Although it doesn’t carry a beautiful or elegant name, and may even considered as “rough”, for people in the South, especially in the southwestern region of Vietnam, “bánh da lợn” has become a distinctive feature of the local cuisine. TasteAtlas, a website known as the ‘world food map,’ has ranked “bánh da lợn” in the list of the 100 most delicious sweet cakes globally.
The rich green color is achieved by mixing coconut milk, tapioca flour, rice flour, along with the fragrance and color from pandan leaves. Meanwhile, the white layer only requires substituting pandan leaf water with plain water to create two glossy layers of cake. Mung beans are finely ground and sifted, then mixed with sugar, tapioca flour, and coconut milk to create a shiny and sweet golden filling. Layer by layer, five to seven colorful and appealing layers are stacked on top of each other. Coconut oil or lard is often applied to make the cake’s surface shiny. In addition, this traditional Vietnamese cake is often diversified with various colors such as green bean, taro, pandan leaves, and magenta leaves to create visually appealing, multicolored cakes that not only satisfy the taste but also the eyes of those who indulge in them. Let’s explore how to make this cake with Somo Farm Cuu Long:
1.Mixing the dough:
Mix 250g of rice flour, 250g of tapioca flour, 250g of glutinous rice flour, 250ml of coconut milk, and 100g of sugar (adjust the proportions according to the desired quantity of cakes) in a bowl. Divide it equally into portions to mix the cake dough and create different layers according to your preferred colors:
Yellow layer: Soak mung beans in cold water for 2 hours, then rinse with cold water and steam until soft. Blend the cooked mung beans with 100ml of cold water until smooth and uniform. Mix the mung bean paste with a portion of the divided dough to create a smooth, dense yellow dough.
Purple layer: Clean the magenta leaves, put them in a pot, and bring to a boil until the water turns a light purple color. Turn off the heat, strain the magenta leaf juice, and mix it with another portion of the dough to create the purple layer.
Green layer: Clean pandan leaves, chop them, put them in a blender, add 100ml of water, and blend until smooth. Strain the pandan leaf juice through a strainer, remove the residue, and mix the pandan leaf juice with another portion of the dough to create the green layer.
Brown layer: Mix coffee with water and another portion of dough, stirring until the mixture is smooth and dissolved.
White layer: Stir the remaining dough with coconut milk until the dough becomes smooth and uniform.
2.Steaming the cake:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and prepare a steaming tray. Brush a thin layer of cooking oil on the mold to prevent the cake from sticking. Pour each layer of cake dough onto the mold as desired, with the yellow mung bean layer often used as the middle filling for a more delicious flavor.
Pour each layer to a thickness of about 0.5cm, then cover the steaming tray and steam for about 2 minutes until the cake is cooked before pouring the next layer of dough. Repeat this process until all the prepared cake layers are used.
3.Decoration and serve:
After the cake is cooked, simply remove it from the pot and let it cool before enjoying. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the cake for a better taste and longer preservation.
This traditional specialty of the Cuu Long people has been known and honored by the world for centuries. It’s a popular cake enjoyed by people of all ages and dietary preferences, including vegetarians and meat-eaters. Perhaps that’s why, among the hundreds of Western-style cakes available, “bánh da lợn” has always been present and closely associated with the rich and honest cultural life of the down-to-earth people in the western rivers and fields of Vietnam.
