How to

How to beautifully wrap Tet cake with three colors or five colors just like in the store

Tri-coloured and multi-coloured sticky rice cakes are gaining popularity among many people during the traditional Lunar New Year instead of the traditional sticky rice cakes. Today, we will guide you on how to pack these beautiful tri-coloured and multi-coloured sticky rice cakes, just as stunning as those from the bakery.

Administrator

22 January, 2024

If you are a child born and raised in the Southern region, you surely cannot miss the traditional cake – a must-have for every family on the occasion of ….

One of the types of sticky rice cake that has been increasingly popular in recent years is the three-color sticky rice cake and the five-color sticky rice cake. Learn how to make this special sticky rice cake with the simple recipe below and see what makes it different from the traditional one.

1 The origin of the three-color and five-color sticky rice cake?

According to folklore, the origin of the name “bánh tét” started from “bánh tết”. However, due to the regional nature, many places have read “bánh tết” as “bánh tét”. Many people also believe that the action of “tét” (squeezing) this cake into small rolls has created a name for itself.

As a dish developed from the traditional sticky rice cake, the five-color sticky rice cake represents the 5 characteristic colors of the Five Elements, including Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

2 The meaning of the three-color and five-color sticky rice cake?

According to the Lunar New Year customs of the people in the South, on the night of New Year’s Eve, the whole family will stay up together, gathering around the warm atmosphere of the sticky rice cake pot. The family will enjoy the sacred moment when stepping into the new year together.

The three-color and five-color sticky rice cakes are wrapped in many layers of banana leaves, resembling a mother embracing her child. The vibrant and diverse colors of the cake’s filling blend together to create an image of the family gathering and reuniting in a warm atmosphere during the spring days.

Not only that, many people believe that a colorful and eye-catching sticky rice cake will bring the family a new year full of prosperity, fortune, and luck.

3 How to wrap the three-color and five-color sticky rice cakes

Both the three-color and five-color sticky rice cakes have multiple colors and special meanings during the Lunar New Year. In the next section, we will guide you on how to make the five-color sticky rice cake to bring more success and prosperity in the new year.

Ingredients

3kg of glutinous rice
1 bundle of purple leaves
1 bundle of pandan leaves
1 ripe gấc fruit
1kg of pork belly
1kg of pork loin
100g of purple onion
Seasonings: salt, sugar, fish sauce, pepper, mushroom seasoning, white wine…
Banana leaves, string (or nylon string)

Step 1: Preparing the glutinous rice

First, you prepare about 3kg of glutinous rice, wash and rinse the rice several times. After rinsing until the water is clear, let the rice soak for a while.

During that time, you can prepare the colored water. First, you wash the purple leaves and pandan leaves, then grind and squeeze the juice. Make two separate cups of colored water. Next, you mix about 10 gấc seeds with a little white wine. To make the gấc color faster, soak the gấc in wine for about 2 hours and squeeze it well.

You divide the rice into four equal parts. For the first part, you keep it white. For the remaining parts, you mix each part evenly with the purple leaf extract, pandan leaf extract, and ripe gấc extract that have been prepared. Let them soak for about 5-6 hours.

Step 2: Preparing the mung beans and pork

The yellow color of mung beans is the fifth color of the five-color sticky rice cake. Mung beans are one of the main ingredients that make the cake fragrant and delicious. However, to save cooking time, you should buy peeled mung beans and soak them for 4 hours.

After soaking, add some salt to the mung beans and cook until tender. Then, mash the mung beans until smooth and fine. Stir-fry some purple onion with cooking oil, then stir-fry the mung beans until dry and smooth.

After cleaning the pork, cut the pork lengthwise with a thickness of about 1-2cm. Marinate the pork with 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of mushroom seasoning, 1 teaspoon of salt, and some minced green onion. Let it marinate for about 1-2 hours.

Step 3: Wrapping the cake

The first step of the wrapping process is to make the cake filling. Place the mung beans on a separate surface and flatten them with your hands. Then, place the marinated pork on top. Roll it tightly so that the mung beans cover the pork completely.

Place 2 clean and dry banana leaves on a flat surface, arranged in the same direction. Then, continue to place another 2 banana leaves in the opposite direction, with the prominent side facing up.

Next, scoop 2 tablespoons of white glutinous rice on top, use your hands to shape it into a rectangular block. Do the same with the pandan-colored, gấc-colored, and purple-colored glutinous rice. Arrange the rice blocks close to each other to form a square with four colors on the banana leaf surface.

Then, place the pork and mung bean filling on top, and tightly wrap the cake with your hands. After rolling, press the cake firmly at the end and secure the body of the cake with soft string or nylon string.

Step 4: Boiling the cake

Once the cakes are wrapped, you can place them in a pot. To make the cakes tastier and avoid burning, you should place a layer of dong leaves or banana leaves on the bottom of the pot before putting the cakes in to boil.

Add enough water to the pot. Typically, it takes about 8 hours to cook the cakes.

4 How to store sticky rice cakes

When the sticky rice cakes are freshly cooked and still hot, you should hang them in a cool place and wait for them to cool down. The steamed cakes will spoil quickly, so you should not store them in a closed cabinet.

Normally, you can store the sticky rice cakes for about 2-3 days when hung in a cool place. If you want to store them for a longer period of time, you can also put them in the refrigerator, and when you want to eat them, steam or fry them again. They will still be crispy and delicious.

Derived from spiritual meanings, these three-color and five-color sticky rice cakes are symbols of wealth, fortune, and prosperity in the first few days of the new year. These sticky rice cakes on Tet day promise to be a creative and innovative variation of the traditional sticky rice cakes in your family. Wishing you success with the sharing from Bach Hoa Xanh!