Like bánh chưng (salty cake of sticky rice wrapped in latanier or banana leaves giving it a certain green color and square shape) in the North, bánh tét is also made from sticky rice but has a cylindrical shape, a symbol of Heaven and fertility.

Bánh tét has a pronunciation almost similar to that of Tết, the Lunar New Year. This is why its name is closely associated with Tết and why it is obligatorily present on the mats during the first three days of the lunar new year in the South.

Featuring the same ingredients as bánh chưng, it is often garnished with onions, spices, or coconut juice, depending on the taste of the guests. There is also a sweet version made with bananas and another without meat, which can be found in the provinces of Tien Giang or Ben Tre. In Can Tho, there is also a kind of bánh tét made from the leaves of magenta (lá cẩm in Vietnamese) which gives bánh tét a purple color, called bánh tét lá cẩm.

A bánh tét includes sticky rice, mung beans, coconut milk, pork fat, salted eggs… The sticky rice must be of good quality, the magenta leaves must be washed well, and boiled in water. Then they are removed from the water and the sticky rice is immersed for an hour.

Sticky rice is mixed with coconut milk, salt, and sugar then wrapped in banana leaves. Boiling the bánh tét is the step that decides its flavor. The bánh tét is cooked over a wood fire for 4 to 5 hours. Then we cut it into slices.

Craftswoman Huynh Thi Trong (right) teaches a member of her family how to make “bánh tét lá cẩm”. Photo: VNP/VNA/CVN

The creator of bánh tét lá cẩm is Mrs. Huynh Thi Trong, 87 years old, who lives in An Thoi commune, Binh Thuy district. “My family used to sell steamed sticky rice. One day I immersed magenta leaves with sticky rice and then when I cooked the sticky rice, it turned purple and became tasty”, she confided.

Particularly, Mrs. Huynh Thi Trong offers four kinds of bánh tét namely salted eggs, bananas, sweet mung beans, mung beans, and pork fat.

Tourists coming to Can Tho city love bánh tét. They buy this specialty as a gift for their relatives or even those living abroad so that they can taste this dish for Tet. Bánh tét are also sold in Ho Chi Minh City, in the provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai (South), and even in the United States and Australia.

The profession of making bánh tét is developing and new factories have been born such as those of Ut Be, Tai Hoa, Tu Dep, Chin Cam, Minh Tan carry out large orders every day. Huynh Thi Trong's shop sells at least a hundred each day, even a thousand on weekends, during festivities, or during the days of traditional Tet.