Long,
long ago in Vietnam there lived an ancient King, his name was King Hung Vuong.
He was a wise and thoughtful king who always
tried to please his people and consider new ideas and because of this he was
loved by his people. Eventually King Vuong grew old and he knew that soon it
would be time to pass his kingdom on to his successor, the only trouble was the
King Vuong had three healthy sons and he did not know who would be the best
choice to be King. King Vuong being a wise and caring King thought very hard
about this problem and in due course came upon a solution.
He called his three sons together and he rose
up to his feet and declared; "Sons you are all wise and strong but only
one of you can rule our precious Vietnam. So, I have devised a plan to
determine which of you shall rule after my passing." All of the members of
the court and his three sons listening attentively because King Vuong was known
to be the wisest ruler in the whole of Asia.
King Vuong continued; "I would like each
of you to provide for me a dish of food, you must search for the ingredients
and make the dish and serve it to me on the last day of this Lunar Month, and
on the basis of this dish I will decide who is to be the ruler of our Kingdom."
Immediately the words had left this King's
mouth, the attendants at the court began to talk in hushed whispers. They knew
that this was a very wise pronouncement of their King because Vietnam with its
large population and small land area must always give attention to food
production to make sure that each person is well fed and healthy.
The three brothers stared in disbelief;
"How could our father suggest such a method of deciding, why does he not
test our strength?" said the first brother. "Why does he not he test
our computational skills?" said the second brother. The third and youngest
brother just looked at the court and his father and made no comment.
Within days the two elder brothers had
organized their servants and horses and carriages and were racing all over
Vietnam and even to other parts of South East Asia to find the most delectable
and delicious ingredients for the dish. One brother took a boat out into the
South China Sea to fish for the finest tasting fish, the other brother went into
the Khmer Mountains to find the most tender boar meat. Yet, Prince Tiet Lieu
stayed at home and sat on his front step and pondered his father's request.
By the end of the Lunar Month each of the
brothers had prepared their dishes and came before the whole of the Vietnamese
royal court and their wise father King Vuong to present it. The first brother
came to the father and presented a fine porcelain dish of flying fish dressed
in a sweet Chili sauce and accompanied by costly lotus seeds.
A hush came over the court as the father
viewed the dish and placed it on the table. The second brother came forward and
he opened a large copper cauldron and presented a joint of boar dressed with
wild mushrooms and a rare wild fern sauce. Again all the court watched the father
place the cauldron on the table.
Then Prince Tiet Lieu came forward and opened
his basket and displayed a large flat rice cake. The court and his brothers
gasped, no-one would dare offer such simple fare to the royal King Vuong.
King Vuong said, "Prince Tiet Lieu, tell
me why you have chosen to present me with such a simple rice cake."
Prince Tiet Lieu said, "Rice is the most
precious and valuable of all food found in this Kingdom, yet it is also the
most abundant. I have prepared a dish that represents my love for you and our
beautiful Vietnam. I have cooked it thoroughly then molded it into a round rice
cake, and called it Banh Day as it symbolizes the sky we live under. I have
cooked a square rice cake, stuffed it with cooked bean paste and ground meat in
the middle and called it Banh Chung. This will symbolize the earth we live
on."
As Prince Tiet Lieu spoke his two elder
brothers tried to mask the grandness of their dishes as they now understood the
wisdom of their younger brother in using ingredients that all the people of
Vietnam could have access to. Immediately they fell to their knees in front of
their father and younger brother and bowed at the same time the whole court
bowed to the father and son as everyone knew that Prince Tiet Lieu would make
the finest King to rule after his wise father King Vuong. After that, King Hung
Vuong ordered that this recipe be passed out to all people in his kingdom.
As the result, the Vietnamese custom is
that every year during the New Year celebration, the Vietnamese people cook
Banh Chung and Banh Day and use them as special offerings to their ancestors as
well as special gifts to relatives and friends during the Tet celebrations.
The Banh Chung is very nutritious, has an original tasty flavor and may be kept
for a long time. All of its ingredients and materials, from the green wrapping
leaves to sticky rice and pork, green peas and pepper inside, are all medicines
(according to Oriental Medicine) that act to keep harmony between the positive
and the negative, thus helping the blood circulate well and preventing
diseases.
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