Hue Me Xung candy

Me Xung candy or Sesame candy is an essence of Hue cuisine.

Vo Que – a famous Vietnamese poem wrote:

“Thơm tho mềm dẻo ngọt ngào
Mè vàng bột nhuyễn ôi chao! Tuyệt vời!
Món quà xứ Huế em ơi
Kẹo ngon mè xững tặng người tình chung”

(“Smelling, tender, chewy, sweet

Yellow sesame, well-kneaded dough! Wonderful!

A beautiful gift from Hue

Tasty Me Xung candy for your sweetheart”)

Me Xung is not only a tasty candy to eat but also an important part of Hue culture. It reveals Hue characteristic: calm, peaceful, elegant and rich traditional culture land. For years, Hue people love to chew some sticky Me Xung candy while sipping a bit of tea marinated with lotus blossom harvested from Tinh Tam lake.

Me Xung candy is made from sesame, peanut, rice flour, and sugar. The rice flour used to make good Me Xung must be fragrant, well-kneaded and white. They usually buy rice flour in La Khe commune, Huong Tra district, Thua Thien – Hue province or Sa Dec province (South Vietnam). Peanuts are roasted, cracked in half. Sesames are also roasted until yellow and pleasant. At first, they cook sugar until it reaches a boiling heat they desire. Then they add peanuts and rice flour. The cook must be strong enough to stir the mixture continuously so that the mixture is not burnt. The well-done mixture is poured into molds with a thin layer of sesame, then covered the mixture with another thin layer of sesame. After that, they use knife and scissors to cut the mixture into small pieces. The pieces of Me Xung are wrapped in plastic sheets and packed into boxes. Although the recipe looks simple, it is not easy to make sticky, smelling and lightly sweet Me Xung from familiar ingredients.

Me Xung candy is lightly sweet, chewy, crunchy and smelling. Eating Sesame candy is an art. It needs patience, delicacy, slowness, and calm to enjoy the candy to its fullest. Although a piece of Me Xung is bite-sized, dinner should not eat an entire candy at first bite. The right way to eat Me Xung is eating a little bit while sipping tea and reading a book (or talking to each other).

Sesame candy has become a specialty food of Hue and a great gift from Hue. Coming to Hue, visitors can see hundreds of shops or street food stalls sell this kind of candy.  Some famous Me Xung making workshops which were over 50 years old in Hue are Nam Thuan, Song Hy, Hong Thuan, Thien Huong.

Hue Me Xung Candy

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