Banh it is one of the cakes of Hue, very popular in Vietnam. Banh it is most often used to worship during holidays, New Year or death anniversaries, but nowadays, banh it is also used as a very popular popular breakfast dish. Banh it has many variations: banh it with gai gai leaves in Binh Dinh, banh it with pandan leaves, banh it with green leaves and even banh it with five colors.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 2

Five-colored it cakes include many unique colors

Five-colored it cakes are usually served in portions of 5 pieces of 5 different colors. The shell uses natural colors taken from plants and vegetables, so it is extremely safe and good for health. The filling is mainly sweet ground green beans, coconut filling, pandan leaf filling, depending on the seller’s creativity. The cake is also wrapped or placed on banana leaves when steamed to give a more delicious flavor.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 3

The most common shape of banh it is triangular cylinder

Legend has it that during the reign of King Hung, the youngest princess of King Hung created a new type of cake with her ingenuity. This type of cake has a flavor quite similar to Banh Chung – Banh Giay that Lang Lieu previously created, but has a much smaller shape.

She took the cake and wrapped it in banh chung to create a very attractive new cake. To create a new shape for the cake, she created a triangular cylindrical “mold”, then stuffed the cake inside and wrapped it. Gradually this cake became more popular, spread among the people and named it after the youngest girl: “Nang Ut It Cake” or “It Cake” for short.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 4

Cakes use little color from natural ingredients

Because the main ingredients are rice flour, sweet fried green beans, pineapple coconut combined with shredded coconut, the cake is quite low in calories. On average, 100g of bean-filled banh it contains about 300 calories and 100g of banh it with coconut contains about 298.5 calories. Other types of banh it such as banh it gac, banh it sticky rice, banh it with shrimp and meat, banh it jackfruit, banh it with pandan leaf veins, banh it with gai leaves will be slightly different from banh it with bean paste and filling. Coconut depends on the ingredients and processing method of each type. In general, to avoid excess energy for a day, you should only eat 1-2 pieces/day. However, if I follow the YOLO style – Eat it without fear, I’ll just do it. However, you also need to pay attention to the amount of sugar inside the cake. Because if you consume too much sugar in a day, it will be harmful to your health.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 5

Banh it can be eaten salty or sweet, both are very delicious

First, wash the green beans and remove the skin, then put them in a pan and stir with coconut milk and filtered water, and a little salt. Simmer over low heat until the filling is almost dry, then add in shredded coconut and sugar to your liking. If you want less fat and less sweetness, add less; otherwise, add more. When the mixture thickens, add the durian meat (if you don’t like the durian smell, you can omit it). Wait until the filling is dry and forms a soft mass.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 6

The filling must be dry and smooth

To create natural color for the shell, you use natural ingredients, puree with a little water and then filter through a sieve to get the colored water. Suggestions: red from gac, pink from beetroot, yellow from ginger, green from pandan leaves, blue from butterfly pea flowers.

Then, you add a little “spice” like salt and sugar to the colored water. Stir until dissolved then add in the glutinous rice flour. Note that the glutinous rice flour needs to be added slowly, do not pour it in at once as it will cause the cake to dry out.

You wrap the cake according to the ratio of 40g and receive 100g of crust and then roll it into a ball. You can watch YouTube instructions on how to fold banana leaf peels to wrap cakes in the most detailed and clear way. Then, you put the cakes in the steamer horizontally. Remember to put the cake in when the water below has boiled! After closing the lid, you only need to wait about 25 to 30 minutes for the cake to be cooked.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 7

When steaming, arrange the cakes horizontally

Depending on the weather conditions and where you live, banh it can be stored for a long or a few days. In places with high air humidity, the cake has a very short shelf life, only about 3 days. On the contrary, if the weather conditions are sunny and low humidity, the cake can be kept for up to 5 days. However, if you buy it from outside, you should use banh it within 1-2 days to reduce the time the seller has to sell the cake every day.

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The surface of the five-colored it cake needs to be dry and not watery. Photo: mental health

Because the shelf life is very short, banh it also has many inconveniences. However, if you want to preserve the cake for longer, you can store it in the refrigerator. This method will help prolong the cake’s preservation time for up to 8 days. If you want to eat, you just need to put it in a steamer or put it in a rice cooker, wait about 10 – 15 minutes and you will have hot cakes to eat right away.

Actually, it is very simple to know whether the cake is spoiled or not. You just need to check the cake surface. If it is no longer dry, watery, or even has white mold, you should throw it away immediately. If eaten, it will cause food poisoning!

See more: Buy Lang Co oyster sauce as a gift for your boss. Every year, your boss gives you a day off to travel to Hue

– Address: 124 Pham Thi Lien, Kim Long ward, Hue

– Business hours: 06:00 – 19:00

– Price: 2,5k – 20k

Kim Long Bakery on Pham Thi Lien Street is also an address that everyone from tourists to locals loves to visit to buy specialty Hue cakes as gifts for family and friends. The prices here are extremely affordable, from only 2.5k for 1 cake to 20k. In addition to buying black it cakes wrapped in green banana leaves, you can also buy banh beo, ram it cakes, plum bamboo shoots, loc cakes, nam cakes and countless other delicious cakes.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 9

Black cake can also be used as a part of five-color cake

– Address: 51 Nguyen Thien Thuat, Hue

– Business hours: 06:30 – 22:30

– Price: 3k – 25k

Mrs. Bon’s It cake shop has been open for a long time and is often “trusted” by local people during holidays and death anniversaries. The filling is made by Mrs. Bon to be moderately sweet, not too sweet, so it is very suitable for many people. Mainly, Mrs. Bon sells different types of cakes such as black cake, husband and wife cakes, and depending on the occasion, there will be other types of cakes.

Elaborate craft of making five-colored it cakes from Hue 10

Black cake has a very unique flavor

So Vietnamtravelio has introduced everything about Hue’s five-color banh it. Because it is a type of cake that requires a very elaborate preparation and process, there are not too many sellers, but you can absolutely look at the recipe that Vietnamtravelio has posted above and follow along! In addition, Vietnamtravelio also has many other delicious Hue dishes are waiting for you like snakehead fish soup or Hue Nam Cake which are also very delicious.