Soft and fragrant Quy Chinh vermicelli and cake

(Baonghean) - In the cold of the last days of December, the production atmosphere in Quy Chinh vermicelli and rice noodle village, Van Dien commune (Nam Dan) is even more bustling. On the concrete road running throughout the village, there are rows of white rice vermicelli drying in the sun, shining brightly. Every household is actively producing to ensure the supply of goods to serve the rapidly increasing market demand before Tet...

Perhaps anyone who comes to Quy Chinh for the first time cannot help but be surprised by the modern "urbanization" of an agricultural village with large, spacious high-rise buildings of various colors stretching across the entire craft village. The owners of these beautiful houses are farmers who work hard on their fields and the traditional craft of making vermicelli and cakes. In front of the yard of the two-story blue house that was just completed last year, the whole family of Mr. Nguyen Van Hoai is concentrating on loosening the vermicelli to dry, making more than 100 kg of rice every day, and as soon as they produce, customers come and buy all of it. Only when customers do not buy all of it in bulk will Mr. Hoai's wife have to take it to the market to sell.

In December, consumption is strong, so there is no need to worry about backlog. Mr. Hoai's family has been doing this business for more than 20 years. Thanks to hard work, they have been able to raise 6 children to be educated and grown up. Now, the children have started their own families, and 3 children continue to carry on the traditional vermicelli making business. Every year, Mr. Hoai's family maintains 6 sao of rice fields to serve as food and to proactively source delicious rice to make vermicelli and rice noodles. Thanks to the source of delicious, clean rice, they make chewy vermicelli and rice noodles that are loved by customers.

Mrs. Chin's family in Quy Chinh 1 hamlet, Van Dien commune (Nam Dan) drying vermicelli

Visiting the family of Mrs. Phan Thi Chin in Quy Chinh 1 hamlet - one of the households that make a lot of vermicelli in the craft village. It was almost 12 noon, the family members were still diligently spreading the vermicelli on trays to dry. Mrs. Chin said: "There are only 2 weeks left until Tet, so these days the market demand for rice vermicelli has increased sharply while the prolonged rainy weather has affected the drying of vermicelli, so production cannot meet the needs of customers. December every year is always the busiest time of the year for craftsmen, because when Tet comes in the countryside, almost every household needs to store a few kilos of dried vermicelli for convenient use during the Tet holidays. Therefore, the villagers take full advantage of their time, working at full capacity to produce the most products."

From the beginning of the 11th lunar month until now, Mrs. Chin's family has produced more than 200 kg of dried vermicelli every day, selling out as soon as they make it. Although they are busy with work all day, the whole family is very happy because their products are well received by customers. Every day, traders come to pick up the goods to sell in the markets of neighboring districts, Vinh City, and even to the Ha Tinh market. 100 kg of rice can make 90 kg of dried vermicelli, with a wholesale price of 15,000 VND/kg. If the weather is favorable, 200 kg of dried vermicelli can be produced each day. After deducting expenses, Mrs. Chin's family earns a net profit of 500,000 VND.

The origin of Quy Chinh vermicelli making comes from a girl from Nam Loc commune who married and moved to Van Dien and brought the vermicelli making craft to this land. That woman is Mrs. Luu Thi Truc, who is 100 years old this year. Mrs. Truc said that in the past, around 1960, vermicelli making was banned because of rice shortages, so they had to make it secretly at night. The vermicelli that was made was only sold within the house, but if it was taken out of the alley, the police would arrest and confiscate it. Whenever they secretly brought it to the market to sell, they had to hide the vermicelli under the bottom of a basket covered with several layers of banana leaves, but it was still discovered many times...

In the past, making rice noodles by hand was hard and time-consuming, but the noodles were soft and fragrant, and you could rest assured. To make delicious noodles, you had to first soak the rice for 3 days, then wash it, then pound it in a mortar to make it into flour, squeeze out the water, continue to wrap the flour and press it dry, boil the flour, then pound the flour again, and twist the noodles, which was very hard work. Every family loved to eat noodles, exchanging 1kg of rice for 2kg of noodles, but Mrs. Truc's family did not have the strength to do it all! Especially on the occasion of the 2/9 holiday every year, Mrs. Truc's whole family had to make noodles all night long, the two eldest brothers pounded rice vigorously all night long, and the two sisters helped their mother twist the noodles. But there was still not enough noodles to serve the needs of the people in the commune. Many households even brought meat to exchange for noodles, Mrs. Truc had to reduce her family's portion to give priority to the neighbors...

Recalling that period, Mrs. Truc's voice is still clear: "At over 70 years old, I still walked to carry 20 kg of vermicelli to Quan market, Cau market (Vinh) to sell, many days I even carried vermicelli to Con market (Thanh Chuong), until I was 80 years old and my health was so bad that I could no longer carry the goods, so I stopped working. However, all 8 children followed their parents' footsteps to do the family's traditional job, making vermicelli has given their children and grandchildren a warm life. Now the craft village is developing vigorously, the demand for consumption is strong, vermicelli and glass noodles are bought and sold continuously every day, the villagers who make vermicelli with machines no longer have to work hard to pound rice all night like before..."

People of Quy Chinh Craft Village dry vermicelli in their yard.

Quy Chinh vermicelli and cake craft village in Van Dien commune (Nam Dan) was recognized by the provincial People's Committee in 2005. Up to now, the village has about 200 households making vermicelli, rice vermicelli, and wet rice cakes. In this craft village, almost every household is involved in the craft and the vermicelli and cake craft has brought a stable life to the majority of people here. In the hamlet, there are 12 vermicelli production machines specializing in providing services for the villagers, processing an average of 3 tons of raw rice per day to make vermicelli. Remembering the old days, after finishing the rice flour, each household used a ruler and a knife to cut the vermicelli, each household only made a few kilos of rice a day, but it gradually supported the craft. Then came the time when there was a hand-cranked machine to roll the vermicelli, then a belt-driven generator attached to the hand-cranked shaft... until now, the grinding, steaming and rolling system runs on electricity. The craftsmen started out simply to earn a living but have created a passion for the craft. Quy Chinh vermicelli is made from rich country rice grains. The rice is milled and pressed into powder and then steamed and rolled. The dry powder is not pounded and then mixed with water and rolled like other places, so the vermicelli strands are firm and chewy. Vermicelli is a product that can be kept for a long time and is transported and consumed throughout the districts in the province.

Along with dried vermicelli, Quy Chinh village's rice noodles and wet rice cakes have long been famous and highly praised by customers. Quy Chinh wet rice cakes have regular rice cakes and rolled rice cakes, and vermicelli also has regular rice noodles and leaf rice noodles. From 3-4 am when everyone is still in deep sleep, the village is bustling with the sounds of laughter and selling of owners and visitors. Quy Chinh wet rice cakes are spread thinly and smoothly by women, cut horizontally and vertically into even pieces, then their hands fold and roll hundreds of them like a silkworm basket.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, Vice Chairman of Van Dien Commune People's Committee added: Quy Chinh village has many children who go to work abroad, so the speed of house construction is strong, here many high-rise buildings are built close together like in the city. The village roads have also been concreted, clean and beautiful. However, the good news is that in this craft village, people have built their own drainage systems with tight covers, some households collect wastewater for livestock farming, so it does not smell as bad as many noodle villages in other localities. Moreover, in the current context of alarming food hygiene and safety, clean products made from home-grown rice without preservatives or other by-products such as rice vermicelli are preferred by consumers.

Leaving Quy Chinh village when it was just getting dark, in the drizzling rain of the last winter day of the year, it was still warm with the flickering fires of the craft village preparing products for tomorrow...

Quynh Lan