NAM DINH – A banh xiu pao shop in Nam Dinh City with an old taste has kept diners for more than 30 years.
Referring to Nam Dinh cuisine, it is impossible not to mention banh xiu pao, a specialty dish that has been included in the Nam Dinh Tourism Manual by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nam Dinh province. No one remembers when banh xiu pao appeared, only know that this cake followed the footsteps of Chinese people to Pho Khach (now Hoang Van Thu and Le Hong Phong streets, Nam Dinh city). The flat, yellow-brown round cake has become a typical gift of the people of Thanh Nam (the old name of Nam Dinh).
Located on Old Guest Street, Hoa Nhung Heirloom Cake Shop is one of the first establishments to produce banh xiu pao, which is mentioned by many elderly locals. Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Huong, head of the residential group No. 1, Nguyen Du ward, said that Hoa Nhung’s banh xiu pao has been over 30 years old. She herself has eaten at the restaurant many times and bought cakes to send to relatives and friends since the shop opened for sale.
Anh Tuan (34 years old) is the third generation of the family to take over the bakery. He said that the family currently has two establishments. The first facility is located at 234 Hoang Van Thu, where the machines are located and the stages of cake processing and shaping are performed. The second establishment that opened later is located at No. 4 Hoang Huu Nam, about 100 meters from the first one, where it bakes and sells cakes. The bakery is open from about 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily.
Mr. Hoa, the second generation of his family, shared that previously, all stages of making banh xiu pao were handmade. After passing it on to his son, Mr. Tuan in 2015, the facility was gradually upgraded with specialized machinery and equipment, helping to reduce labor and increase cake productivity to meet the needs of buyers. Mr. Tuan said that in order to preserve the appearance and quality of the cakes as when made manually, the establishment took a year to learn and set the mold according to the requirements.
Tieu Pao is preferred to eat on cooler days than in summer. Currently, every day the establishment sells about 3,000-4,000 cakes. On weekends, holidays, Tet, the number of cakes sold can double or triple. In addition to selling to retail customers, the establishment also ships cakes to other provinces such as Ha Nam, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, mainly Hanoi.
Hoa Nhung’s buns look like dumplings but are made according to the original Chinese recipe handed down by Mr. Hoa’s father-in-law, the first generation. The filling of banh xiu pao consists of a number of ingredients such as ground pork belly with pomegranate seeds, wood ear, shiitake mushrooms, egg yolk, seasoned with pepper and other spices.
The special feature of Hoa Nhung branded banh xiu is in the crust, which is made from flour and lard, mixed with water in a separate ratio. The dough is then kneaded and rolled evenly, stacked one at a time. When cooked, the crust has 4-5 thin layers of uniform thickness, if lightly squeezed the outer shell peels off.
After wrapping is complete, the cakes are placed on trays and brought to the oven. The cake is baked twice for 20 – 30 minutes at a temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius. After the first baking, the cake is removed, and a layer of egg is spread on the shell to create a natural color.
The finished cake has a golden color, the crust is crispy but still soft, not broken into small pieces. Each batch of cakes that come out of the oven gives off a sweet scent on a street corner.
Each cake is as big as the palm of your hand, priced at 5,000 VND. The cake is small in size but with enough starch and protein in meat and eggs. The wood ear is crispy, the fatty meat is mixed with the spicy taste of pepper with the fleshy taste of egg yolk and shiitake mushrooms.($1=24,000 VND)
“Compared to other places, the cake here is larger in size, thin in shell and fuller. Breaking the cake in half while it is still hot, the smoke and aroma emitted at the same time can knock out the sense of smell of hungry people. belly”, Vu Quynh Chi (28 years old, Hai Phong) said.
The bakery packs 10 cakes per bag. Tuan said, because there are no preservatives, the cake can only be used within a day or a week if kept in the freezer. Before eating, you should put the cake in the microwave to warm up, the cake still retains its greasy, crispy and fragrant taste.
Not only a breakfast dish or a snack in the afternoon, banh xiu pao is also a gift from the countryside to show the affection of the people of Thanh Nam. Mr. Pham Van Hau, 60 years old, Nam Dinh, (photo, left) bought 100 banh xiu pao to send to Hanoi as gifts for friends. He said he has eaten here since he was a young man, nearly 30 years now. “I ate at two other establishments in Nam Dinh but felt the taste was not as good, so I only bought it here to send as a gift,” he said.
In Nam Dinh City, visitors can also easily find shops selling banh xiu pao on Hoang Van Thu, Le Hong Phong, and Nguyen Trai streets.
Photo: Internet (Vinlove.net)