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 After all, bánh bía, also adapted from the Chinese and also originally made just for one specific festival, shines its face all year long in every bakery and sandwich shop these days.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
This web site is my aspiration, rattling fantastic style and perfect articles.
1I like the efforts you have put in this, thank you for all the great posts.
2You made some nice points there. I did a search on the subject and found most individuals will go along with with your website.
3I’m really inspired with your writing abilities as smartly as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one today..
4Hiya, I am really glad I have found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossips and net and this is really frustrating. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for keeping this website, I’ll be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Cant find it.
5Wonderful work! That is the type of info that should be shared across the internet. Disgrace on Google for now not positioning this put up upper! Come on over and seek advice from my web site . Thanks =)
6Rattling excellent info can be found on website.
7I have been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or blog posts in this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this site. Reading this information So i’m happy to express that I have an incredibly just right uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed. I so much for sure will make sure to don’t overlook this site and give it a glance on a constant basis.
8As I website possessor I conceive the subject material here is really excellent, thanks for your efforts.
9Excellent weblog right here! Additionally your website rather a lot up very fast! What host are you using? Can I am getting your affiliate link on your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
10Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all people you actually recognize what you are speaking approximately! Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my site =). We can have a link change contract among us!
11I was looking through some of your blog posts on this website and I think this website is rattling instructive! Continue posting.
12You completed certain good points there. I did a search on the theme and found most people will have the same opinion with your blog.
13I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
14Greetings! Very helpful advice on this article! It is the little changes that make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
15I believe you have observed some very interesting details , appreciate it for the post.
16Thanks, I’ve just been looking for information approximately this topic for a long time and yours is the greatest I have discovered till now. But, what about the bottom line? Are you positive in regards to the supply?
17This is really interesting, You are a very professional blogger. I have joined your feed and stay up for searching for extra of your wonderful post. Additionally, I’ve shared your site in my social networks!
18Thanks for another informative website. Where else could I get that kind of info written in such an ideal approach? I’ve a venture that I am simply now operating on, and I have been at the glance out for such information.
19I don’t even understand how I stopped up here, but I thought this publish was great. I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to a well-known blogger should you are not already 😉 Cheers!
20Thanks for any other fantastic post. Where else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such information.
21Very well written post. It will be helpful to everyone who utilizes it, including yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – for sure i will check out more posts.
22Some genuinely choice articles on this internet site, saved to my bookmarks.
23Wow! This could be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Actually Fantastic. I’m also a specialist in this topic therefore I can understand your effort.
24소액결제현금화(휴대폰깡·모바일깡)의 뜻과 수법, 정보통신망법 위반 처벌 수위, 실제 처벌 사례와 이용자 피해, 급전 필요 시 합법 대안까지 정리했습니다.
25누누티비의 서비스 종료 이력과 같은 이름의 사이트를 확인할 때 알아둘 내용을 정리했습니다. 드라마·영화 다시보기 제공 여부, 회차·자막·화질 확인 방법과 자주 묻는 질문을 살펴보세요.
26누누티비의 서비스 종료 이력과 같은 이름의 사이트를 확인할 때 알아둘 내용을 정리했습니다. 드라마·영화 다시보기 제공 여부, 회차·자막·화질 확인 방법과 자주 묻는 질문을 살펴보세요.
27부산오피를 검색하며 부산 지역 일반 마사지·스파를 알아보는 분들을 위한 안내입니다. 프로그램 선택, 관리 시간과 비용, 시설·위생, 주차, 예약 전 확인사항과 자주 묻는 질문을 정리했습니다.
28부산오피를 검색하며 부산 지역 일반 마사지·스파를 알아보는 분들을 위한 안내입니다. 프로그램 선택, 관리 시간과 비용, 시설·위생, 주차, 예약 전 확인사항과 자주 묻는 질문을 정리했습니다.
29I am glad to be a visitant of this staring web blog! , thankyou for this rare information! .
30I enjoy your writing style truly enjoying this website .
31여기여에서 검색·콘텐츠·학습·디자인·개발·생활 분야의 링크모음과 주소모음을 살펴보세요. 사이트 주소 확인법, 모바일 이용법, 북마크 정리, 접속 문제 해결 방법과 FAQ를 안내합니다.
32여기여에서 검색·콘텐츠·학습·디자인·개발·생활 분야의 링크모음과 주소모음을 살펴보세요. 사이트 주소 확인법, 모바일 이용법, 북마크 정리, 접속 문제 해결 방법과 FAQ를 안내합니다.
33I have recently started a website, the information you provide on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
34There may be noticeably a bundle to find out about this. I assume you made sure good points in features also.
35Nice read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!
36Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back frequently!
37광주호빠를 찾는 분을 위한 광주광역시 예약 안내. 라운지 분위기, 인원별 공간 선택, 가격 상담, 첫 방문 준비와 자주 묻는 질문을 확인하고 원하는 일정에 맞춰 문의
38대밤·대구의밤을 찾는 분들을 위한 대구 지역 정보. 동성로·수성못·동대구역·달서구의 저녁 여가와 지역별 특징, 후기 비교 기준, 가격·운영시간·교통 확인사항 및 자주 묻는 질문을 살펴보세요.
39대밤·대구의밤을 찾는 분들을 위한 대구 지역 정보. 동성로·수성못·동대구역·달서구의 저녁 여가와 지역별 특징, 후기 비교 기준, 가격·운영시간·교통 확인사항 및 자주 묻는 질문을 살펴보세요.
40Lovely site! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am taking your feeds also
41Hola! I’ve been following your web site for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Humble Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic work!
42What’s Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have discovered It absolutely useful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to give a contribution & aid different users like its aided me. Good job.
43We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with valuable information to work on. You have performed an impressive job and our entire neighborhood will be grateful to you.
44Some really interesting details you have written.Aided me a lot, just what I was looking for :D.
45Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was looking for! “To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.” by Lisa Alther.
46Thanks a lot for sharing this with all of us you really know what you are talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my web site =). We could have a link exchange contract between us!
47hello there and thanks on your info – I have definitely picked up anything new from right here. I did on the other hand experience some technical points the use of this website, as I experienced to reload the web site many instances prior to I could get it to load correctly. I were thinking about in case your web hosting is OK? No longer that I’m complaining, however slow loading cases times will often have an effect on your placement in google and could damage your high quality rating if ads and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Well I am including this RSS to my e-mail and can glance out for much extra of your respective intriguing content. Ensure that you update this again soon..
48You are my aspiration, I own few web logs and infrequently run out from to brand.
49I think this site holds some real great information for everyone :D.
50