Art oan cake attracts customers

For a long time, oan cake has been not just a traditional food, but also an essential offering in Vietnamese religious ceremonies. The use of skilled hands and imagination to create creative works has boosted the value and attractiveness of ancestor worship trays.

Ms. Tran Thi Thanh’s artistic creations are in high demand.

Art oan cake, which has been on the Phu Tho market for about a year, has emerged as a new product that many people welcome and purchase around the holidays, New Year’s, and the start of the year. Ms. Nguyen Thanh Tinh (Gia Cam ward, Viet Tri city) stated, "During holidays such as Tet, the full moon day of January, or the Vu Lan festival, my family frequently prepares offerings to worship ancestors and Buddha at the start of the year. In addition to incense, flowers, five fruits, and other gifts, we make oan cake trays as well. The oan cake trays are elegantly adorned and in the shape of lotus flowers and peaches. The price is reasonable, so I buy them to express my thanks to my forefathers".

Art oan cake are intricately and methodically created in the shapes of phoenixes, lotus flowers, and peaches.

Oan cake is comprised primarily of sugar and yellow flower sticky rice. Sticky rice is roasted till golden, pulverized fine, blended with refined sugar, food coloring, and grapefruit essential oil, then shaped and decorated. Unlike conventional oan cake, art oan cake feature wide and rich designs, gorgeous hues, and are lavishly and precisely adorned, with shapes like as peacocks, phoenixes, lotus towers, peaches, money jars, and other symbols that represent prosperity, luck, and prosperity. Decorative materials for art oan cake range from real flowers to silk flowers embellished with leaves, pearls, and glitter. Unlike conventional oan cake, this sort of oan cake can be kept under hot circumstances. Dryness might continue up to twelve months. The typical price of each art tray is between VND300 thousand and VND1.5 million, with intricately adorned trays costing several million VND depending on the customer’s demands and economic situation.

Along with the five-fruit tray and fresh flowers, oan cake is an essential contribution on the Vietnamese worship platter.

Ms. Tran Thi Thanh (Mai Son I neighborhood, Tien Cat ward, Viet Tri city) joined the National Fortune Art Association in 2023 and has been studying, producing, and trading art since then. She says, "Along with a tray of five fruits and beautiful flowers, oan cake is an essential present. Each piece reflects the maker’s craftsmanship and elegance. The items have spiritual importance as well as excellent creative beauty, therefore they attract buyers not only in the province but also in other places such as Vinh Phuc, Hanoi, and Lao Cai... ordered."

If burned incense sticks indicate ceremonies, flowers convey natural beauty, and are genuinely emblematic of homeland products, then oan cake is pure white, made from sticky rice, yellow flowers, and pure white sugar. Refinement of essence is the crystallization of creativity via the working hands of people. Artists have used their ingenuity to add new colors to traditional meals, helping to propagate the beauty of culinary art and Vietnamese worship practices, maintaining and promoting the value of Vietnamese cultural identity...

Thuy Phuong