Buzz
1. Essential ingredients to prepare:
+ Dough:
Dough is a crucial ingredient, indispensable for making vegetarian cakes or sweet dumplings. Typically, you can choose two types of flour: dry flour and water-based flour.
For dry flour, you can buy it outside the market and mix glutinous rice flour with plain flour. Then, wrap it in a food wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Mix water flour according to the ratio of 8 glutinous rice flour and 2 plain flour with a pinch of salt. Grind them into salt and drain the flour. Wait for the flour to drain, then put it in a thick fabric bag and hang it to drain water. Wait until the flour bag no longer drips water, then open it to see if the flour sticks to the bag. Hold a piece of flour up without sticking to your hand, squeeze it to see if it has the right consistency. If the flour does not break or fall apart, it means the flour is sufficient, making the cake soft and still chewy.
+ Sugar crumbs:
Choose small sugar cubes with cricket-wing color to easily dissolve in the steamed cake filling. If the cake has a diameter of only 2cm, simply chop the sugar into square pomegranate seeds about 0.7 cm. Alternatively, for time-saving, you can also buy pre-cut sugar cubes for efficient cake making.
+ Green beans:
Peeled mung beans, soak them in cold water for 3 hours. Then mix them with salt and cook until done. Divide the mung beans in half, mash one half, then mix with roasted sesame seeds and shape into a round filling. Leave the other half as is.
+ Other ingredients: white sesame seeds, arrowroot powder, pomelo essential oil, coconut shredded strands, ginger, cold water.
2. Step-by-step guide on making floating cakes and vegetarian cakes for Han Thuc Tet
To start, take the lump of flour and use your hands or a knife to portion it out. Shape each portion into a long strip using your thumb. Take small amounts of the dough and spread it evenly in the palm of your hand. While spreading, gently cup your hand to give the dough a curved shape, making it easier to mold into a round form.
In the center of the dough ball, place a piece of rock sugar and press lightly to form a round shape. Repeat this process until all the dough is used.
Bring water to a boil. Once boiling, add the rice dumplings and cook until they are done. If the sugar inside the dumpling melts, you can cook for an additional 10 seconds to ensure the sugar dissolves. Once the dumplings are cooked, remove them and place in a bowl of cold water to prevent sticking together.
Next, use arrowroot or tapioca starch in cold water and dissolve it. Boil a pot of water, add rock sugar or replace it with cane sugar for a more attractive color. The amount of sugar will depend on your family's taste. If the water is boiling, add ginger for fragrance and bring to a boil again. Remember to pour and stir gently and continuously. Wait for the boiling water to become clear and slightly sticky, then add a spoon of sesame oil.
Divide the mixture into each bowl with three rice dumplings. Then, pour the sweet soup over the dumplings and sprinkle mung beans on top. Add grated coconut and pomelo essential oil for an extra touch of flavor.
Above are the steps to make delicious rice dumplings and chè (sweet soup) for the Cold Food Festival, a taste that not everyone knows. Save this recipe for reference and application. Don't forget to follow Media Mart for quick updates on the most useful information.
