Soft and fragrant Vinh Hoa Chung cake

(Baonghean.vn) -No one remembers exactly when the banh chung craft in Vinh Hoa (Hop Thanh - Yen Thanh) appeared, but according to the old men and women in the village, since the war, a small number of women in the village made a few dozen of them every day and carried them to the market to sell. Because at that time, food was banned from being processed into noodles and cakes. Therefore, banh chung in Vinh Hoa - (Hop Thanh - Yen Thanh) was stopped for quite a long time.

After the opening period, people across the country and the province have many opportunities to develop their economy. As a Catholic region, with a special feature of going to the market and doing small business, Vinh Hoa people are determined to restore the cake making profession. Initially, it was banh chung and banh tet, then due to customer demand, Vinh Hoa now also has banh mat and banh gai. It is known that in 2012, Vinh Hoa had 384 people participating in the bun banh craft village with an average income of 24.7 million VND/person/year.

Mr. Nguyen Tho - Vice Chairman of Hop Thanh Commune People's Committee said: The restoration of Vinh Hoa agricultural processing craft village brings many benefits to the people. First of all, the craft village has created jobs, stabilized people's lives, eliminated hunger and reduced poverty, increased economic growth and is also a driving force contributing to the restructuring of the agricultural and rural economy. In addition, the restoration of the craft village really meets the needs and aspirations of Vinh Hoa parishioners - because this is a craft passed down from fathers and grandfathers, and is very much supported and welcomed by the people. The economy is developing, the village roads and alleys are clean and beautiful. There are no more temporary or leaky houses; the village and neighborhood relationships are increasingly strong and close-knit. In particular, the rate of students passing the entrance exams to universities and colleges is higher year after year.

Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh is wrapping Chung cakes for Tet.

Visiting Vinh Hoa in the last days of the year, I could feel the bustling atmosphere, urgently preparing for Tet Quy Ty 2013. In every house, I saw dong leaves, green banana leaves, green bean bags, white sticky rice piled up in the corner of the house... Ms. Hoang Thi Chau is nearly 40 years old this year but has been working since she was 5 or 6 years old. Ms. Chau said: in this village, no one is without work. Children go to school one day, stay home to wipe leaves the other day, the elderly split bamboo strips, and young men and women clean sticky rice, make fillings, wrap cakes, cook cakes and bring them to import. Following this cycle, day after day, month after month, Vinh Hoa cake village seems to be more bustling because today there are houses importing cakes from Con Cuong, Nghia Dan, Tan Ky, and even Cua Lo, Vinh.

Currently, there are many establishments and villages making banh chung in the whole province, but Vinh Hoa banh chung has its own flavor. Talking to Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh - a parishioner with more than 20 years of experience in making banh chung, he confided that he did not want to choose any other profession because he loved this job, moreover, every time he sat down to wrap banh chung, he felt like he was wrapping his whole homeland, wrapping the love of the countryside people into each cake. I laughed, saying that he said it so poetically, but thinking about it, I realized that Mr. Khanh was right. Because green banh chung is made from the main ingredient of sticky rice - the scent of the fields and the wind, with green bean filling, and a piece of pork belly soaked in dried onions, pepper... All are made by the hands of the working people.wrapped in dong leaves, then a layer of banana leaves, and finally another layer of green dong leaves. The cake is not only for worshiping ancestors but also for heaven and earth, the kitchen god, and the god of land and wealth, so the cake must be delicious and pure.

Mr. Khanh's family's banh chung shop.

For Vinh Hoa people, banh chung has become a familiar dish. It is always available in the house, whenever guests come to visit, they are treated to banh chung, green tea... and around the story, in the end, it all comes back to how far the banh chung has been to their village, or how many banh chung their village will wrap this Tet.

From 4 or 5 pm, the whole village gathers to wrap the cakes until 8 pm when they light the stove and cook the cakes; from 1 to 2 am, they scoop out the cakes, and from around 4 to 5 am, the whole village wakes up and calls each other to go sell and import the cakes. The atmosphere in the village is always as joyful as Tet.

In the flickering light, Ms. Chau's face seemed happier: Every year when Tet comes, we have to work all day and all night, but we're used to it so we don't feel tired, the more people order the cake, the happier we are. Normally, it's about five yen, but during Tet, it's several tons of sticky rice. This year, if you need to order banh chung, just call me, someone will bring it to you. Ms. Chau smiled and quickly gave me her phone number and also reminded me: Remember, it's Khanh - Chau's banh chung!

Saying goodbye to Vinh Hoa, we all felt happy with the joy of the parishioners of the cake village. And we firmly believe that Vinh Hoa banh chung will become a "specialty" known as Vinh eel porridge, Nam Nghia tamarind meat, Nam Dan soy sauce, Hung Chau peanut candy ... when we have the opportunity to return to Yen Thanh, Nghe An!

Thanh Thuy