Hug people believe that the best companion for their famous lotus tea is mè xửng (sesame candy). They take a sip of tea and a bite of the candy so that the rich sweetness of sesame complements the scented bitterness of tea.
The ingredients of mè xửng (moulded sesame) include sesame (mè), peanuts, white cane sugar, and rice powder. La Khê Village in Hương Trà District outside Hue and Sa Đéc in Đồng Tháp Province make the finest rice powder. The mè xửng chefs boil sugar in a pot and add fried, half-broken peanuts and rice powder, then stir the mixture hard with two heavy sticks so that the candy does not stick to the pot. After some time, they pour the paste into moulds and cover the candy with a layer of sesame. They let the paste cool and then cut into it into square or rectangular pieces. The finished product is yellowish-brown, translucent, soft, and flexible with a strong sesame flavour.
Nowadays, sesame-candy makers diversify their products into varieties that are crisp, decorated with black and white sesame, and with differing proportions of peanuts, sugar, and rice powder.