Vietnamese people celebrate Cold Foods Festival

Bánh trôi (Rice ball sugar cake) and Bánh chay (Rice ball bean cake) are the main dishes family prepare to place on the altar to express their gratitude and respect to ancestors.

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As it takes time to make these cakes, families choose to buy them in village shops. To make the cakes, people prepare ingredients, including sticky rice powder, green bean, brown sugar cubes, sesame seeds, shredded coconut and ginger.

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“The demand for ready-made cakes often increases this day, my wife and I get up at 2am to make the cakes for sale,” says Dat, a baker at Ha Dong market in Hanoi.

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The kneading process requires skills so that the flour is neither too dry nor too wet, creating the softness of the cake.

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Rice ball sugar cakes are shaped into small balls of a longan size with a brown sugar cube inside, while rice ball bean cakes are flattened, stuffed with sweetened green bean.

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The cakes will be then put into a pot of boiling water.

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At the beginning, the cakes sink to the bottom of the pot. When they are cooked, they will gradually float to the surface of the water. The baker will then pick them up and put them in a basin of cold water.

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The cold water can help prevent the cakes from being crushed and sticking to each other when placed on the plate.

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The baker will then sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the cake to make the dish more tempting.

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Dat says he is busy from morning to evening on the first three days of the third lunar month preparing the cakes, but the third day is the busiest.

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A rice ball sugar cake dish costs between VND10,000 – 15,000 depending on the size, while a bowl of the rice ball bean cake with shredded coconut on top costs VND15,000.