Young sticky rice flake and cake from Vòng village

The green young sticky rice flake - one kind of snack for pleasure of Hanoians.

The green young sticky rice flake (or "Cốm") of Vòng village has long been an autumn delicacy of Hanoi. As fall comes, people in Vòng village use lotus leaves to pack young sticky rice flakes, just to make the food more flavoring and attractive. Lotus leaves and young sticky rice of Vòng village have always been a nice couple, which is a good reminder of Hanoi life for those who are living away from the city. 
The young sticky rice grains are greenish, glutinous and fragrant which is only found in immature sticky rice. The art of making cốm has been passed from generations to generations of local artisans to create such an elegant food rich in the characteristics of the ancient capital city.

Hanoians always enjoy Cốm with bananas and persimmons

The gastronomers eat Cốm of Vòng village with either some tea from Thái Nguyên, some persimmons or bananas. The fresh, green young sticky rice goes very well with the red persimmons, forming a nice couple.

Young sticky rice flake wrapped in lotus leaf

It is hard to make cốm; and it is not at all easy to eat cốm in the right way to feel the full delicacy. Cốm is only a snack for pleasure, so it is advised to enjoy it gradually and chew thoroughly, may be with some persimmons or bananas. The flavor and taste of cốm will be so pleasant that one may feel as if he is standing right in the vast field of milky rice grains.

Meat pies from Cốm

People now make ice-creams, meat pies and cakes using dried cốm, of which the cakes have become a specialty of Hanoi.

Nguyên Ninh young sticky rice cake - a specialty of Hanoi

The cake is shaped in a flat square and wrapped in banana leaf, tied by bamboo strips dyed in lotus-pink color. Bánh Cốm is now used for the engagement ceremony, whereby the family of the groom-to-be brings many bánh cốm to the bride-to-be’s as a gift, and the cakes will then be brought to all relatives and friends as part of the invitation. Bánh Cốm is also used as an offering to be placed on the altar for ancestor worshipping during Tết holidays.

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