Sandwich shop goodies 3 – Bánh ú tro (Vietnamese-adapted jianshui zong)
It’s been two weeks, but better late than never. After I read Jessica’s zong zi post on Food Mayhem, images of amber tedrahedra just wouldn’t leave me alone. I talked to my mom about them, and I could hear her voice crackle with sweet memories over the phone. We haven’t had these sweet little things for years. We used to eat them by the dozens every lunar May. Like most Saigonese, we didn’t do anything huge to celebrate Tet Doan Ngo, but bánh ú tro was too scrumptious a tradition to pass.
Each pyramid is just a little over an inch tall, whichever way you roll it. It’s unclear whether the traditional zongzi grew smaller when Chinese immigrants share the recipe with their Vietnamese neighbors, or only the dessert zongzi (jianshui zong) is favored by the locals over savory types. Most Vietnamese have also long dissociated this sticky rice snack with the Chinese reason behind Duanwu festival, if not to assign the Fifth of Lunar May to commemorate the death anniversary of Vietnam’s legendary Mother Âu Cơ, kill off bad bugs, make ceremonial offerings to family ancestors, or simply bathe in the summer solstice’s endless sunlight. Whatever meaning someone chooses to celebrate (or not celebrate) Duanwu (Đoan Ngọ in the Vietnamese language), he can enjoy bánh ú tro all the same. And if he lives in Hội An, there’s a big chance he actually participates in making them too.
The people of Hoi An don’t make a living with bánh ú tro year round, but they keep the tradition with earnest. Within four days, 1st-4th of lunar May, everybody makes bánh ú tro. The fifth day, everybody eats bánh ú tro. The sixth day, things get back to normal. In Saigon’s markets, bánh ú tro start showing up a week or two before the Fifth, and disappear right after, my mom recalled. So when I told her that I was going to search for them after I read Jessica’s post, she said “fat chance”.
Why such rarity? After all, bánh bía, also adapted from the Chinese and also originally made just for one specific festival, shines its face all year long in every bakery and sandwich shop these days. Well, the recipe for bánh ú tro turns out to be real hard, and it’s not just the wrapping stage. The best bánh ú tro, according to Hoi An banh makers, must be wrapped with “kè” leaves from the mountains of Huế. The cleanly washed sticky rice is soaked in sesame ash water overnight (sesame plant burnt into ashes, mixed with water and sifted through sand). The ash water turns sticky rice grains into semi-powder form, giving bánh ú tro a clear amber look and a strangely light texture, unlike any other sticky rice concoctions. No wonder “ash” (tro) is part of the banh’s definitive name. (If you look at jianshui zong recipes, you’ll find lye water or alkaline water listed. More correct terms perhaps, but the horrid image on Wikipedia’s page on lye takes away my appetite. “Ash” even has a romantic ring to it, and this banh is made for a poet after all.) A bit of alum is put in the ash water to somehow keep each banh from falling apart.
Now of course sesame plants aren’t growing in everyone’s backyard to burn, so just any coal ash would do, as long as you sift the ash water carefully to avoid big pieces of charcoal in your sticky rice. Some different source suggests ash from mangrove firewood, dissolved in water for a month, but it seems to be just another grandmother’s special recipe varying by the regions. After soaking the rice for 1-3 nights, take it out and wash with cold water again.
The wrapping leaves, too, vary from place to place. Kè leaf is obviously not the most popular, as bamboo leaf and reed leaf, in their slender shape and earthy fragrance, do the job just as well. Banana leaves can be cut into wide strips to imitate bamboo leaves. Skilled banh makers can also control the colors: older leaves give darker hues, substituting ash with white lime paste(*) lets bánh ú tro have the natural green shades from the leaves, while red lime paste causes a reddish amber shine.
Nonetheless, there exists a common wisdom regardless of ingredients: burn an incense stick when you drop the banh into water for boiling, when the incense burns out, the banh is done. Usually that takes four hours.
Let cool, bánh ú tro is more firm than chewy. There you can still see silhouettes of individual grains on the outside, but each banh is a solid tedrahedron of defined edges and uniform texture. It unwraps easily, parallel thread marks of bamboo leaf veins imprint on the smooth and fulfilling surfaces. It’s hardly sticky, unlike bánh ít and bánh dầy (also made from sticky rice). And it’s light. The banh’s are tied together in bundles of ten, and I can eat all ten in one sitting. (I can hardly finish one bánh ít in one sitting.) Funny, “ít” means “small in quantity”, and “ú” means “chubby”.
The traditional bánh ú tro of the North and Central Vietnam is just that, a plain chunk, good by itself to some and must be accompanied by honey or sugar to others. Then with time it got a sweetened red bean paste filling. Then a sweetened mung bean paste filling. Then a sweetened grated coconut filling. I grew up eating the red bean kind every year and thought it was the only kind. So I jumped at the first bunch I saw at Kim’s Sandwiches last Sunday, twelve days after the Fifth of Lunar May. The bunch was tied together by green nylon strings. I hurried home, unwrapped, took a bite. My mom called.
– Mom, I found them!
– Really?!?! How are they?
– Good, but why’s there no bean paste?!
Should’ve gotten the red string bunch instead.
———————————————————————-
Bánh ú tro ($3.75/10 pieces) from Kim’s Sandwiches
(in the Lion Supermarket area)
1816 Tully Rd 182, San Jose, CA 95111
(408) 270-8903
(*) Lime paste is used to eat with betel leaves and areca nuts.
Click here for a recipe of bánh ú tro (Vietnamese zong zi)
———————————————————————–
Previously on Sandwich Shop Goodies: bánh bía (Vietnamese adapted Suzhou mooncake)
Next on Sandwich Shop Goodies: corn xôi
I just could not leave your web site prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the usual info an individual provide on your visitors? Is going to be back continuously to check up on new posts.
1Loving the info on this site, you have done great job on the articles.
2I’ve read several just right stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how a lot attempt you set to create such a magnificent informative web site.
3hey there and thank you for your information – I have definitely picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this website, as I experienced to reload the website a lot of times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for much more of your respective intriguing content. Make sure you update this again soon..
4It’s actually a cool and useful piece of info. I’m satisfied that you simply shared this useful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
5Perfect work you have done, this site is really cool with wonderful info .
6I like this web blog very much, Its a real nice post to read and get information.
7I got what you intend, thankyou for posting.Woh I am delighted to find this website through google.
8Its superb as your other posts : D, thanks for posting.
9Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your site. You have some really great posts and I feel I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an email if interested. Thanks!
10Appreciate it for helping out, excellent info. “Hope is the denial of reality.” by Margaret Weis.
11Superb blog you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics discussed in this article? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get feedback from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Cheers!
12Outstanding post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Cheers!
13You are a very bright individual!
14I have recently started a website, the information you provide on this website has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work.
15Some really nice and utilitarian info on this website , also I believe the design has got fantastic features.
16I believe this web site has got very great written subject material posts.
17I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.
18I am lucky that I found this web blog, exactly the right info that I was looking for! .
19This really answered my problem, thank you!
20I’ve learn several good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how a lot attempt you set to make the sort of wonderful informative site.
21I have been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts in this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this website. Studying this information So i’m happy to show that I have an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most for sure will make certain to don’t fail to remember this site and provides it a look regularly.
22Just wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is simply excellent and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.
23Hello I am so glad I found your website, I really found you by mistake, while I was browsing on Bing for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a incredible post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the moment but I have saved it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the superb job.
24Some truly great info , Glad I discovered this.
25Terrific post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Appreciate it!
26제주 노래방은 매장마다 이용 방식이 다를 수 있어 원하는 분위기와 비용 구성을 먼저 확인하는 게 좋겠습니다. 관련 내용은 제주노래방 안내에서 참고할 수 있습니다.
27예약할 때 날짜와 인원, 도착 시간을 미리 정리해서 전달하면 조건을 확인하기 편합니다. 제주 가라오케 예약 전 체크사항도 함께 참고해 보세요.
28Hello, i think that i noticed you visited my weblog thus i got here to “return the choose”.I’m trying to to find things to enhance my web site!I suppose its ok to make use of some of your ideas!!
29Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored at work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break. I love the information you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, wonderful site!
30Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing some research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!
31Normally I don’t read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do it! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thanks, quite nice article.
32Very interesting topic, thanks for posting. “Ok. Sex is fine. Sex is good. Sex is GREAT Okay, okay, we need men for sex… Do we need so many” by Sybil Adelman.
33You have noted very interesting points! ps nice site. “High school is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of.” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr..
34Thanks on your marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you happen to be a great author.I will remember to bookmark your blog and will eventually come back down the road. I want to encourage that you continue your great work, have a nice evening!
35It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this brilliant blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and will share this website with my Facebook group. Chat soon!
36I see something genuinely special in this internet site.
37Excellent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept
38I really wanted to jot down a quick note so as to say thanks to you for those pleasant guidelines you are placing here. My long internet investigation has finally been paid with professional knowledge to share with my friends and family. I ‘d state that that we website visitors actually are definitely lucky to be in a great network with many wonderful professionals with great pointers. I feel pretty happy to have encountered your entire weblog and look forward to some more fabulous times reading here. Thanks a lot again for all the details.
39you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?
40As soon as I noticed this web site I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.
41Hi there are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you need any coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
42Thank you for sharing excellent informations. Your web-site is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you’ve on this website. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for more articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and simply could not come across. What a perfect web site.
43Thanks – Enjoyed this blog post, can I set it up so I get an email every time there is a new article?
44Hey! I just want to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice info you’ve gotten here on this post. I will likely be coming again to your weblog for extra soon.
45Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn something like this before. So nice to search out any individual with some authentic ideas on this subject. realy thank you for starting this up. this website is something that’s needed on the internet, somebody with a bit of originality. useful job for bringing something new to the internet!
46hi!,I really like your writing very much! share we be in contact more about your post on AOL? I need a specialist in this area to resolve my problem. Maybe that’s you! Looking ahead to peer you.
47After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
48Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.
49I conceive this internet site has got very wonderful pent subject material content.
50