Rich taste of Ke Gam wet rice cake

(Baonghean.vn) - Anyone who has the opportunity to visit Xuan Thanh, Yen Thanh district (Nghe An) to enjoy the specialty of Ke Gam village's wet cake will never forget the rich flavor of this Dong Chiem product.

Banh muot is one of the rustic dishes of locals and tourists when coming to the rice homeland of Yen Thanh. Photo: Thai Duong

At around 3am, when everyone was asleep, the households making rice paper in Ke Gam village started their work for a new day. In the family, each person had a job, some scooped rice to grind into flour, some lit the wood stove, and the women were busier with the steps of making rice paper.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thinh - Hamlet 3, Xuan Thanh Commune shared: "Making cakes is also hard work, having to stay up late and wake up early. If you want to have many customers, the first factor is that the quality of the cakes must be guaranteed. Previously, the flour milling process had to be done manually, using a stone mortar to grind, which took a lot of time and effort. Now, rice is milled by machine, the flour is finer and much faster.

Due to the increasing demand of the people, on average, 50-60 kg of cakes are made every day, sold right at home. In addition to regular customers in and outside the commune, there are also many people from Vinh and Hanoi who order cakes, some even bring cakes to the southern provinces as gifts from home. On holidays, the number of customers coming to buy is very large, the family has 3 people working but still can't keep up."

Ms. Le Thi Oanh is considered a rice cake making artist in Ke Gam village. Photo: Thai Duong

When talking about the rice paper of Ke Gam village, we cannot help but mention Mrs. Le Thi Oanh, who has been making rice paper for nearly 70 years. She has been involved in this profession since she was 10 years old, and her mother passed on the secret to maintain the famous brand until today.

Although she is 80 years old this year, she is still faithful to her profession, honing her craft and passing on the secrets to her descendants. She said that to make a delicious cake, one must first be very careful in every step, from choosing rice, grinding rice, spreading the cake and adding onions and fat to create the seasoning.

There are many types of delicious rice to make cakes, but the most popular is still Khang Dan rice, because the starch of this type of rice has high expansion and moderate stickiness, the cakes are also chewy and do not break.

After soaking for about 2-3 hours, the rice is scooped out of the sour water and put into the machine to grind, but the amount of water and flour must be appropriate and a little chopped fresh green onion mixed in before being put into the oven.

According to Ms. Oanh, each kg of rice only needs to make 3 kg of finished cake, which is enough, the cake will be bigger, better quality, and the product price is also reasonable, only 12 thousand VND/kg. However, the most important step is still the stage of coating the cake with steam through a thin, sealed cloth.

In addition to maintaining a stable temperature from the wood stove, the requirement for the person making the cake is to work quickly, spread the dough evenly, not too thick and not too thin, the pot lid must be tight and only opened once when removing the cake (In about 2 minutes, the rice flour will cook into a cake, if skillfully removed and rolled evenly, the cake will be delicious).

If the maker is not used to it, taking the cake out too soon after rolling will break it. If it is left too late, the cake will be soggy, not tasty, difficult to transport and cannot be kept for long.

An indispensable spice in banh muot is dried onion, chopped and fried with lard, but it must be crispy and fragrant enough to spread thinly on the outside of the cake, creating a delicious feeling, but not boring.

To have a delicious cake, in addition to carefully preparing the ingredients, it requires diligence, hard work and skillful hands of women. Photo: Thai Duong

Currently in Ke Gam village there are nearly 20 households doing the job, the laborers are mainly women. On average, each day, these households consume 15-20 kg of rice, deducting all expenses, earning 200 thousand VND, not including by-products to develop livestock farming.

Nowadays, Ke Gam village's wet cake products are not only sold in rural markets, but customers from many places have increasingly come to Ke Gam village to enjoy this rustic dish with the rich flavor of the rice fields.

Mr. Le Van Hai - Chairman of Xuan Thanh Commune People's Committee, said: Promoting the advantages of a purely agricultural area, with the Gam Ru spiritual eco-tourism area, to create an impression for tourists when coming to Xuan Thanh, the commune has promoted and mobilized people to develop the traditional rice cake making profession, associated with ensuring food safety and hygiene, moving towards building a craft village, both serving tourism needs and increasing income for people.

Sun