(VOVworld) – The Mong people consider banh day, a kind of sticky rice cake, to be a symbol of the sun and the moon, which are the origin and vitality of humans and every thing on earth. The Mong people in Na Tau commune, Dien Bien province, make these sticky rice cakes during the New Year Festival, Tet, and after the harvest.
Giang A Cho cheerfully told us that the Na Tau boys and girls won first prize in the sticky rice cake contest at the Cultural Festival of ethnic groups in Dien Bien province. He said the Na Tau hamlet team has won the prize several times, but are happy each time. Cho talked to VOV about the Mong tradition of making sticky rice cakes. “Our parents did not tell us, but when we were growing up we knew that making sticky rice cake is our custom. We soak rice in water, cook and pound the rice to make sticky rice paste. People old and young like sticky rice cake. We can preserve the cake for a month. When the cake hardens, we fry it to make a crisp cake.”
To make sticky rice cake, they pound rice to make a fine sticky paste, shape round cakes, and wrap them in fresh “dong” leaves. The Mong people bring the rice cake with them to eat when they work in their terraced fields. They make the rice cake as an offering to their ancestors. Cho again: “We make sticky rice cake to worship our ancestors and invite them to reunite with the family at Tet or on their death anniversaries. We place a big cake on a flat basket and put it on the altar. The living eat rice cake, and we worship the dead with rice cake.”
The Mong people prepare rice and pound the paste in the final days of the old year. The thud, thud, thud sound echos everywhere and the aroma of sticky rice pervades the air.
Giang Thi Khia, a member of the Na Tau hamlet team, told us it takes one day to finish a batch of rice cakes. “Good rice makes good cakes. We choose violet or white glutinous rice with uniform seeds. We soak the rice in water for half a day and steam it for one hour until it is sticky. We pound the hot steamed rice with roasted sesame. We use boiled egg yolks to rub our hands and tools when we shape the cakes. If we pound the rice while it is cooling down, the paste will not be smooth and the cakes will be crunchy.”
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Na Tau hamlet has 4 teams who are often invited to demonstrate making sticky rice at festivals. The strong boys carry the mortars and pound the rice. The clever girls shape the cakes. Vang A Thang is on the team. ““Our team soaked rice last night and pounded it this morning for 10 to 15 minutes. We have to pound it regularly to make a smooth paste. The boys pound the rice and the girls shape the cakes. It’s very tiring. But we are happy because we won. We have attended many festivals. We make rice cake regularly, but we make more cakes at Tet.”