DIEM VILLAGE “XOI KHUC” (FLUNG OF MUNG BEAN FILLING WITH A COATING OF PANDAN LEAVES PASTE)

Cake inside, iridescent sticky rice outside cover the the mung bean filling, it’s not cake and not really sticky rice. It’s “banh khuc” – Diem village’s specialty, alongside Cau river, Hoa Long ward, Tien Phong district, Bac Ninh province.

Source: blogspot

“Banh khuc” is as small as a wisp of sticky rice, every single piece of sticky rice cover the layer of green dough and yellow mung bean filling. This dish is named “banh khuc” because people use “khuc” leaf (pandan leaf), roughly chopped, boil, then mix the whole leaves and juice with rice flour into a big piece of dough, and add mung bean filling. Pandan leaf is small, the upper side is silver green like there is a layer of white dust. Fresh or dry pandan leaf can be used to make this dish. In the winter, there is less pandan leaf, so in January, pandan leaf season, people harvest it and dry, then crush and use it to make the cake for a whole year. There are 2 types: “khuc te” and “khuc nep”. “Khuc te” leaf is bigger than “khuc nep” leaf, but people usually use “khuc nep” because it is more delicious.

Pandan leaf. Source: phunuonlime

To make a good “banh khuc” is not difficult, but the process requires the meticulousness and takes time. The flour to make “banh khuc” is not 100% sticky rice, but with the ratio of 8 portion sticky rice, 2 portion rice. Rice is selected well, good, white, pure and long. Sticky rice is limber, fragrant. The rice is soaked in water for couple hours, then cleaned well and crushed together with “la khuc”. The ratio between rice and the leaf is also a secret to make good dish, because too much rice will not have the feature smell of the leaf, and if not enough rice, the cake will not sticky enough.

You can enjoy Diem village “banh khuc” with 2 type of filling: onion and mung bean. “Banh khuc” with mung bean filling has the fleshiness of mung bean, the fat of pork and the fragrant of pepper. Mung bean without skin is soaked in water until soft, cooked well, crush smoothly, stir fry with onion and ground pork, mixed together to have the filling. However, the best is finely chopped pork belly, when eating you can feel the fat of pork, with a bit fragrant spicy of pepper.

“Banh khuc” onion filling is quite different. Onion is used to make the filling must be dry onion, with black fungus, pepper, laksa leaf, finely chopped pork belly mixed well. “Banh khuc” is usually made into 2 type: round circle like fry cake or elephant ear shape, but either way, the cake skin has to be thin but cover well the filling

After placing the cook into steam cooker, sprinkle them with sticky rice to have a thin layer covered outside.

Sour: xinhxinh

It’s best to served when hot. Sticky rice is pure, plump, iridescent blended with the fragrant, fleshy of “la khuc”, the fat of mung bean pork filling make the dish is so delicious, so attractive.

Sour: wordpress

Diem village people just makes this cake when they have guess coming and in Middle of January, Holiday or Festival. 

*Taro**