Fragrant and soft Lien Huong vermicelli and cake

(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 is baked, giving off a delicious aroma.

The craft of making rice vermicelli and cakes in Thanh Lien has existed for a long time. According to the villagers, a few hundred years ago, when Thanh Lien started having Chua market and 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 rice vermicelli and cakes. At first, there were only a few households making rice cakes at the market, gradually expanding to surrounding households, becoming a "father-to-son" craft, the products also gradually diversified, in addition to rice cakes, there were also vermicelli, pancakes, nam cakes, and especially wet cakes. 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.

Those who have “experienced” the profession 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 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 cement mortar became a close companion in the afternoons helping 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 State 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, because they did not have money to buy it like they do now. Having absorbed 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 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, and then light a fire to make rice noodles. There are hardly any red fires burning 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 customers nearby 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. That is just banh muot. 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, waking up at 3am to take the dough to make vermicelli. To have delicious white vermicelli, the craftsman also has to work 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, the sour water must be separated, replaced with clean water, when the dough is fermented enough, it is poured into a bag, pressed until it is dry and hard, then boiled, when you can put your finger in one finger deep, it means the dough is cooked, taken out and cut into pieces, then mixed with dry flour, kneaded evenly. A large military pot full of boiling water has been prepared, the dough is kneaded, pressed into vermicelli, dropped into the pot of boiling water, when the vermicelli floats, it is scooped out, washed with cold water to firm the vermicelli. Now, with the machine, when the dry powder is available, just bring the powder to the dealer, one pound of powder will be put into 1 kg of "bun bait", and it will be mixed without going through the boiling process.

Every day, Ms. Thanh's family makes 400 kg of rice, which produces 100 kg of vermicelli, 100 kg of rice produces 2.80 kg of banh muot, and also makes banh duc and banh dau. Like other households in the craft village, she absolutely does not use preservatives. "We measure the daily consumption to avoid surplus, and 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 our 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 mushy.

In many cases, agents have had to "compensate" for buying rice that is not of guaranteed quality, not the right type of rice, the noodles are mushy and inedible. When having good rice, when washing, you have to scrub the outer bran thoroughly, scrub 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 noodles must be ground very finely, the finer the flour, the thinner the cake, the more delicious it is, so people in Lien Huong village always try to make thin cakes. When making cakes, you also have to know the right amount, not to let the cake cook too much or let it be too hard. With the simple "secrets" passed down from generation to generation, Lien Huong noodles 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 craft 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 hygiene, and the environment. 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 the quality of products 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 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 hygiene and safety. 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, 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