Banh tet la cam – a delta classic
Instead of using gac fruit (cochinchina momordica seed) and pineapple leaves, now many people in the Mekong Delta use cam leaves to dye noodles or rice to make banh tet la cam (glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and fat pork and covered by cam leaves). Cam leaves grow on cam trees in the delta; they are about 40-50cm high and have purple flowers.
Banh tet is often prepared for traditional ceremonies, festivals or Tet holidays. To make banh tet la cam, you have to choose good-quality and fragrant glutinous rice. Then you cut fresh cam leaves, clean them and boil them well to make the water purple. The rice will be cleaned up then fried with salt, sugar and coconut flesh then continue to be fried with cam leaves in the purple water.
It is up to you whether you want to eat the dish sweet or salted; the stuffing of the cake can be made with green beans, banana or pork, dried shrimps and eggs. To cover the cake, you use banana leaves. Stretch the banana leaves then put in the green bean paste, pork and other stuffing then more green bean paste and finally rice. Roll the leaves and use bamboo string to tie it together.
You boil it for about six hours then you can enjoy the glutinous taste of rice, flavor of cam and banana leaves as well as the sweetness of green beans and mixed spices of stuffing. Diners will be attracted by the colors of the cake with purple rice in the outside layer, green beans in the second layer and the red of egg in center.
The cake will be more delicious when served with pickled vegetables and pickled scallion heads.Coming to the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, tourists can buy the cake at Minh Tan shop, 44 Tan Trao District in Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City. The shop also sells many delta specialties.
(Source: SGT)
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