Banh phu the or Husband and Wife cake is a popular food in Hoi An Vietnam. It’s simply made with rice flour, tapioca flour, mung bean, sugar and all steamed then. This is a must have item in Vietnamese weddings because it symbolizes the fidelity between husband and wife. Now, let’s HoiAn Day Trip Company provide all information about Banh phu the or Husband and Wife cake.
You may also like: Specialty Food in Hoi An, Specialty Food in Da Nang, Specialty Food in Hue Vietnam
• Content by Tam Le, founder of HOIAN DAY TRIP CO.,LTD
• Designed by Giang Cong Minh, co-founder of LS E&C LTD and his team
• Photo by Dang Cong Loi, Dao Xuan Son, Tam Le & others
Must Knows about Banh Phu The (Husband and Wife Cake)
– Other name(s): Su Sue cake, Wedding cake
– Origin: southern Vietnam
– Where to find: local markets in Hoi An, street vendors
– Ingredients: rice flour, tapioca flour, mung bean, banana leaf, sugar
– Time: anytime during the day
– Price: 10,000 VND/cake
– Callories:
– Travel blog: https://hoiandaytrip.com/banh-phu-the-husband-and-wife-cake-hoi-an
– Fact:
Name of Banh Phu The
In Vietnamese language, Banh phu the means ‘Husband and Wife cake’. This name originates from a story in which a local girl makes this cake to send her husband traveling in the sea. For that reason, Vietnamese people consider it as a symbol of fidelity between husband and wife. In a wedding ceremony, it’s a must have item. Number of cakes is always two and the cakes are tied together to symbolize a long and close-knit relationship.
Ingredients & How to Make Banh Phu The (Husband and Wife Cake)
Banh phu the or Husband and Wife cake is made by rice flour, tapioca flour, mung beans, and banana leaf. Flours and beans will be bought at local markets. Banana leaf is taken from banana trees growing in the garden of an artisan’s house or in the village where they live.
Here are steps to make the Vietnamese Banh phu the (Husband and Wife cake):
Step 1: Soak mung beans in fresh water for many hours and then wash them carefully. Boil, grind by hand or machine and then mix with sugar. Make small mung bean balls to be filled later.
Step 2: Mix the rice flour and tapioca flour with fresh water to make a dough.
Step 3: Pick a small piece of dough, flatten it, and place the mung bean ball in the middle, and then make a pyramid-shaped cake.
Step 4: Wrap the cake in banana leaf and then steam.
Where to Eat Banh Phu The (Husband and Wife Cake)?
Visitors need to go to local markets in Hoi An, such as the Hoi An Central Market or Tan An Market (Tiger Market) and then find vendors to buy Banh phu the (or Husband and Wife cake). No restaurants or stores or bakeries sell it. It’s possible to buy one cake only, instead of a bag or a dozen.
How to Eat Banh Phu The (Husband and Wife Cake) Like A Local
Local people just eat Banh phu the or Husband and Wife cake without anything else. The cake has chewy taste from rice and tapioca flours and sweet taste from mung bean filling.
Better to Know about Eating Local in Hoi An
– Local family-run restaurants always serve better local foods than tourist restaurants. Places inside small alleyways potentially are hidden gems. The price is even more affordable at these lesser known spots.
– Restaurants where you can see a queue or crowds, food or drinks there are absolutely better or safer than others. Vietnamese people also avoid places without people eating, such as roadside eateries.
– Hot foods are often safe to eat for non-Vietnamese people. Refuse cold food (especially ones sold on the street, markets) or things you don’t see people cooking.
– Make sure that you learn some basic Vietnamese words or sentences to order foods, such as xin chao (hello, hi), cho toi mot (something) (I want one…), toi an chay (I am vegetarian), khong cay (no spicy), cam on (thank you), tam biet (goodbye) or numbers (mot/one, hai/two, ba/three, bon/four, nam/five, sau/six, bay/seven, tam/eight, chin/nine, and muoi/ten).
– Ask any local people you know (tour guide, driver, hotel receptionists, bellmen, etc) to receive their recommendation for good places to eat local.
– Raw vegetables are popularly used in local dishes, such as noodles or noodle soup or sandwich. They are often washed by tap water or unwashed. If can not drink tap water, remove or refuse them. Likewise, in most iced drinks (such as coffee or herbal tea), people add ice made by tap water also.
– On the 1st day and 14th-15th days of each lunar month, Hoi An citizens eat vegetarians. Many local restaurants and street businesses will be closed by that.
– If you don’t eat pork or beef, due to diet or religious restrictions, be careful when want to try local food here, if don’t see the ingredient description. Pork and beef are very popular meats, so they will be in numerous dishes. Street vendors may say ‘no pork’ or ‘no beef’ for better business, but please check before buying!
– Consider joining a food tour guided by locals who know much better about dishes in the city, including things never mentioned in guidebooks or on the internet.
– If have an allergy (milk, egg, peanut, wheat,…), ask anybody you know before trying or search for ingredients on the internet. By the way, fish sauce is popularly used to marinate Vietnamese foods, so make sure that you know this information if you’re fish allergic.
– Food portion (or size) here is often not really big (locals prefer eating with their family at home). You may try double or some different dishes for main meals.
– If don’t see the price on the menu, please ask in advance to avoid overcharging, especially when you are not a local. In Vietnamese, how much is bao nhieu.
– Most popular cutleries are chopsticks and spoons. To know how to use it, browse here
