The simple dish contains a culture, attached to the childhood of many generations growing up in the ancient streets of Hanoi.
The simple flavor
Banh da ke (Hanoi millet dry pancake) is a Hanoi traditional food that has seemed to have become a very familiar snack making people remember every time they go far. In the crispness of millet dry pancake is the aroma of the millet, the sweet of sugar alternating the slightly sweet and the cool of green beans puree. All harmonious tastes together create a very special but simple dish.
Not noisy or bustling when appearing, also not sophisticated or luxurious in the way of eating, Hanoi millet dry pancake gives people feeling to enjoy a simple folk dish.
How to make banh da ke?
To make this dish, the first thing is to buy millet that was rubbed. Millet which is chosen must be small and polished seeds and then cooked. When cooking millet, you must stir evenly to not let too mash but not too dry and especially not burned. Then pour the cooked millet into a clean brazier. Cooked millet is sparkling yellow, slightly fragrant. Green beans are steamed and then pressed into blocks.
When customers order, the sellers will take a crispy dry pancake, spread millet, sprinkle sugar cut a thin layer of green bean powder. A piece of cake is folded together. Banh da ke after well made must be eaten immediately because if not, it will be tough. Pieces of millet are enough crispy of dry pancake, cool sweet of millet, sweet of green beans and sugar. That is just a gift, but it is a sidewalk gift attached to Hanoi street food tours for many years.
Where to eat banh da ke?
Banh da ke is a simple food of Hanoians, so it is sold in the very simple manner. The hard vendors with the simple bicycles, a small basket, a bag of dry pancake have become the familiar image in the bottom of the heart of Hanoians.
Depending on the taste of each person, the sellers will add little or more sugar. The cake will be the most delicious as soon as it has been done. Just after some minutes, the cake will become extremely tough and have no more taste. Biting a piece of cake; the delicious taste of millet, the nutty green beans as well as a light sweetness of sugar making the wonderful combination melted in your mouth. At the baskets of banh da ke, you never hear the humming or resentment of vendors as well as buyers.
The baskets of vendors are still the same, the only changed thing is the stainless steel knife to take the millet easily and also cut the cake. Millet dry pancake is now no longer priced 2,000 – 3,000 for one piece as many years ago but the taste is still delicious as that in the past.
In the middle of the city with a lot of Western-style dishes, it seems that the taste of cake has never been forgotten. It is a gift to the Hanoi culture. In each fall, Hanoians again waited for the familiar bicycles – the girls selling millet dry pancake.
Just a simple thing, but it seems to be a unique beauty that only the millennial Thang Long land has. It’s wonderful if you find Hanoi culture on food walking tour and a rustic dish of Hanoians.
Other programs for reference: Vietnam food tours, Hanoi cooking class.