Without flashy signs or lavish seats, the boat drifting shop on De To Hoang Street (Hanoi) is just a simple float cake, having been on the street for more than 20 years.
The float cake shop does not have a signboard, selling nearly 1,000 pieces of cake for 3 hours
Drift boat “expensive” especially when the weather changes from autumn to winter, whether it is sold on the street corner or on the menu of a culinary restaurant, it still retains its shape to ingredients.
The driftwood balls flooded with ginger-flavored sugar water are perfect for cold days. Lightly roll the piece of cake, take a spoonful of the ginger-scented sugar water, it’s winter.
In Hanoi, there are countless restaurant drifting cakes, from Hang Giay, Hang Can, Hang Dieu, Bach Mai … with affordable prices, from 15,000 VND to 20,000 VND / 1 bowl of floating cakes including 3 cakes.
But to find the rustic, traditional flavor of this gift, it is impossible to ignore the boat drifting shop on De To Hoang Street. Because perhaps, only when sitting at roadside stalls or going deep into the alleys, eating and feeling the cold of the weather can people fully enjoy the delicate, rustic taste of the dish. this.
With no flashy signs or lavish seats, the boat drifting shop on De To Hoang Street is just a simple floating cake, which has been on the street for more than 20 years. The owner of the bakery named Van. Previously, Ms. Van used to carry goods as a peddler, until later she came here to sell.“It is like squeezing pictures”, every 3 pm, Ms. Van is busy carrying the pot of cake to a familiar selling place, many patrons are already waiting to enjoy.Put down the load, the owner of the silver dot quickly wiped the bowl, wiped the spoon and scooped the cake for the guests. About 15 minutes later, the guests started to get crowded.Ms. Van Anh (Cau Giay, Hanoi) said: “I have been eating here for a long time, usually on weekends I come in person, but on weekdays I often order online. The salty taste of the cake with the sweetness of ginger juice blends together very well, making people not bored, but they are addicted to eating.Diners gathered around the cake pot, enjoying it while wondering why the owner could distinguish between the salty and the sweet, because each ball was round, the same.
Ms. Van quickly answered: “The cake I made, why do not know, on each cake there are” symbols “that only I understand.
Ms. Van inherited her husband’s family’s traditional boat drifting profession, yet over 20 years of preserving the rustic taste, bringing Hanoi’s soul every winter.
The shop only sells from 3am – 6pm. Every day, the owner also prepares 4-5 boxes of floating cakes (equivalent to about 1000 cakes), 1 barrel of areca tea, 1 barrel of black bean tea, 1 barrel of cassava tea. Every day they sell out.
Ms. Van’s floating cake has 3 types of filling: Mushroom meat, black sesame and green bean. Each bowl of floating cake usually has 3 mixed cakes, topped with coconut milk, fragrant roasted black sesame seeds, crushed peanuts and shredded fresh coconut. The aroma of homemade coconut milk and the pulp of black sesame, peanuts will make the cake float more comfortably.
The ingredients for making floating cakes are also easy to find, close to: sticky rice, green beans, black sesame, old ginger, sugar, pork, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear fungus.
The cake is smooth, flexible, and quickly dissolves in the mouth. Diners should enjoy slowly to feel the sweetness of green beans, black sesame. Put a teaspoon of cake and a spoonful of sugar water in your mouth, your throat will be hot, the heat mingles with the sweetness of sugar water that stays in your stomach, dispel the cold of winter.What makes the difference in each boat float shop is the taste of sugar water. In order for the sugar to be delicious, fragrant, unmistakable, Ms. Van must choose old ginger, cooked with molasses sugar to have honey color. The juice is not too sweet, but the spicy taste of ginger to drown out the cold of winter.
In addition to the boat drifting cake, Ms. Van’s goods also include cassava tea, black bean tea, and areca flower tea. Tapioca tea has pearls with coconut, black bean tea and areca tea cooked with thick consistency. Although these dishes do not sell “well” by drifting cakes, Ms. Van still cooks and sells for customers to have more choices.
The cake pot is placed on the stove of embers, simmering, smoky, attractive. The spicy and sweet scent of ginger juice makes expatriates miss their homeland whenever winter comes.
Weekend afternoon is gathered with loved ones by the side of the pot of floating cakes, eating rustic food and chatting, whether it is Hanoi or far away visitors, will surely feel more love in winter here.
Besides boat drifting ship, in Hanoi also sells vegetarian floating cakes all year round, especially on the occasion of the Han Thuc New Year (the 3rd, 3rd lunar month of each year). The white round cakes, wrapped with sugar (molasses) are neatly arranged on the plate, with prices ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 VND / plate.
Walking on the streets of Hanoi in the winter afternoon, the aroma of old ginger radiating from the pot of driftwood cakes at the end of the street is enough to make you feel warmer.
