Vietnamese traditional wedding feast

A Vietnamese traditional wedding feast lasts for several days of which there days are given for eating. A feast tray in a traditional wedding contains 4 dishes served in bowls and 8 dishes served on plates. As the society is more and more developing, the complexity of tradition is however still preserved.

One aspect cannot be miss in a traditional wedding feast is actually “phu the” cake or husband and wife cake. The Lua Xuan husband and wife cake brand has been around for over 20 years. With three generation making the cake, Lua Xuan is now one of the most well-known brands in Dinh Bang village. People eat them at engagement parties, weddings and village festivals. There are 4 steps to make the husband and wife cake including making the cake crust, making filling, wrapping the cake and steaming or boiling the cake. The flour used to make the cake is glutinous rice flower that is mixed with sugar, papaya so that the dove can be chewier. Then we are going to pour in the cape jasmine water. The makers soaked cape jasmine fruits in water then drained them to get this. The cape jasmine fruit gives the cake its color. The fruit is also used in Chinese medicine. One special thing about Vietnamese traditional food is detail in the ingredients.

The next step is to spread the crust and put in the green bean filling. The filling is made with mung beans. Steams the beans then grind them. After that, add some sugar. The “phu the” cake is wrapped by banana leaves with a lot of layers. The first layer is to determine the shape of the cake. The finally layer is dong leaves to ensure the cake not be crushed when placed at the bottom of pot. You have to take cakes as fast as possible so that the ones at the bottom are not over cooked. After steaming, each cake is pressed between two pieces of wooden boards to so that no water left inside the cake. This allows the cake to keep for a long time. Husband and wife cake is a little bit chewy and has natural flavor. That’s why this cake appears so much in the traditional weeding and traditional ceremonies. The husband and wife cake is a necessary in engagement ceremony in Hanoi and Bat Trang. The groom will bring the cake to the bride-to-be-house. Bride’s family on the other hand will include the cake in wedding invitation.

Bat Trang village in northern Vietnam is famous for not only pottery products, but also the cooking way of traditional feasts. Bat Trang is a simple village, but the wedding ceremony itself and the wedding feast is highly complicated. The traditional wedding feast is normally one of the most complicated in Vietnamese tradition.  The feast needs to accommodate several hundreds to thousands of people.  In a wedding feast, five colors need to be presented including red, green, white, yellow and brown. Apart from those dishes, there is another specialty which is often served at the wedding feast in Bat Trang village. This dish requires the carefulness and complexity in preparation and cooking. To make this dish, local people have to prepare about 10 days ahead. First, they have to shred the bamboo sprouts into strips. Two days before the weedig is time to boil the bamboo sprouts. That stir-fly the squid and bamboo sprouts. That’s the base for this food. The squid has a sweet taste. Once it has been heated, it gives a great aroma. The the quid is stir-fried with bamboo sprouts.  The stock is made with shrimp and bones. The squid and bamboo sprouts are cooked in it. All aromas blend together to create a very tasty dish. Even though it’s complicated, it’s a specialty of Bat Trang. So it is eaten at death anniversaries and when they have special guests over.

A wedding feast in Bat Trang has twelve dishes. There is fruit for dessert. Then there is steamed sticky rice. There are two soup dishes. The other one is made with pork skin or meat balls. Other dishes are also found in other places, including a chicken dish, a bird dish, a plate of fish, a plate of prawns. A traditional wedding feast in Hanoi or Vietnam in general needs to have these traditional dishes. For example, this bowl of bird stew requires lots of preparation. So does this bowl of squid and bamboo sprout soup. All the stew dishes are prepared in a meticulous way. They are prepared the same way as in the past.

The wedding feast in Vietnam traditionally lasts for 3 days. Each day serves a different group of guest. Wedding feast may be the chance for family members to meet people they have not meet in years. Normally, you cannot see the bride at the wedding feast as the event often takes place one day before the official wedding ceremony.

Source: VTV4 – VTV.vn