Legend has it that in the old days, ‘cay’ cake was made by Nguyen Thi Tan, a daughter of the Nguyen Cong clan, and served only during the lunar New Year. Lady Tan was born in 1724 and was ordained as a mandarin in 1739. She created a new cake with five spices to offer to the King who later named the cake “cay” because it is the colour of a fiddler crab’s egg.

Visitors to Nguyen or Nguyen Xa village, in Dong Hung district, Thai Binh province are always invited to eat ‘cay’ cake.

Since then, the Nguyen villagers have made “cay” cake to offer to the King during Tet. The craft of making “cay” cake has been handed down through generations in Nguyen village.

To make a delicious ‘cay’ cake, we need to select the best glutinous rice. We then fry the rice. The cooking and the mixing techniques are very important. While making cake, we need to pay attention to the fire to prevent the cake from getting too wet and crushed. We need to mix the “fiddler crab” paste into the boiling sugar at the right time to get the right taste.

After cooking, all the ingredients are pressed in a mould and cut into pieces. Packing “fiddler crab” paste into a nylon bag for 6 months before using it to make cake will make the cake more delicious. The paste is fried in pork fat until it rises and becomes slightly soft.

An accidental dish makes Hanoi summer evenings memorable

Pho cuon, a roll conjured up by a quick thinker, goes great with beer and the Truc Bach Lake breeze.

CNN lists top five must-try dishes for foreigners to try in Hanoi

The Cable News Network (CNN) has recently recommended five must-try dishes for foreign visitors on the streets of Hanoi, besides bun cha and world-famous pho.

Looking for new options for lunch, try these dishes in central Saigon

No need to travel far, you can find steamed rice pancakes, pig’s offal porridge and Vietnamese crab udon right in District 1.

Nghe An’s 50 eel dishes establish Vietnam record

A programme on processing and performing 50 dishes from eel, which is the highlight of the International Tourism Gastronomy Culture Festival - Nghe An 2019, was recognised in the Vietnam Book of Records, on July 18.

Pickled mustard greens – a popular side dish of Vietnamese people

“Dua muoi” (pickled mustard greens) is a popular side dish for Vietnamese people all over the country.

Source: VOV