On the night of the Lantern Festival, there is a full moon in the sky, and on earth, there is a tray of offerings filled with the sincerity of the host. Everything is in harmony in the pure light of creation. Therefore, the rituals during the Lantern Festival are solemn, not inferior to any other rituals.

Delicious food

For a long time, the full moon of January has been considered the biggest and most important full moon day of the year. Many people take great care in preparing delicious dishes for the full moon offering tray in January.

Apart from other cakes and fruits for a full feast, banh troi is the simplest yet most solemn dish. The smooth, round banh troi balls embrace the soft bean filling inside; hidden in a light brown sugar water with a fragrant ginger scent, and a bit of thick, fatty coconut milk...

The wish for a new year of smooth, successful work, family peace, and reunion of children and parents… are all entrusted to those beautiful floating balls. Under the bright moonlight of the full moon night of January, people always give each other the best things.

The origin of Vietnamese banh troi comes from banh thang vien, also known as Chinese Nguyen Tieu cake, because it is often offered on the Lantern Festival. This cake originated in ancient China, and was later widely circulated and popularized in Asian countries, including Vietnam.

There are two different types of Vietnamese banh troi: banh troi for the Han Thuc festival in the North and che troi nuoc in the South. Although the way to make banh troi in both regions is somewhat similar, the way to present the dish is different in each region.

Banh troi for Han Thuc are usually glutinous rice balls just bigger than a fingertip, arranged side by side on a plate, sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds, with little or no sugar water. Southern Che Troi Nuoc are large balls of rice flour, filled with mung bean paste.

The dumplings look so harmonious with the ginger syrup, showing off their full beauty in the bowl. On top, people add a few strands of shredded coconut and a spoonful of coconut milk to reduce the rich sweetness of the tea. The color of the old sticky rice flour turns to ivory, but the dough coating is carefully kneaded to create a smooth and shiny surface, captivating the eyes.

Longstanding culinary culture

Over time, the Southern banh troi dish has gradually been transformed in the way it is prepared to be more eye-catching, mainly by “coloring” the shell: banh troi gac, banh troi thanh long, banh troi la pandan, tra xanh… But basically, it is still a banh troi dish based on a long-standing culinary culture.

Some traditional dishes have more or less disappeared, but with this meaningful cake, every time there is a Lantern Festival or the day of sending the Kitchen Gods to heaven, or the Doan Ngo Festival, it is seen bustlingly on the offering tray.

Enjoying the fragrant and chewy rice balls is not only with the wish for everything to be perfect. The dish also brings the taste buds back to the roots of the pure and rustic cake. I remember what my mother said: “The roundness or deformity of the rice balls partly reflects the mood of the person who makes them. Who can make a round rice ball when their heart is full of anxiety and sadness?”

So, just one dish but it packs so many things in it. Until now, I still don't understand how my mother, with each ball of dough that was not even enough to fill her palm, could knead it into evenly sized balls of rice dumplings as if it were made by machine.

Perhaps it is not only because of making it so often that one gets used to it, without having to weigh and measure, one can still estimate and guess “like a god”, but also because my mother makes this dish with all her heart. Just by looking at the round or misshapen dumplings, one can tell whether the person making it is sincere or indifferent. The ancients said it right: “Where the heart is, there is the result”.