Tet Banh Chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake)

Banh chung is an indispensable traditional dish during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, expressing gratitude to ancestors and the heavens.

The square-shaped cake, wrapped in dong leaves, has a filling made from fragrant glutinous rice, creamy mung beans, and fatty pork belly, symbolizing the earth, abundance, and long-standing culinary culture.

Symbolizes the earth (according to Eastern beliefs), representing longevity, prosperity, and filial piety.

Ingredients include Glutinous rice, mung beans, pork, dong leaves, and spices (pepper, salt)

The cake is square shape, green color of dong leaves, a blend of mung bean and fatty pork filling, served with pickled onions.

The custom of wrapping and watching over the fire while cooking banh chung is a distinctive cultural feature of Vietnamese families during Tet.

Besides the traditional banh chung, there is also the cylindrical banh chung, a specialty of the Northwest mountainous region, Ha Giang.

Banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake) is often placed on the five-fruit platter and offered to the ancestral altar during the New Year