Noodle village in Nghi Hoa

(Baonghean) - In early May 2014, Nghi Hoa commune (Nghi Loc) received the Certificate of recognition for the craft village "Production and processing of agricultural products and food" in Hau Hoa and Trung Thanh hamlets, awarded by the People's Committee of Nghe An province. This is a "leverage" to help the craft village create a new direction and develop sustainably...

Together with Mr. Nguyen Dinh Duong, Deputy Head of Trung Thanh Hamlet, we visited the vermicelli production facility of Mr. Nguyen Van Duc - one of the pioneers in investing in a vermicelli production line system. Standing next to the shiny, clean stainless steel machines, Mr. Duc happily said: “My secret to making delicious vermicelli is encapsulated in 4 words: “white rice, clear water”. In the past, the vermicelli making job was not only difficult but also very elaborate. From the first step (selecting rice) to the last step (making vermicelli into noodles) it went through 13 stages in about 7 days. The clever secret is to keep the vermicelli from sour (in winter, you can leave the vermicelli for 2 days, in summer, leave it for 1 day). Anyone who follows the profession knows that you have to soak the flour thoroughly, change the water many times, in summer, soak the rice for at least 3 days, in winter, 7 days, but not every household can make vermicelli that meets the standards of “fragrant, chewy, crispy”. Now, machines replace the hard steps, shorten the time, and increase productivity 10-15 times compared to making vermicelli by hand”.

Recalling the past, Mr. Nguyen Van Toan (in Hau Hoa hamlet) shared: Now, we don't do it by hand anymore, so it's less difficult. In the past, we did it by hand, and each day the whole family could only grind 10 kg of rice. In the morning, my wife carried it to sell at the markets around the area. Now that we have machines, we can make a few hundred kg of vermicelli every day. The same type of machine and the same type of rice, but the quality of vermicelli is different because of the flour processing stage. First, the rice must be dry like Khang Dan, the most taboo is sticky rice. The rice is washed, dried, naturally fermented, and then soaked. Mr. Toan compared: Making wine, making tofu, and making vermicelli are three cousins, they must be naturally fermented to be delicious. Many people rumor that the chemicals used to process rice are not for fermentation, which is unfounded. During the process of soaking rice, just by feeling and smelling, the craftsman can know whether the fermentation is at the right level or not. Currently, my family produces about 70 kg of rice per day on average. In the summer, when the products sell better, the production increases to 100 kg. After deducting raw materials and electricity costs, the profit is about 200,000 VND.

Rice vermicelli production in Trung Thanh hamlet, Nghi Hoa commune (Nghi Loc).

Nghi Hoa vermicelli has been famous since ancient times not only for its delicious taste but also for its production process, which does not contain any additives. Therefore, when information about some households using additives in this or that place was exposed to the public, it made the villagers very upset. “We always put reputation first in our profession. The story of “one bad apple spoiling the barrel” also affects the reputation of the profession to some extent. Now that the economy is better off, many households here have invested in modern machinery, closed production processes, and expanded factories, so food safety and hygiene are more guaranteed.” - Mr. Nguyen Van Duc shared.

In addition to the traditional product of vermicelli, over the past 10 years, Nghi Hoa people have been proactive in learning and processing new products to suit consumer tastes such as rice vermicelli, banh chung, banh nep, banh da, candied peanuts... Having just finished the last batch of rice vermicelli to dry in time for the day's goods, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thong (Trung Thanh hamlet) said: Now the vermicelli production process is closed, handled by machines, but the skills and techniques of the people "into the machine" are also one of the factors that determine the quality of the product. This means that the stage of putting the flour into the pressing machine must be enough for the rice to cook so that the vermicelli strands will be white and chewy. The vermicelli will be shiny, fragrant and more delicious when exposed to the sun. The vermicelli making profession depends a lot on the weather. If working at full capacity on sunny days, each machine will average 200 - 220 kg of rice/day, producing about 1.8 - 2 quintals of vermicelli.

According to statistics from Nghi Hoa Commune People's Committee, the commune currently has 157 households participating in the profession; of which 51 households produce vermicelli, 7 households produce vermicelli, 21 households produce peanut candy and 71 households make banh chung and banh nep. The total production value in 2013 reached 6.4 billion VND, an increase of 9.7% compared to 2012; the average income per capita reached nearly 21 million VND/year. Particularly for the profession of making vermicelli and dried vermicelli, up to now, more than 10 households have invested in purchasing specialized machinery (an average of about 60 million VND/vermicelli production line, 20 million VND/rice vermicelli production line) to expand production. For households producing confectionery and cu do candy, along with using machinery to replace traditional manual methods such as raw material mixers, cutting machines, bag welding machines when packaging... production facilities have also paid more attention to food safety and hygiene. Some manufacturers have registered trademarks for their products to compete in the market.

Mr. Dang Tho Thien - Vice Chairman of Nghi Hoa Commune People's Committee said: Every day, each household producing vermicelli and cakes discharges at least 3 m3 of wastewater from rice soaking water. Due to poor treatment leading to environmental pollution, to solve the pollution, the commune organized meetings with people in Hau Hoa and Trung Thanh hamlets. After many meetings, they agreed to establish an environmental sanitation fund, each person pays 2,000 VND/month to establish a team to collect garbage from households to the commune's garbage collection garage. At the same time, from the loan capital of the National Program on Clean Water - Environmental Sanitation to mobilize people to build works: bathrooms, water tanks, toilets...

Being recognized as a craft village is an opportunity for Nghi Hoa people to further consolidate the brand value of their products after many years of building and preserving the craft. At the same time, it helps the local government build the craft village to develop more and more firmly, thereby creating conditions for economic development and stabilizing the lives of the people. However, in addition to the achieved results, the organization of production in some establishments is still scattered, the production space is narrow; the wastewater treatment system, although invested in, is not yet synchronized... In order for the craft village to truly develop sustainably, the local government needs to plan concentrated production areas, mobilize and guide people to treat waste during the craft process reasonably and long-term, ensuring the criteria for building new rural areas.

Ngoc Anh