For the Mong people, Banh Giay is not simply a dish but also a beautiful culinary culture in their lives. The Mong people often pound Banh Giay to eat and use as offerings and gifts.

Video: Go to Quan Son highland to watch Mong people pounding rice cakes to celebrate Tet.

Within the framework of the program "Happy Spring in Mong Village - Warming the hearts of the villagers" recently held by Quan Son mountainous district. At the cultural house of Mua Xuan village, the villagers organized a rice cake pounding competition, attracting the participation of many people from 3 Mong villages: Che Lau (Na Meo commune), Xia Noi, and Mua Xuan (Son Thuy commune).

Most of the contestants wore their traditional costumes during the competition. Within a specified time, the teams had to complete the rice cake that met the requirements of size, quality and aesthetics.

Each team must prepare themselves from choosing ingredients, sticky rice, pounding tools and pounders must also be carefully selected and trained many times before the competition.

Pounding rice cakes requires a lot of effort. Usually, this step is done by men. Each pounding session involves two people, their nimble arms moving the pestle up and down to soften each grain of sticky rice.

Amidst the cheers and encouragement of the audience, the teams quickly pounded, stirred and shaped the cakes, creating an extremely exciting atmosphere.

According to the contestants, the rice cake must be pounded quickly. If the sticky rice is left to cool, the cake will not be smooth and will not taste good. The more thoroughly pounded, the stickier it will be, creating a smooth, white, sticky dough.

After the cake is pounded thoroughly, the women will shape the cake. They must use egg yolk to rub on the surface of the tray to prevent the cake from sticking to their hands and to increase the richness of the cake.

Banh giay must meet the standards of deliciousness, smoothness, softness, roundness, beautiful presentation and shortest time.

Then, the cake is placed on banana leaves that have been heated to make it fragrant so as not to lose the flavor of the sticky rice. All of these combine to create the traditional sticky rice cake, a specialty of the Mong people in the mountainous district of Quan Son.

After completing all the steps, the rice cakes were both beautiful and delicious while ensuring food hygiene and safety. The judges evaluated and awarded prizes to the 3 competing teams.

The rice cake pounding competition in Mong village, Quan Son highland district took place in a fun way, attracting many local people and tourists to participate in the experience and exploration. The competition demonstrated the love of labor, the spirit of solidarity, and the efforts of the people in preserving and promoting the national cultural identity.

Visitors enjoy the cake after the competition. The cake can be eaten immediately, or cut into small pieces and grilled in a charcoal stove for about 10 - 15 minutes. The cake is soft and has a puffy texture, with the characteristic flavor of upland sticky rice.

Banh giay is not only a symbol of love and loyalty between Mong men and women, but also a cake symbolizing the moon and the sun, the origin of humans and all things on earth. Banh giay is not only a traditional dish offered to ancestors, heaven and earth, but also a specialty served to guests during Tet and spring of the Mong people here.

Hoang Dong - Hoang Phuong