Buzz
Can you guess what type of cake this is?
If you're a fan of puzzle games, you probably know about the show Quick as Lightning - a place where they compile super brain-teasing riddles. The show has presented a series of word riddles about cakes that left players puzzled. For instance: 'What cake is chubby but not fat', the answer is mooncake; 'What cake is eaten sparingly but appears plentiful', the answer is rice cake; 'What cake has a fruit name but no fruit', the answer is orange cake.
Moreover, in episode 22, season 3 - the show introduced another interesting riddle about a cake. The riddle goes as follows:
'What cake sounds painful just by its name?'
This is a word puzzle that requires players to have a deep knowledge base and sharp reflexes to answer correctly. Unfortunately, despite MC Truong Giang's hints, the players still couldn't come up with the answer. The correct answer announced by the show is: TET CAKE.
After some pondering, it seems quite logical. 'Tet' isn't just a type of cake but also a verb indicating the action of striking someone. And naturally, if you've been 'teted,' it's... painful. So 'tet cake' truly gives off a feeling of pain just by its name. Upon hearing the answer, both the players and the audience of the show could only exclaim 'wow' due to the clever wordplay and wit.
For those unfamiliar, 'banh tet' is also known as 'bamboo cake.' This is a type of cake in the cuisine of the people of the South and Central regions of Vietnam. This cake is similar to 'banh chung' of the North in terms of ingredients and cooking methods; only differing in shape and the leaves used for wrapping. People in the North use dong leaves to wrap the cake, while those in the Central and Southern regions use banana leaves. This cake is most commonly used during the Lunar New Year of the Vietnamese people.
Banh tet has a cylindrical shape, hence it is also called bamboo cake. Two cakes typically form a pair with a handle made of banana leaf veins. People also make cakes without meat filling to preserve them longer. The cake is praised for its beautiful wrapping, skillfully rounded, tightly tied, with the filling placed right in the middle. Tet cakes for Tet are kept for several days, usually cooked on New Year's Eve to be eaten on Tet day with pickled vegetables and braised pork.
The ingredients for making Tet cakes are similar to those used for making banh chung, including glutinous rice, split and peeled mung beans, pork, and some spices. But the most common and available year-round are sweet Tet cakes (banana filling) or vegetarian Tet cakes (black bean filling). There are also special Tet cakes with a mixed filling consisting of salted eggs, dried shrimp, Chinese sausage, pork bologna, lotus seeds, and mung beans.
When eating banh tet, people use a sharp knife to cut the cake horizontally into slices, then peel off the wrapper and strings. If one prefers it sweet, they can dip the cake in fine white sugar, or if salty is preferred, dipping it in delicious fish sauce. People in the Central region also eat banh tet with pickled vegetables - a dish of pickled vegetables including radishes, papaya, carrots, and jicama soaked in sugar syrup to eat with the cakes and avoid feeling overwhelmed. The cakes can also be fried in lard in a pan until the outer crust is golden brown, crispy, and fragrant.
Although they're all 'banh tet,' each region uses different ingredients for preparation. Cao Lanh's banh tet from the Dong Thap Muoi region is famous for its cassava-filled, lotus seed-filled, and red sticky rice cakes. Binh Duong and Tay Ninh are renowned for their banh tet made with glutinous rice mixed with peanuts. Can Tho offers a unique version with 'cam leaf' banh tet. Ba Tri (Ben Tre) is famous for its young corn-filled banh tet.
