Vietnam Travel > Travel Special Features > Vietnamese specialities > Phu The Cakes - The wedding cakes

Phu The Cakes - The wedding cakes

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According to legend, King Ly Thanh Tong and Queen Y Lan were presented with su se cakes prepared by the villagers of Dinh Bang. The king and queen were so impressed that they declared that all newly-weds should have the pleasure of eating such delicious cakes, which were subsequently renamed "wedding cakes" and tried together with bamboo strips to symbolize the bonds of conjugal life.

Today, these cakes are commonly served at wedding banquets. A pair of cakes feeds four people and costs from VND3,000 to VND20,000 per pair, depending on the quality of the ingredients.

Even at the high end, price is cheap considering the work involved in preparing these cakes. First, sticky rice is finely milled and strained to obtain starch, which is mixed with grated green papaya. This soft dough is then soaked in gardenia juice to turn it yellow. The cakes are filled with a mixture of streamed mashed green peas, sugar, sweetened lotus, preserved squash and shredded coconut meat, and then fashioned into flat squares. After wrapping the cakes in leaves (usually banana leaves), the cook boils them - a process that demands considerable expertise.

The city of Hue in Central Vietnam is also known for its phu the cakes. Cooks in Hue and Dinh Bang use similar ingredients for the filling, but the dough of the Hue version is made with cassava flour. Phu the cakes are also sold along National Highway 1 between Dau Pagoda and Tu Son town, although these cakes are often stale and unappetizing.

To eat a phu the cake from Dinh Bang is to indulge all the senses: the ears note the rustling sound made when removing the banana leaf wrapper; the nose enjoys the sweet and nutty scent; the eyes admire the marbled effect of the filling through the slightly translucent dough; and the tongue discovers the rich flavors and melting softness of the filling.

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