Because it is used to wrap with bamboo leaves, it is called pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves (Bánh ú lá tre). This is a kind of folk cake, attached for a long time to the people of the Southern river region. This type of cake is most often made on the occasion of the Doan Ngo Festival (May 5th of the lunar calendar) every year.
Bánh ú lá tre - Pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves. Photo: Huynh Lam.
Usually, a bamboo leaf pyramidal glutinous rice cake is wrapped with 2 types of leaves: banana leaves and bamboo leaves. However, a bamboo leaf pyramidal glutinous rice cake has richer color and flavor, more delicious than a banana leaf rice cake.
Bamboo leaves are used to wrap cakes. Photo: Huynh Lam.
To pack bamboo leaf pyramidal glutinous rice cakes to be tough, flexible, delicious, and quality, people often use sticky rice, not to be mixed with other types of rice. If mixed with other types of rice, the sticky rice will not be chewy, flexible and the cake will not be delicious. Before wrapping, sticky rice must be washed, soaked overnight with ash water. Glutinous rice is then taken out and swished (re-washed, rinsed again) with clean water, then left to dry.
Glutinous rice is swept clean to wrap the cake. Photo: Huynh Lam.
The filling of Pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves is usually made of green beans and eggplant (green beans are separated and peeled) that are boiled, pounded, fried with sugar, salt, seasoning, and rolled into small balls. In many places, people also pack bamboo leaf pyramidal glutinous rice cakes coconut filling (coconut has just begun to dry) stir-fried with granulated sugar or fatty meat, etc.
Wrapping the cake. Photo: Huynh Lam.
Bamboo leaves are used to wrap cakes, usually, people use strong bamboo leaves, fat bamboo. This type of bamboo leaves is usually larger than other types of bamboo leaves. After boiling, the cake is green in color and has a rich aroma.
Wrapping bamboo leaf pyramidal glutinous rice cakes requires skillful hands. Photo: Huynh Lam.
Before wrapping, bamboo leaves must be washed, dried to slightly wilted, so that the leaves are soft, not torn, and easy to wrap. When wrapping, put 2 bamboo leaves together to form a small funnel, add sticky rice, fill it, and then wrap it up to form a triangle, but it must have 4 corners and then tie it with bamboo rope.
Pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves is usually boiled for about 3 hours to be cooked. Photo: Huynh Lam.
When tying the cake, do not tie it too tight or too loose. Because if tied tightly, when boiled until the sticky rice blooms, it will spill out of the shell and, if tied loosely, the cake will be pasty and tasteless. After tying, the cake will be tied into bunches and then put into the boiling pot. After boiling cakes for about 3 hours, they will be cooked, taken out, washed with cold water, and drained to be eaten.
After boiling, the cake is taken out and washed with cold water. Photo: Huynh Lam.
People in Ca Mau, the South, often pack pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves to eat at leisure time, after the rice harvest season. In which, the most popular is on the occasion of the Doan Ngo Festival (May 5th of the lunar calendar) every year. This Festival, people often call the Tet holiday, killing insects it (Tet Giet Sau Bo) that harm crops, contributing to crop protection.
After boiling, pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves are hung up to drain. Photo: Huynh Lam.
Pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves is one of the folk cakes, made entirely by hand, by skillful human hands. The cake does not use chemicals or food processing additives, so it is very safe for human health. Pyramid-shaped cake wrapped in bamboo leaves often has the toughness of sticky rice, the fleshy taste of beans, and the strong aroma of bamboo leaves. Today, on the market, although there are many types of cakes produced on an industrial scale, the traditional folk cake, the bamboo leaf pyramidal glutinous rice cake, always retains the “rich flavor” in the hearts of the people of the South.