Bloating fern – shaped cake, specialty from Hue

Bloating fern – shaped cake is a type of cake considered as a specialty of Hue, which attracts people for the white and soft of the flour, the eye – catching colors of live ground shrimp, dried pigskin and green onion.

The ingredients used for making bloating fern – shaped cake are quite simple. They include rice flour, tapioca flour, dried pigskin, ground shrimp, green onion and oil.

The cover of the cake is made from rice flour and tapioca flour. Mix the two flours with water. The appropriate proportion is 150 grams of rice flour mix with 100 grams of tapioca flour and 3 cups of cold water.

Add some salt and monosodium glutamate and pour a little oil into the flour mixture so that the cake will be soft, wet and easy to be taken out. Then, stir them all steadily.

The filling of the bloating fern – shaped cake includes fried dried pigskin or minced meat. Ground shrimps and green onion with fat will be poured over the cake.

Boil and then grind the shrimps. Fried garlic and onion first, then put ground shrimps in, add some spices and dried until the shrimps dry. Also, fry the dried pigskin until it is yellow and crunchy, and then cut it into small pieces.

Cut green onion into small pieces, and then pour boiling oil over. Doing so will make the onion cooked but still keep the green color.

The next step is steaming the cake. Boil water in a large pot first, then put small bowls one after another in a mould and steam the bowls for a little while. Remember to coat the bowls with a little oil to make it easy for taking the cakes out when they are done.

When the bowls are all hot, spoon flour into each bowls, and steam until the cake is pure white.

Put the bowls of bloating fern – shaped cake on a tray, then put ground shrimps, fried dried pigskin on, pour onion with fat over.

Sauce is an indispensable factor when enjoying the bloating fern – shaped cake. After boiling the shrimps, keep the water, deposit the sediment, add sugar and boil it again. Then, add fish sauce, garlic, chili and the sauce for the dish is ready to use.

Coming from Hue, bloating fern shaped cake now becomes very popular and is widely preferred. The dish has brought to people a typical flavor in the cuisine culture of the ancient capital.

Source: SGGP