Day Cake is a popular type of cake that can be found all over Vietnam, but the Day Cake known as “Pau Plau” in Lao Cai is quite a unique dish. It is made solely of rice, but its deliciousness has been tested and acknowledged by many travelers who have been to Lao Cai.
The rice is soaked with water for approximately 2 hours; it is then poured into a basket to strain out the water. Next, it is steamed to make glutinous rice. When finished, the glutinous rice is ground. This is an especially demanding process as the cook has to grind and apply oil into the mixture of glutinous rice at the same time. After the glutinous rice reaches a certain degree of stickiness, it is cut into smaller pieces and can be eaten right away!
Day Cake can be preserved for about one week. If you want to make it last longer, you have to press the cakes so that they become flatter and apply dry rice powder around them. When eating, you can heat them again or put them into a hot pan and fry until they get a yummy yellow color. Banh Day is a tasty dish, but it is even more delicious if you eat it with sugar. You will then realize that each bite of the soft “Pau Plau” Day Cake has the typical scent and taste of a mountainous land.