Chung cake is one of the familiar dishes on the Tet holiday table. This is not only a delicious dish, but also an offering to ancestors and deities, showing gratitude and respect.
1. Ingredients for making chung cake
– Sticky rice: 1kg
– Delicious pork belly: 500 grams
– Peeled green beans: 750 grams
– Dong leaves, reed leaves
– Seasonings: Salt, ground pepper
2. How to make chung cake
Step 1: Prepare ingredients
– Soak the cleaned green beans in water overnight. Then drain with clean water.
– Clean the pork belly, slice it into long pieces for eating, and marinate it with a little salt, MSG, and ground pepper for a rich flavor.
– Rinse the dong leaves and wipe them dry with a soft cloth or clean paper.
Step 2: Soak sticky rice
– After buying sticky rice, remove the broken and moldy grains, then rinse it thoroughly. Then soak it overnight or at least 4 hours if you don’t have time.
– Rinse the reed leaves and grind them to extract the essential juice. Then pour the reed leaf juice and a little salt into the soaked sticky rice to make the cake more colorful.
Step 3: Wrap chung cake
– To make the chung cake square and beautiful, you can use a mold to wrap the cake.
– After arranging the dong leaves in the mold, spread a layer of sticky rice at the bottom and then put the green beans and pork on top.
– Then add another layer of green beans and cover it with sticky rice on top. You need to spread the sticky rice evenly over the surface of the cake to prevent the beans from leaking out.
– Fold the dong leaves and tie the cake with strings. Because the sticky rice can expand and the cake can swell when boiled, you should not wrap it too tightly.
Step 4: Boil chung cake
– Place the excess leaf part of the cake at the bottom of the pot and place the cake inside. Then pour water to cover the cake and add more water to boil.
– Depending on the quantity and size of the cake, the cooking time for each pot of chung cake will vary. However, according to experienced people, you should boil the chung cake for about 1 day so that the cake swells evenly and the rice does not get stuck when stored for a long time.
Step 5: Remove the cake and enjoy
– When the chung cake is cooked, you can remove the cake and soak it in cold water.
– After cleaning the cake, you should arrange them in a dry place and weigh them down with heavy objects. This will press out the water in the cake, making it soft instead of soggy.
After boiling, you can store chung cakes in cool, dry places. If the weather is hot, you should put the cake in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage and mold. With this method of making chung cakes, you will have delicious, fragrant, and non-spoiled cakes.
3. Notes when wrapping chung cake
– When wrapping sticky rice, avoid stirring the rice too much as it may cause the rice grains to break and the cake to lose its taste and appearance.
– When buying reed leaves, you should choose old leaves and remember that the darker the reed leaf juice, the greener the cake will be.
– When boiling chung cake, prepare boiling water to add immediately to the pot when the water runs out. During cooking, turn the cake over to ensure that each cake is cooked evenly.
– Depending on your preference and taste, you can eat chung cake with pickles, salted onions… as a side dish.