ORANGE-LIKED CAKE

When the rain just ended, the air gets colder. Sitting in my house, I can hear someone on the street yelling “Who wants to buy Bánh cam”. All I wanted to do then, was to go outside and buy some. It is round and spherical (cam = orange) like an orange, shiny surface covered in sesame seeds. The cake is made from glutinous rice flour, rice flour, sweet potato, baking powder, granulated sugar, and a little bit of salt. The dough is divided into smaller balls of dough. The filling is made from ground mung bean, sugar, salt, cooking oil. The filling is cooked on a pan, then made into small balls and stuffed in side the dough. It is cooked in a bath of oil until golden. There are two types: 1) simmer sugar until yellow and liquified, then one half of the cake is dipped into the sugar like a donut, 2) the cake is dropped into a pan with granulated sugar to cover the entire cake. Outside is crispy and chewy with sweetness of sugar. The second type is more crispy and sweeter. The filling is sweet and fatty from the mung bean. When combined the flavor profile of this cake makes it one of the most popular snack from the rural areas to the urban area.

Collected by Linh Trang