(Baonghean.vn) - This is the busiest time of year for the banh chung wrapping village in My Thanh block (Dong Vinh ward, Vinh city). The aroma of sticky rice, bean paste, meat, pepper, ripe dong leaves... blends together and spreads throughout the entire neighborhood.
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| My Thanh block (Dong Vinh ward) has more than 10 households making banh chung for Tet. In the photo: Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong is known as the "king of banh chung" with more than 40 years of experience in the profession. She buys dong leaves in large quantities, washes them, and drains them before wrapping. |
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| The sticky rice used to wrap the cake is Thai sticky rice, fragrant and sticky. Before cooking, the sticky rice is washed thoroughly and drained for about 1 hour. |
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| Normally, Mrs. Huong's family starts making banh chung to serve Tet from the 20th (lunar calendar) to the 30th (lunar calendar). Each banh chung weighs one kilo, measured in a bowl. |
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| On the occasion of the Kitchen God worship (December 23), the number of cakes ordered to be wrapped is up to 3,000. On the days close to Tet, on average, 1,000 to 1,500 cakes are wrapped per day. Mrs. Huong's family had to mobilize more than 20 people to wrap cakes, mainly relatives, but it was still not enough to supply customers who ordered cakes. |
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| The wrapper must be skillful and experienced in putting in the filling, pouring the sticky rice and rolling the leaves so that the cake has a beautiful shape. |
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| With the selling price of 50 thousand for a banh chung, 60 thousand for a banh tet, the main customers are regular customers in Dong Vinh ward, Quang ward, Trung ward, Le Mao ward... |
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| My Thanh Tet Chung Cake has become a "brand" for consumers in Vinh City. The job of wrapping cakes for Tet has brought in over a hundred million VND in income for families here each year. |
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| Wrapping cakes while talking and joking has created a cozy atmosphere of a big family during every Tet holiday in this craft village. |
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| In addition to wrapping the cakes, the cooking process is also very important. Each pot contains 120 banh chung and cooks for 7 hours, so you have to be on hand and add water regularly to make the cakes cook evenly and taste better. |
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| Each banh chung stove has 10 honeycomb coals at the bottom and 100g of coal on top, so the fire will be big and even. |
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| For the people of My Thanh, the profession of making banh chung and banh tet has been associated for a long time, closely associated with each person's childhood. |
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| 1,000 cooked banh chung cakes are carefully arranged in a dry place before being delivered to customers. |
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| With 25 years of experience in the profession, Mr. Vo Van Minh (54 years old) shared: “My family wraps banh chung from the 20th day of the lunar month, because that is the time when people far from home order banh chung as gifts, to worship Tao Quan… This year everything is expensive, the capital outlay is large, so the price of banh chung is also more expensive than last year.” |
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| Banh chung is enjoyed by the wrappers and cooks right on the spot, when the cake is just cooked. These days, because of being busy and racing against time to deliver the cake on time, many families "fight hunger" with the products they have just made. |
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| My Thanh banh chung and banh tet are trusted by customers, who come to pick up the cakes on every Tet holiday. |
Wang Yun
