 20 tiers, depending on the customer’s preference and budget.

Every time the lunar year draws to a close, the wind whistles and the weather withers, I long for the traditional Tết cakes. Let’s hope that the Hue sweet delicacies for Tết will be treasured and preserved, so that people’s hearts will always cherish the delicious and delicate flavors of Hue specialties.

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