Exquisite Banh Day Pounding Festival in Mu Cang Chai

Mu Cang Chai district held a festival of pounding Banh Day on the morning of January 1, as part of activities to celebrate the new year and the event of receiving the Certificate of Ranking Mu Cang Chai Terraced Fields as a Special National Site and the certificate that "New Rice Celebration of the H'mong people in Mu Cang Chai District, Yen Bai province" is a national intangible cultural heritage.

As part of the celebrations for the local delicacy, the 'Banh Day' pounding festival was held between January 1–3 in the mountainous district of Mu Cang Chai in the northern province of Yen Bai. Photo: Vietnamnet

The Mu Cang Chai banh day pounding festival will take place from the morning of January 1 to January 3, 2021 at the central stage of Mu Cang Chai district. Photo: Vietnamnet

A pounding competition to make Banh Day, a type of round-shaped rice cake, serves as the main activity of the festival, drawing the participation of 26 teams from across Mu Cang Chai mountainous district. The first-ever event has captured the attention of plenty of local people and tourists in attendance.

Photo: Vietnamnet

For the Kinh, Vietnam's most populous ethnic group, Banh Chung has the round and square shape that represents the moon and the sun - the totality. Banh Day, on the other hand, is a type of cake that symbolizes the love and fidelity of H'mong couples. It also signifies the moon and the sun, which are all sources of energy.

Green beans are one of the key ingredients in making this delicious cake. The beans are grown locally on terraced fields in Yen Bai Province. Photo: VOV

The H'Mong people's traditional Banh Day is cooked from aromatic upland sticky rice. The glutinous rice that is chosen must be pure upland sticky rice. Because sticky rice for Banh Day is pounded by hand, the temperature must be high enough when it is dried so that the rice grains do not break when ground, preserving the exquisite flavor. For the cake, aroma and flexibility are important.

Photo: Vietnamnet

Sticky rice is then washed, soaked in spring water for 2 to 3 hours, then taken out to drain and then put in a pot to store sticky rice. The mortar for pounding Banh Day is made of a solid, fine-grained wooden trunk and hollowed out like a canoe.

Pounding rice represents the most important step toward making a delicious cake.. Photo: Vietnamnet

When it is hot, it must be pounded fast to make it smooth; when it is cold, it is difficult to do; and the pounder must be strong and skillful.

Photo: Vietnamnet

The festival also serves as a way to express gratitude to the gods and ancestors after a year of good weather, happiness, and wealth. Photo: Vietnamnet

Photo: Vietnamnet

They squeeze them into handfuls to put them in the bowl after crushing them very finely, then form them into flat, cupped round shapes using deft and precise hands, usually of a woman, and place them in a bowl wrapped in fresh dong leaves. To keep the cakes from sticking together, use green banana leaves.

H'Mong mold their cakes. Photo: Vietnamnet

Photo: Vietnamnet

When visiting Mu Cang Chai, visitors must try the specialty of honey-dipped Banh Day. This is a style of having fun that no one can forget about the Mong people's Banh Day specialty. When a stranger or a relative comes to visit the H'Mong people in Mu Cang Chai on New Year's Day, there are gifts of Banh Day to carry home, despite the fact that every house is pounded for Tet, it is the heart of the owner. Wishing the recipient a prosperous and joyful new year, as well as good business.

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