Legend of Vietnam's traditional dishes during the Lunar New Year

. The sweet round rice cake or bánh chung and the square cake or bánh dày are among the traditional dishes served during Tet or Lunar New Year festival. It is often eaten with marinated stewed pork.

Being unique to Vietnam, the cake has a legend in itself.

Thousands and thousands of years ago, King Hung the VI has 24 sons. Some pursue literary careers. Others excel in martial arts.

The youngest prince named Tiet Lieu, however, loves neither. He, his wife and their children instead lead an ordinary life in the countryside where they till the land.

The king now happens to be old and considers selecting one of his sons as his successor. But choosing the right one seems easier said than done.

Being a gourmet, the king formulates an interesting recipe for selection.

One day, the king calls all of his sons together and tells them he will cede the throne to whoever makes the most special and unusual food.

Almost immediately, the princes starts their search for the most delicious and exotic food they could find.

As some go deep into the forests, others sail out to the open sea, the youngest prince - Tiet Lieu - however, resorts to the land where he has been farming.

At that time, Tiet Lieu's paddy fields are ripe and ready for harvests. Thus the modest prince decide to prepare a simple food made of the most familiar ingredients - rice.

He and his entire family then go on to make a dish that would later set him on the throne.

The prince grinds the glutinous rice grains into fine flour. His wife mixes it with water into a soft paste. His children also help by building a fire and wrapping the cakes in leaves.

The family is then able to produce two kinds of cakes: one is round, the other square in shape.

The round cake was made with glutinous rice dough and was called "banh day" by Tiet Lieu. He names the square shaped cake "banh chung" which he prepares with rice, green beans wrapped in leaves.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, all the princes take their dazzling foods to the king.

One carries a delicious dish of steamed fish and mushrooms. Another brings a roasted peacock and some lobsters. All were painstakingly cooked and elaborately decorated befitting a king. When it is Tiet Lieu's turn to present his gift, all the other princes sneer at him and are sure Tiet Lieu will enrage the king, who is known for his epicurean tastes.

The king is not angry but pleased and decides to make Tiet Lieu his successor on the spot.

He says Tiet Lieu's food is not only the purest, but also the most meaningful of all since the prince has used nothing but rice - the staple ingredient among the Vietnamese people.

The round cake represents the sky and the square one the earth [the Vietnamese at that time assumed the earth was square]. Meanwhile, the leaves wrapping round the square cake symbolizes parental protection.

Compiled by Hoang Bao

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