Tết is a time for family reunions, honoring ancestors, and wishing for prosperity in the year ahead. People often clean and decorate their homes, wear new clothes, prepare traditional foods, and visit family members.
Common symbols of Tết include peach blossoms (for good luck), kumquat trees (symbolizing prosperity), and red envelopes (containing money, given as gifts to children and younger people). Another popular tradition included Bánh Chưng and Bánh Dày. These square (Chưng) and round (Dày) sticky rice cakes are central to Tết meals, symbolizing the earth and heaven.
If you’ve ever stepped into the heart of a Vietnamese kitchen during Tết, the air is thick with the rich, earthy scent of sticky rice. On the eve of the Lunar New Year, the act of making Bánh Chưng and Bánh Dày—two iconic rice cakes—becomes not just a culinary tradition, but a ritual steeped in history, symbolism, and love. These humble cakes, wrapped in banana leaves, are at the heart of Vietnam's Tết celebration, embodying both the earth and the heavens. Their preparation, requiring patience and precision, is a labor of devotion that binds families together, ensuring the year ahead is filled with harmony, prosperity, and good fortune.
Georgia Asian Times witnessed the making of Bánh Chưng and Bánh Dày at The First Senior Center (FSC) in Norcross, where senior Vietnamese volunteers spend a day preparing the delicacies. FSC volunteers cook and prepare the leaves wrapping, and ingredients in a coordinated communal effort.
The Ritual of Bánh Chưng: A Square-Shaped Slice of Heaven
Bánh Chưng, the square cake, represents the Earth—the grounding force of life. According to legend, this shape was chosen to symbolize the Vietnamese understanding of the universe: square for the earth and round for the heavens. Making it is no simple feat, but it is a task handed down through generations, often passed between mother and daughter or grandmother and granddaughter, each teaching the younger how to wrap the cake with reverence and care.
Step 1: Gather the Ingredients
The foundation of Bánh Chưng is sticky rice (gạo nếp), its soft, chewy texture a nod to the earth’s nurturing nature. Alongside it, the cake’s filling consists of green beans, pork belly, and dong leaves, which impart a distinctive fragrance. The pork, fatty and rich, provides depth and balance to the cake, while the green beans add an earthy, subtly sweet flavor. For the filling, the pork is typically marinated with a little salt, pepper, and sometimes fish sauce—a nod to the umami flavors that define Vietnamese cuisine.
Step 2: Soak and Prepare
The sticky rice needs to be soaked for several hours—preferably overnight—to achieve its signature softness and sticky consistency. Meanwhile, the green beans should be cooked and mashed to a smooth paste, while the pork belly is cut into rectangular blocks, ready to nestle in the heart of the cake.
Step 3: Leaf Wrapping
Banana leaves, or more traditionally dong leaves, are cleaned and cut into large squares. These leaves are more than just functional—they’re a canvas for the symbolism of the cake itself. Wrapping the Bánh Chưng is a delicate dance: the square of rice forms the base, followed by a layer of green bean paste, a strip of marinated pork, and another layer of bean paste before being topped with sticky rice. The edges are folded up and neatly sealed, the whole parcel then wrapped tightly with more banana leaves. FSC seniors add a twist by securing the bundle with square wooden frame, while others use string, but the most important thing is that the wrap is tight enough to hold the integrity of the cake together during its long boil.
Step 4: The Boil
The wrapped cakes are then boiled for 8-12 hours, depending on the size and thickness. This lengthy cooking time ensures the flavors meld and the rice becomes perfectly sticky, with the banana leaves imparting their subtle fragrance to the entire cake. The act of boiling the Bánh Chưng is more than just a cooking process—it’s a communal event, often involving several generations sitting together, waiting and tending to the pot, exchanging stories, and reinforcing familial bonds.
The Simplicity of Bánh Dày: Round Cakes, Bound by Tradition
While Bánh Chưng is the cake of the earth, its circular counterpart, Bánh Dày, is round, symbolizing the heavens above. The making of Bánh Dày is simpler in terms of ingredients but equally profound in its symbolism. Traditionally, these cakes are served with pickled onions and sometimes a slice of pork or a dollop of fermented shrimp paste. Their dense, chewy texture is the embodiment of good fortune and prosperity.
Step 1: The Dough
The base of Bánh Dày is a mix of sticky rice flour and water, which is kneaded into a smooth, elastic dough. This dough is then shaped into small, thick discs—round to honor the heavens, but also sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of the Tết celebration.
Step 2: The Filling
The FSC seniors opt to fill the dough with a simple mung bean paste. In its most basic form, however, Bánh Dày is unfilled, and its simplicity is part of its charm. The cakes are then boiled in water until they float to the surface, a sign that they’re ready.
Step 3: Serving
Once cooked, the Bánh Dày cakes are drained and set aside to cool. Often, they are served with pickled onions, their tangy crunch providing a perfect counterpoint to the dense, starchy cake. In some regions, Bánh Dày is cut into smaller pieces and served with sweetened condensed milk or coconut milk for a richer, dessert-like experience.
The Heart of the Celebration
Making Bánh Chưng and Bánh Dày is not just about the food—it’s about marking the passage of time and the continuation of Vietnamese family traditions. The act of wrapping and boiling the rice cakes is often done with the whole family, a shared labor of love. It is in these kitchens, filled with the warmth of fire and family, that the true spirit of Tết is found.
For those who are not familiar with these cakes, the first bite is nothing short of revelatory. The soft, sticky rice with its slightly nutty sweetness; the rich, savory pork belly; the delicate, earthy taste of the beans and leaves—it all comes together in a single bite that encapsulates the balance of nature, the unity of family, and the promise of the year ahead.
In a way, the making of these cakes reminds us that food is never just about sustenance. It’s about memory, about continuity, and about the deep ties that bind us to each other—and to the earth itself. Whether you’re wrapping your first Bánh Chưng or your hundredth, you’re partaking in something much greater than just a meal. You’re making history. You’re making love. You’re making home.
Special Thanks and Appreciation to Ms. Von Tran and the Seniors @ FSC Healthcare
