Made from rustic ingredients with simple processing, but ant egg cake of the Tay people in Cao Bang province is a famous specialty, diners are willing to wait all year to enjoy.
Not only famous for its picturesque “charmless water” nature but also the only locality in the country “absence” of Covid-19, Cao Bang province also “holds on” tourists by its rich cuisine. There are many famous delicacies.
Besides famous specialties such as roasted duck, Trung Khanh chestnuts, Banh Xeo, pork ribs… in Cao Bang, there is also a popular but very tasty and nutritious dish that is loved and sought by diners from all over the world. buy annually. That’s the ant egg tart.
As the name suggests, this dish consists of the main ingredients which are the filling made from ant eggs and the crust made of upland glutinous rice flour with young fig leaves.
To make delicious cakes, local people have to go to the forest to find the right nest of small black ants with sharptails, not any other ants. This breed of ants often nests on plants such as bamboo, so it is clean, and when processed, it will be more fragrant and greasy.
In particular, ant egg cake is only made once a year, from about the beginning of April to the end of May of the solar calendar (from the end of February to the end of March of the lunar calendar). This is the time when the black ants grow the most, so their eggs will be rich in nutrients and extremely delicious.
Although it consists of familiar and rustic ingredients, each ingredient that makes up the dish is meticulously selected. The way to make ant egg cake is also quite simple.
As for the filling, one has to wash the ant eggs, remove the excess leaves and then fry them with dried onions. Depending on taste and preferences, some people also add minced pork, crushed roasted peanuts and a few shredded palanquin leaves to the island to make the cake richer and fuller.
In order to make a standard cake crust, eat without getting bored, local people have to use upland sticky rice, large and flexible seeds, clean and then soak in cold water overnight, then drain, grind into powder and knead with water .
Glutinous flour is kneaded by hand until it is very flexible and smooth and then rolled to about half a centimeter. Figleaves also choose young leaves, washed and cut into squares. Put a piece of dough on the fig leaf, put the ant egg in the middle, then roll it up and spread it all around. This stage requires the maker to be skillful so that the crust is not broken, the filling is not exposed and the leaves also cover the whole cake.
The ant egg cake is steamed about 40 to 45 minutes before it is cooked. To enjoy, people cut the cake into small square pieces, eat all the young fig leaves outside, which is quite strange and delicious.
The ant egg cake is delicious to eat hot or cold. Because the whole year only has about a month to enjoy, so diners below often buy ant egg cakes in large quantities to store in the refrigerator to eat gradually. When eating, just bring the cake up to steam or heat it up in the microwave, but the taste is still as delicious and rich as the first.
For many people who enjoy it for the first time, just hearing the name of ant egg cake also feels wary, it is not easy to taste. But those who are used to eating will enjoy, just waiting for the season to enjoy the famous Cao Bang dish.
Some diners who have eaten ant egg cake commented that the dish has a greasy taste from the filling of ant eggs full of milk, combined with a soft cake crust, bringing up the aroma from upland glutinous rice flour, blending with the taste. the cool, sweet sweetness of young fig leaves.
Ant egg cake has an affordable price, about 12,000 – 15,000 VND/piece, depending on ingredients and size. However, not everyone has the opportunity to enjoy this dish. Follow Dân trí