Local artisans prepare and pack pressed cake at their family workshop in Long Hựu Islet, Tây Ninh Province. — Photo: baolongan.vn

TÂY NINH — On Long Hựu Islet in Tây Ninh Province (formerly Long An province), where rivers and canals surround the land, the traditional craft of making bánh in (traditional pressed cake) has been preserved by generations of local families despite the challenges of modern life.

For many residents, the sweet aroma of ripe bananas drying in the sun, freshly scraped coconut, and roasted peanuts signals the start of the bánh in season –a craft deeply tied to the rhythms of rural life.

Phạm Thị Kim Tám, a craftswoman from Cầu Ngang Hamlet in Long Hựu Commune, said she grew up watching her grandmother and mother making the cakes by hand.

“This work is hard but I’m used to it,” she said. “When I was small, I saw my grandmother making pressed cake. Almost every household here knows how to make it, but few still produce it commercially.”

The process requires patience and skill. Bananas must be evenly ripe before being sliced and dried, coconuts are scraped by hand, and ginger is carefully chopped. Although some mechanical tools are available for kneading, key steps such as drying bananas, roasting peanuts, and stir-frying the filling mixture over firewood remain entirely manual. The filling must be stirred slowly for an hour over a steady flame – rushing the process can easily spoil the flavour.

The cake moulds are also special, often carved with traditional dragon and phoenix motifs. “These moulds were passed down from my mother,” Tám said. “It’s now very difficult to find new ones on the market.”

Bùi Văn Oanh, another resident from Long Ninh Hamlet, said only a few dozen households in Long Hựu still make bánh in for sale, mostly to acquaintances or visiting tourists.

A traditional wooden mould featuring a phoenix pattern used for making pressed cake in Long Hựu Islet, Tây Ninh Province. — Photo baolongan.vn

“Pressed cake from Long Hựu has a distinctive flavour, so even without much advertising, we still have regular customers,” he said.

In recent years, as Tây Ninh Province has promoted community-based tourism, the traditional craft has gained renewed attention. Tourists can visit local homes to observe and join in the process – kneading the dough, pressing the cakes, and hearing stories about the history of the craft.

“Visitors enjoy it a lot. They like taking photos and learning how it’s made. It’s a way for us to both sell our products and preserve our ancestors’ trade,” Oanh said.

Located at the intersection of the Vàm Cỏ and Rạch Cát rivers, Long Hựu Islet was once an important trading stop on the regional river network. Today, the area’s serene landscape and cultural heritage make it an ideal site for developing eco and community tourism.

Crisp and fragrant, pressed cake from Long Hựu captures the sweetness of sun-dried bananas, the richness of roasted peanuts, and the warmth of ginger – a humble yet enduring connection between the islet’s past and its future. —  VNS