Beside pale half-moons of chả lụa (Zha low-ah), or pork sausage, the dark-leafed bindles each contain a treasure. These translucent chewy tapioca dumplings, traditionally filled with shrimp and pork (and also shown below), are called bánh bột lọc. Rather than spell out a poor suggestion of the sound, let me point you (once again) to Forvo, an invaluable pronunciation dictionary crowdsourced from speakers of hundreds of languages.
Some languages on Forvo, to be sure, offer very few speakers and pronunciations; Vietnamese is well-supplied with both. What's more, a small map pinpoints each speaker's location within the homeland (or, when appropriate, a diaspora). In the case of bánh bột lọc, you can compare one pronunciation from the North of Vietnam with two from the South.
Previously, while celebrating the Year of the Horse: If you've ever portioned out a gooey cheese, you'll understand a traditional ribbon-cutting that is not so much ceremonial as it is practical. Glutinous rice is a principal ingredient used in making both banh tet and banh chung, which also include fillings such as mung beans and marinated pork, alone or in combination. The chief difference between the two seems to be their shape: the cylindrical banh tet is more associated with Vietnam's South, the rectangular banh chung, with the North. After rice is packed around fillings, each banh (loosely, "cake") is wrapped in leaves (banana leaves are common), tied with bamboo fibers, string, or plastic ribbons, and boiled.
Once cooled and unwrapped, the banh tet and banh chung must be sliced for serving. A knife would do the trick, but the blade would need to be constantly wiped clean of glutinous goo. It's handier, once the leaves have been removed, to loop the ribbons around the rice cake and pull them tight; they cut just as cleanly. The individual segments, whether savory or (relatively) sweet, can be eaten as is — but I now understand that day-old banh tet and banh chung are very tasty when pan-fried, provided that you pair them with Vietnamese pickled vegetables.
Also shown from that previous celebration: an on-demand calligrapher in classic garb, employing not only traditional pen, ink, and paper but also a latter-day electronic resource for looking up rarer characters.
Vietnamese Lunar New Year Celebration of Mekong NYC
St. James Recreation Center, 2530 Jerome Ave. (at West 192nd St.), Bronx
www.Facebook.com/events/1698376506849038
(The 2018 celebration was held on February 17)
