The most meaningful gifts after your Vietnam Food Tours must be the specialties of the place you had visited. If you are paying a visit to Hai Duong Province, don’t forget to but green bean cake.
Historical story of Hai Duong green bean cake
Green bean cake is a specialty of Hai Duong, a northern province. The history of this sweet snack is also interesting. Once, King Bao Dai went on a tour of inspection to Hai Duong Town. The local residents presented the king with a kind of cake made of green bean. The cake fulfilled the king and was paid the tremendous compliment. When coming back to the imperial palace, King Bao Dao issued the royal decree to praise the green bean cake of Hai Duong. The decree bore the seal of golden dragon, the symbol of the king’s power. Since then, green bean cake of Hai Duong was named as “Golden Dragon Green Bean Cake”. This name help to distinguish the cake made in Hai Duong from the cake in other province.
Nowadays, this kind of cake also can be found in Hang Than Street when you go on a night food tour Hanoi.
The transformation of simple ingredients with skilful hands
The ingredients of Hai Duong green bean cake come from the crops of the people live in Red River Delta. The simplicity of the ingredients, however, creates the appeal of the cake. Although green bean flour, sugar and pork fat are available at all time, they have to be selected carefully. To make a high-grade golden dragon green bean cake, the baker must be very skillful and experienced.
The main ingredient for the green bean cake is the purest green bean flour, but not all green bean give the best products. Green bean must be picked rigorously. The beans are dried in the sun and the spoiled ones must be omitted. Dried beans will be roasted, shucked and ground into powder.
Pork fat is melted over a medium heat. The baker have to pay attention to this step because over cooked pork fat will make the cake smell of burning. Today, some bakers use cooking oil instead of pork fat. However, the cake has the buttery taste only when it is made of pork fat.
Green bean flour, sugar and fat are mixed together with some other flavorings like grapefruit blossom essence, coconut oil… These essence and oil are added to make the cake more fragrant.
The soft cake with gentle sweetness is cut into small cube. The creamy yellow color really excites your appetite.
The perfect combination
Green bean cake will become more delicious with a cup of hot tea. The bitterness of tea lessen the sweetness of the cake and make the cake melt in your mouth. Moreover, the fragrance of cake and tea mingle and calm your mind.
Therefore, green bean cake and tea are often served together to the guests. This is the custom of Vietnamese to show the hospitality.
If you come to Hanoi cooking class, your will be taught to infuse the delicious tea to enjoy with green bean cake.