Fragrant and soft Lien Huong vermicelli and cakes

(Baonghean) - In the afternoon, in the Lien Huong vermicelli and cake village, Thanh Lien commune (Thanh Chuong), every kitchen is on fire. Next to the pots of smooth white flour, under the skillful hands of the women, each batch of rice cakes comes out of the oven, giving off a delicious aroma.

The craft of making vermicelli and cakes in Thanh Lien has existed for a long time. According to the villagers, a few hundred years ago, since Thanh Lien started having Chua market, Giang market, and a road was opened from Highway 7 to the commune, people from all over came here to gather and settle in hamlets, including people from Yen Thanh and Dien Chau who brought the craft of making vermicelli and cakes. At first, there was only the craft of making rice cakes sold in the market with a few households doing it, gradually expanding to surrounding households, becoming a "father-to-son" craft, the products also gradually diversified, in addition to rice cakes, there were vermicelli, pancakes, banh nam, and especially banh muot. Up to now, Lien Huong villagers have made nearly ten types of rice cakes, consumed and loved throughout the Cat Ngan region.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (Lien Huong, Thanh Lien, Thanh Chuong) makes rice paper.

The “veterans” in the village now, few do not remember the difficult childhood days of the subsidy years. When they reached secondary school, they had to follow their parents to make vermicelli and cakes. Mr. Tran Van Tam in hamlet 10 Lien Huong said: His family has 9 children, he is the 8th child. When the older sisters got married one by one, leaving only two brothers, the cake making profession was also “transferred” to the hands of two boys who were at the age of eating and sleeping. One day he went to school, the other day he stayed home to make cakes. Back then, there were no machines like today, the mortar made of cast cement became a close companion in the afternoons to help his mother.

Not only grinding flour, many days he also helped his mother make rice paper until 9 or 10 o'clock at night before opening his book to study, so that the next morning his mother could carry the rice paper across the Giang River to Chua market to sell early. He recalled that in the 1960s, due to food shortages, the government banned people from making rice paper. Villagers had to go to Do Luong to buy mills at night, hiding them in bags to transport. When the rice paper was made, people in the surrounding area brought rice and paddy to exchange, not having the money to buy it like now. "Absorbing" the profession, after finishing secondary school, Tam dropped out of school and stayed home to help his parents make rice noodles and rice paper. When he was old enough to get married, thanks to the profession, he and his wife were able to build a spacious house very early, raising 3 children to adulthood.

The process of grinding flour to make cakes.

Making rice noodles and cakes is not hard work but it is a joint job. The women in the village, after the morning market, start soaking the rice, then 3-4 hours later grind and soak the flour, drain the water, then light a fire to make rice noodles. There are hardly any red fires from 3-4am like in the old days, but every household’s kitchen is red from late afternoon, until 10pm to have rice noodles for nearby customers in the commune, even from other communes such as Phong Thinh, Thanh Nho, Thanh Hao… who come to buy. At night, the rice noodles are made, covered with a lid, and brought to the market the next morning to sell. That is just rice noodles. In this village, most households with the profession make several types of rice noodles and rice noodles at the same time.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (Hamlet 10 Lien Huong) said: In the afternoon and evening of the previous day, she made banh muot and took the opportunity to make dozens of banh duc to sell at the market the next morning, and at the same time pressed the dough. She got up at 3am to make vermicelli. To have delicious white vermicelli, the craftsman also worked hard. In the summer, the dough only needs to be soaked for 3 days, but in the cold winter, the dough must be soaked for 5-7 nights to ferment. During those days, every day she had to separate the sour water and replace it with clean water. When the dough was fermented enough, she poured it into a bag, pressed it until it was dry and hard, then boiled it. When she could stick her finger in it for a finger's length, it meant the dough was cooked. She took it out and cut it into pieces, then beat it with the dry flour and kneaded it well. A large military pot full of boiling water was prepared, the dough was kneaded and pressed into vermicelli, then dropped into the pot of boiling water. When the vermicelli floated, she scooped it out and rinsed it with cold water to firm the vermicelli. Now, with the machine, when the dry powder is available, just bring the powder to the dealer, 100g of powder will be put into 1kg of "bun bait", mixed immediately without going through the boiling process.

Every day, Ms. Thanh's family makes 400kg of rice, which produces 100kg of vermicelli, 100kg of rice produces 2.80kg of banh muot, and also makes banh duc and banh dau. Like other households in the craft village, she absolutely does not use preservatives. "Just measure the daily consumption level to avoid surplus, make more on holidays and Tet. Watching on TV, I heard that this place or that place uses bleaching chemicals to help preserve the product longer, but in this village no one does that. It is both to maintain the reputation of the craft village and to pass on virtue to children and grandchildren" - Ms. Thanh shared.

To have delicious and clean products, the people here also have "secrets" that anyone who asks is willing to share. First of all, the rice must be delicious and white. In the craft village, families all use "5-number rice" supplied by agents from the northern provinces. According to the workers, this is a type of rice that has cracked grains before being harvested, the rice grains are round and white, more expensive than other types of rice but makes very delicious vermicelli and cakes. The rice is bought and mixed with Khang Dan rice in a 50-50 ratio, because if only Khang Dan rice is used, the product will be hard, and "5-number rice" alone will still be chewy but wet, the two types of rice mixed together in a certain ratio will produce a vermicelli and cake product that is both chewy and dry, not soggy.

In many cases, agents have had to "compensate" for buying rice that does not meet quality standards, the wrong type of rice, and the vermicelli noodles are soggy and inedible. When you have good rice, when washing it, you have to scrub the outer bran thoroughly, washing until the water is clear and white, because the cleaner the noodles are, the brighter and more beautiful they are. The flour used to make cakes and vermicelli must be ground very finely, the finer the flour, the thinner the cake, the better, so people in Lien Huong village always try to make thin cakes. When making cakes, you also have to know how to make the right amount, not to overcook the cake or let it become hard. With the simple "secrets" passed down from generation to generation, Lien Huong vermicelli and cakes are always favored by people around the area, many people who live far from the village, in the Southern provinces or in the North, still do not give up the profession and make a prosperous business thanks to the profession in the new land.

Currently, Lien Huong vermicelli and cake village has 54 households working in the craft, with about 80 workers. Recently, the village has been recognized by the province as a craft village. Mr. Phan Ba ​​Ngoc, Chairman of Thanh Lien Commune People's Committee, said: To be recognized, the village has ensured quite well the factors of food safety and environmental hygiene. The construction of the craft village, in addition to the purpose of creating conditions for people to increase their income, is also to preserve a traditional profession passed down by their ancestors, and at the same time to let people see that they can live comfortably from the profession, from which they can develop and expand other professions in the area. Before and after the recognition of the craft village, our point of view is still how to improve productivity, scale and efficiency, but at the same time must still maintain product quality and the reputation of the craft village. Therefore, although it is possible to expand the scale of production, the commune as well as the people do not advocate placing too much emphasis on this issue. As a “commodity” product, it cannot be kept for long, nor can it be transported far away without the use of additives and preservatives, so the people of Lien Huong vermicelli and cake village still stick to the traditional way of making it, ensuring food safety and hygiene. Thanks to that, after a hundred years, the village’s products are still popular.

Leaving the craft village when it was dark, around the simple houses, white smoke rose up, lingering. As simple as the products of the village from rice, the people here still maintain their sincerity and enthusiasm, making visitors want to come back after just one visit.

Phu Huong