Sweet and fragrant grilled pork rolls from Beo village

The original name of cha lam was “dong dinh”, then the locals mispronounced it as “dong dinh”, but perhaps because of its difficult and special pronunciation, after many times of “changing the name”, this rustic gift sounds smoother and simpler with the name “cha lam”. Looking back to the origin of the word “dong dinh”, the word dong means to close, the word dinh means to mold, “dong dinh” means to close into a mold.

Cha lam has become a popular hometown gift. Photo: Le Gam

Nowadays, Cha Lam is not only available in Quynh Hau but it is easily found in many places. However, no place has the special flavor like Quynh Hau Cha Lam. To have a "proper" Cha Lam dish, it requires skill, patience in the processing and meticulousness in the preparation of ingredients.

Previously, in the 10th lunar month, the golden sticky rice would be harvested, threshed, then steamed, dried, and stored until the 12th lunar month, when it would be taken out, the husks broken, the rice roasted, and pounded into powder. On the 28th and 29th of the Lunar New Year, along with sticky rice flour, molasses, ginger, sesame, and peanuts would be processed.

Currently, sticky rice flour is pounded by machine through two stages: the sticky rice is pounded to cook, then pounded into fine powder, mixed with peanuts, sesame, ginger, dried coconut and molasses. Ingredients such as peanuts and sesame must be fragrant, delicious and rich. Ginger should be selected from small ginger roots, moderately spicy and aromatic, then crushed; Molasses must be golden. Flour and molasses are mixed in the ratio: 2 kg of sticky rice flour - 1 liter of molasses, other ingredients depend on each person's recipe when processing.

After mixing well, the finished product is put into a wooden mold and left to cool for 8 hours. Photo: Le Gam

In the process of making grilled pork rolls, the step of reducing the molasses is the most important and requires the most concentration. Add the molasses and crushed ginger to the pot, use a thick cast iron pot to prevent it from burning or sticking when cooking. Heat over medium heat until the molasses boils, then reduce the heat to very low and reduce the molasses for 30 minutes from the time it boils until the dough is mixed.

During the process of condensing honey, prepare a wooden mold lined with banana leaves or a clean plastic layer. Check if the honey is ready by dropping a drop of honey into a bowl of cold water. If it solidifies, the honey is ready. Then add the ingredients to the pot and stir well so that the ingredients and honey blend together into a uniform mixture with a honey-yellow color. After condensing the cake, pour the mixture into the mold, set it for 8 hours to let the lam cake solidify, then cut it into large or small molds according to each person's preference.

Peanuts and sesame are indispensable ingredients to create the fragrant and rich flavor of cha lam. Photo: Le Gam

The finished product has a honey yellow color, the sweetness of honey and sticky rice, the nutty taste of peanuts and sesame, the spicy taste of ginger and the fatty aroma of dried coconut. According to the taste of Quynh Hau people, when eating cha lam, you must have a pot of strong tea. In the cold weather, enjoying cha lam seems to be the best dish.

For those who live far from home, Cha Lam carries the flavor of their homeland. When I was a kid, I only made it during Tet or when someone had a death anniversary or a holiday. The kids would gather around and wait for the pot to be finished so they could scoop it up, competing with each other happily, smiling with their eyes squinting. Nowadays, people make it a lot not only during Tet but also on normal days.

If in the past people made it mainly to eat in the family, to give to each other on holidays, to bring far away as gifts from home, now due to people's needs, cha lam is also made for sale. After enjoying it once or twice, many people cannot forget the taste and order in large quantities, from which cha lam has become a business item that brings a stable source of income for local people.