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Nghe An farmers stay up all night to cook molasses for Tet

Huy Thu • January 1, 2025 18:24

These days, people in the Bien beach area of Xuan Duong commune (Thanh Chuong) are entering the season of pressing sugarcane to make molasses. The fragrant smell of molasses makes us feel that Tet is getting closer.

The Bien beach area, now in Duong Bac hamlet, Xuan Duong commune, is a locality with a long tradition of growing sugarcane and making molasses. Currently, many households in the area are still attached to the profession. Sugarcane here is planted at one time and harvested 4-5 times. Photo: Huy Thu

Previously, the sugarcane pressing tools were primitive, pulling the cover and cooking the molasses was quite difficult. Now, thanks to the press, sugarcane pressing has become simpler. However, in the whole village, only 2 households bought high-capacity presses, both for their own household and for the villagers at the price of 100,000 VND/pan of sugarcane juice. Some households that do not take their sugarcane to press use mini presses to press sugarcane at home. Photo: Huy Thu

Families who buy machines for service purposes often build a molasses furnace next to the sugarcane press, consisting of two cast-iron pans and one firewood-burning door. Families who transport sugarcane to be pressed must carry firewood to the furnace to cook molasses. Locals say it takes four hours to cook one pan of molasses, so cooking molasses is quite wasteful of firewood. Photo: Huy Thu

Each ox cart can usually squeeze 1-1.5 pans of sugarcane juice. When cooking sugarcane juice, you must skim off all the dirty foam floating on the pan. Local people often use a shallow sieve made of cloth or tulle to skim off this foam. Photo: Huy Thu

Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh (55 years old) - a woman with experience in making molasses in the village shared: Her family grows 3 sao of sugarcane, last year they pressed 30 pans of sugarcane juice, cooked 750 liters of molasses. This year the sugarcane is good, the trees are big, and will surely yield more molasses. According to Ms. Binh, the dirtier the sugarcane, the more foam there is when cooking molasses. From black foam, it gradually turns to white foam, peach foam. If the foam is skimmed off carefully, the finished molasses will be bright and beautiful. Photo: Huy Thu

When the molasses pan is cleaned of dirt and foam and boils over, people here often use a thin metal rim with a handle to cover the pan to "frame" the molasses, preventing them from spilling out. Some households also use metal barrels containing rice as a rim to cook molasses. Photo: Huy Thu

Each molasses furnace can only cook 3-4 batches (6-8 pans)/day. Each household only harvests a small amount of sugarcane, enough to squeeze 2 pans of sugarcane juice for one cooking session. From one household to another, the cooking process begins. On December nights, beside the molasses furnace with its flickering fire, people stay up all night to help each other "watch the fire", skim off foam, scoop molasses, roast potatoes and cassava, and eat together with joyful laughter until late at night. Photo: Huy Thu

The fire in the furnace must be kept stable. If the fire is too young, it will take a long time to cook. If the fire is too old, the honey will easily burn and scorch. Mr. Nguyen Si Toan - Head of Duong Bac hamlet said: Bai Bien honey is famous in the district. In recent years, the sugarcane growing and making honey here has improved more than before. His family is the largest sugarcane grower in the hamlet, each season they can press about 100 pans of honey. Photo: Huy Thu

When the pan of molasses boils, turns to a caramel color and gives off a fragrant aroma, the molasses cooking is complete. Depending on whether the cook wants thick or thin molasses, the heat can be increased or decreased. Mr. Nguyen Cong Cuong - the owner of a molasses cooking furnace in the village said: A full pan of sugarcane juice can cook about 20-25 liters of molasses. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_10..jpg — The freshly cooked pans of molasses are poured into pots, pans, plastic barrels, etc., and transported home by buffalo cart. The sweet peach foam floating on the molasses pots can be used to dip potatoes, rice paper rolls, etc., and is a favorite dish of many people. Photo: Huy Thu

Bien beach molasses is sweet, thick, can be stored for a long time, can be used to make candy, cakes, pastries and spices in many delicious dishes for Tet. The products made by the locals are mainly supplied to the people in the area at the price of 50,000 VND/liter. The season of pressing sugarcane and cooking molasses brings income and joy to the local people and evokes many memories of the Nghe An countryside: "The sound of che che is bustling when December comes/The smell of dried sugarcane bagasse fills the way home". Photo: Huy Thu

Sugarcane pressing season to make molasses at Bai Bien. Video: Huy Thu

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