In the tourism specialties of Hanoi, the phu the cake is always included in the list of dishes that tourists on Hanoi street food walking tour can buy as gifts after the trip. The Phu the cake is not only a traditional cake of Hanoi but also a popular cake on the occasion of Lunar New Year and Vietnamese wedding.

Phu The Cake

  1. The meaning of the name of the cake

There are many different versions of the origin of the cake’s name. The most popular story is about King Ly Anh Tong. When the king went to fight the enemy far away, the king’s wife at home loved her husband and made this cake sent to the king. The king eats the cake to enjoy the sweet taste, thinking about the sweet love to his wife so he named this cake as phu the cake (couple cake).

Another story is about an old merchant. Before the merchant went to work far away, the wife made this cake for her husband with a vow, even though the couple was far apart, the affection of the couple was always as sweet as the cake. The husband felt so thrilled, so the cake was named “phu the”. However, the husband after going away for a long time is interested in strange beautiful girls. The wife at home knew about the story and sent the cakes to her husband. When the husband receives the cake, he knew that he was wrong and returned home to his wife.

One more story of King Ly Thanh Tong and his wife, Nguyen Phi Ỷ Lan, once went to the village on Tet and the villagers offered them the cake (the name at that time was called xu xe cake). King and his wife enjoyed so much complimented, and them the king named the cake as phu the cake.

Regardless of the versions, the phu the cake is always accompanied by a picture of a couple and this cake is also packed in pairs. This is not only a specialty of Hanoi tourism but also a symbol of the fidelity of conjugal love. Therefore, in the wedding parties, the phu the cake is often chosen to express the wish of lasting love between couples.

  1. Characteristic of cake cake

Just small cakes, look quite simple but the cake is also hidden with many unique things. The cake of Phu the is made carefully in a traditional way. First, the delicious glutinous rice (nep cai hoa vang) is cleaned, drained and pounded with a mortar. Next, the rice will be purified to take rice starch.

A kg of glutinous rice can only filter 0,4 kg of rice starch. The amount of starch is dried and then ground to puree so that it can be cooked to make the cake 15 days later. The maker need such a long time to make the dough dry, when making the cake will not be crushed. Next, the person who takes the danh danh flower leaves to dry, soak the boiling water and extract the water with yellow color and fragrance from the flower.

Rice starch is mixed with danh danh perfume water and made into cakes. The core of the cake is small curled papaya fibers, green bean mixed with sugar, mixed with grated coconut. In the four corners of the cake, there are 4 lotus seeds because the old way of eating cake of Phu The is one cut into 4, so all 4 corners have lotus seeds. Next, the cake is sprinkled with a little sesame on the cake.

Once completed, the cake is wrapped with a layer of dong leaves or banana leaves inside, the outside is coconut leaves and then tied with a red lint yarn. Thus, the cake has a beautiful color, it is the golden color of the reserved flower, the white of sesame and coconut curd, the green of the leaf and the red of the strand. Therefore, the cake brings a harmonious sense of color, expresses hope and desire for strong and strong feelings of husband and wife.

The stage of boiled cake is also meticulous. The cake should be boiled with a wood stove in medium heat. Too much fire made the cake dry, the fire was too weak to make the cake uneven. In hanoi street food tour, the cake is often introduced to domestic and foreign tourists as a delicious dish when enjoying and a specialty purchased as a meaningful gift.

At present, the cake is sold in many places in the country, however, not all cakes are authentic cake. The cake of Phu the is really a cake full of the above ingredients, and when eating the cake, it must have a smooth taste of the crust, blending with the strong flavours inside the cake. In order to buy the specialty cake of Ha Noi, tourists should go to Dinh Bang, Tu Son, Bac Ninh villages – the hometown of this cake or Hang Than neighbourhood – where many families have a tradition of cake making.

Hanoi with the Hanoi traditional food such as the cake of Phu The, khuc cake of Hoang Mai village, and the fried donut … have fascinated tourists at home and abroad. On the occasion of coming to Hanoi, tourists do not forget to enjoy these famous traditional cakes.

For more information/details: Vietnam food tours, food walking tour, Hanoi cooking class