Kids voices – Talk Vietnam

The ready-made ingredients to make Han Thuc’s festival specialties has been plenty in both local and online markets for expats in Hanoi to buy and delight their children at home with a Vietnamese cooking lesson. Hanoians often make two types of sweet dumplings - banh troi (floating dumplings) and banh chay ( sweet mung bean dumplings) - on the third day of the third month of the Lunar year, to worship their ancestors. Making these eye-catching banh troi and banh chay can be a joyful moment for mothers and children. Photo: The Vietnamese sweet dumplings made by To Hung Giang. Han Thuc Festival or the ‘Cold Food Festival’, falls on 14 April this year. Even though not many people are knowledgeable about the festival’s origin, it’s still considered important among all the Vietnamese rituals. As special dishes made exclusively for Han Thuc festival, banh troi and banh chay as well as their ingredients are sold at every market throughout the country in the days leading up to and during the festivals. Expats in Hanoi can buy the ready-made ingredients and delight their children at home with a Vietnamese cooking lesson. In these modern days, savvy working housewives don’t have time for the time-consuming task, so they prefer to buy banh troi and banh chay at food stalls in the market. But like many things, the best are home-made. The colouful dish of Banh troi made by To Hung Giang. Banh troi are small white dumplings made from glutinous rice flour stuffed with brown sugar. The most important stage of making banh troi is the shaping. Cooks pinch a little dough and flatten it out, place a brown sugar ball in the middle and roll it into a smaller ball of about three centimeters in diameter. The cook heats the water to the boiling point, then cools it down a little bit before dropping some rice balls in, then boils again. When the balls float to the surface of the pot, they’re taken out with a ladle and …

HANOI PERFORMANCE SiaM vol 7: Wolfie! 8 – 10 pm on April 16 “Schubert in a Mug” (SiaM) is a classical music project started in August 2020. SiaM includes a series of performances combined with talking/conversation organized in small and medium-size venues, with the aim of creating an intimate, cozy atmosphere where both artists and the audience share their love, curiosity, and stories related to classical music. ReConnect – Concert: Frankfurt in Hanoi, Hanoi in Frankfurt 7pm on April 12 Goethe Institute 56-58-60 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ba Dinh District, The concert focuses on works written after the 1960s that do not rely on precise pitch or perfect unison and that do not prescribe an exact duration or specific instruments, etc. These pieces are scored with graphic elements or mere text, allowing and even intending for each musician and ensemble to create a whole new interpretation and sound entirely different from any other performance of that same piece. Les Miserables 8 pm on April 16 – 17 The musical is a perfect combination between theatrical choreography, music, acting and body language. Audiences coming to the musical will cry and laugh together, and immerse themselves in the world of the characters through vivid melodies, sometimes emotional, sometimes powerful and fierce. Price: VND 500,000 – VND 700,000 – VND 1 million – VND 1.2 million – VND 1.5 million EXHIBITION Exhibition: Eyes without a Face The exhibition area inside the Japan Foundation library 27 Quang Trung, Hanoi Eyes without a Face is a project co-organized by the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam and Manzi Art Space, with support from the Goethe-Institut, and other organizations, individuals and close friends. ‘Virtual Private Realms’ Exhibition Manzi Art Space 14 Phan Huy Ich Street, Ba Dinh District, The exhibition ‘Virtual Private Realms’ brings together the works of 7 artists: Lananh …

Hanoi special sweet dumplings for Han Thuc Festival

April 12 – 18: Les Miserables in Hanoi