Nguyen or Nguyen Xa village, in Dong Hung district, Thai Binh province is famous for water puppetry and “Cay” cake. Legend has it that in the old days, “Cay” cake was made by Nguyen Thi Tan, a daughter of the Nguyen Cong clan, and served only during the lunar New Year. Lady Tan was born in 1724 and was ordained as a mandarin in 1739. She created a new cake with five spices to offer to the King who later named the cake “cay” because it is the color of a fiddler crab’s egg.
According to Nguyen Van Manh, a “cay” cake maker in Nguyen village, many steps are involved in making the cake but preparing the ingredients is the most important step. Manh says the first step is to mix rice, baby jackfruit, gardenia fruit, peanut, sesame, ginger, dried melon, pork fat, and sugarcane together and then slice to make “fiddler crab” paste.
After cooking, all the ingredients are pressed in a mould and cut into pieces. The techniques sound simple but not everyone can make “Cay” cake. Every family has its own secret recipe.
Nguyen Huu Chinh, a Cay cake maker in Nguyen Xa village said “My family has been making “Cay” cake for more than 50 years. The craft of making “cay” cake has been in our village for more than 100 years. The cake has become popular with tourists. We now make “cay” cake all year long, not just during Tet”.
In Nguyen Xa village, hundreds of households make “cay” cake. Each has a slightly different flavor. “Cay” cake makers face a lot of competition, but the villagers are not discouraged.
Mr. Chinh said “Sometimes, our trade is very difficult. Sometimes, we may start to feel discouraged but then we remember that it’s our traditional craft handed down by our ancestors and we have to maintain it. Many people are invested in promoting our traditional cake. “Cay” cake has found a foothold in the market. I will never give up this trade which has brought us a living.”