Unique drinking laws in the capital of Nghe An's rice wine

(Baonghean.vn) - With nearly 20 groups producing wine in jars operating regularly, Chom Muong village, Mau Duc commune, Con Cuong district, Nghe An is currently the place producing the most wine in the western part of Nghe An. Not only that, this Thai village also has a wine drinking law with strict principles.

Chom Muong village women are taking care of their group's jars of rice wine.

One hundred people make rice wine

Chom Muong is about 6km from the center of Con Cuong district town. This Thai village has long been famous throughout the highland areas of southwestern Nghe An as a place that produces large quantities of rice wine, supplying not only the highland people. Rice wine from Chom Muong village has been carried by buses to Vinh provincial capital, to Hanoi... Foreign visitors who come to implement projects to support the economic development of the village also show interest. "They also buy it as a gift to bring back to their country," shared a long-time rice wine brewer.

Chom Muong village has more than 200 households specializing in farming. Sticky rice is also the main ingredient for brewing rice wine. Ms. Vi Thi Dieu, head of the village's Women's Association, shared: "Since I came to the village as a daughter-in-law, I have seen women brewing rice wine. In 1989, I became the head of the Women's Association, in charge of the village's rice wine production team, and was taught the craft by the elders. Since then, despite the difficult roads and the long distance by ferry, many people have come to buy rice wine in Chom Muong village." Currently, the village has nearly 20 rice wine production teams, each team has 7-15 members, mainly women.

Chom Muong villagers mainly use rice to make wine, which will make the wine stronger.

Many places use cassava to brew wine, but Chom Muong villagers mainly use sticky rice. The yeast for brewing wine is completely natural. “Everyone has their own secret, but wine yeast is made from sticky rice and wine. In addition, there are some forest leaves, each person’s own secret. Sugarcane leaves, soft jackfruit leaves, and dried ripe jackfruit are also indispensable because they make Chom Muong wine sweet like sugar,” according to Ms. Vi Thi Dieu.

October of the solar calendar every year is the season for making rice wine of the Chom Muong people. The village has over 190 women's association members, of which 160 people participate in this work. The Chom Muong women choose this time to make rice wine because it is the time when farming work is over...

Jars of wine need to be brewed very carefully, it can be preserved for a whole year without fear of bitterness.

To have a satisfactory batch of wine, Chom Muong women must prepare months in advance. After squeezing the yeast into balls, they dry it in the sun until it becomes moldy, then mix it with sticky rice and clean rice husks and ferment it in a jar. After 2 weeks, the rice begins to turn into wine. But it takes one to three months to drink. A jar of wine from Chom Muong villagers can be preserved for years. The longer the wine is kept, the better it tastes.

"Laws" on drinking alcohol in Chom Muong

Not only is Chom Muong village famous for producing rice wine in the mountainous region of Nghe An, it also has its own unique and very disciplined drinking rules. That is why people call the rice wine drinking parties of the highlanders “hoi”.

A drinking party is started with a certain number of people. Usually 6, 8 or 10 people. The amount of wine is calculated by the volume of wine in a buffalo horn. A “cham” who does not participate in the drinking is assigned to pour the wine. The cham will ask how many horns the group should drink.

After reaching an agreement, the “cham” poured wine from the buffalo horn until the jar was full and shouted “pour cham, new cham”. The group drank together and shouted: “Please cham” and started sucking the wine with the straw. Only when they had drunk enough “buffalo horns” would they give it to the next group.

The wine produced by Chom Muong village is not only for sale but also for the villagers to use during festivals. (illustrative photo)

The most exciting part of the Ruou Can festivals are the competitions between the groups. Usually between men and women, hosts and guests. These “fiery” competitions often take place at weddings, the Great Unity Festival (November 18), Tet Nguyen Dan… In the end, neither the winner nor the loser is at a disadvantage. The fun often ends with happy laughter.

Only those who drink illegally will be punished. That is, forgetting to say “mội sâm” (inviting guests) or smoking weed in front of older people. Those who do not drink “beautifully” (i.e., smoke weed without enthusiasm) will be punished by drinking double the amount of wine horns of the entire group.

According to Ms. Chi, the head of the Chom Muong village women's association, this strict drinking rule stems from the impressive "alcohol tolerance" of the women here. The women in this Thai village with the lowest alcohol tolerance can still drink up to 5 horns, each horn containing 250 - 300ml of wine. However, this is a light type of wine, so it rarely makes people drunk like drinking distilled wine.

Ms. Dieu added: Ruou can festivals usually only take place on happy days. “No one drinks on working days. You see.” Ms. Dieu laughed heartily, pointing to the terraced fields. Many people from Chom Muong village were in the fields harvesting the crop.

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong