Tho Son molasses

(Baonghean) - When the weather cools down, the vast sugarcane fields in Anh Son begin to yield harvest, which is also the time when the molasses pressing season in Tho Son commune (Anh Son) enters the Tet season. Famous for its delicious taste and beautiful color, molasses here is favored by many consumers.

At the end of the year, when the rural people are busy with the harvest, the famous molasses kilns in Tho Son are on fire all day long. Sugarcane is pressed for molasses all year round, but this time of year is the busiest. Because the demand for molasses often increases at the end of the year, especially during the Lunar New Year.

We were present at the molasses furnace of Mr. Ngan Van Ha's family in village 4 at a time when the family was operating at high intensity, the molasses pressing machines were running at full capacity. With more than 10 years of experience in the profession, Mr. Ha shared: To process a liter of molasses is a complicated and laborious process. The most difficult step is pressing the sugarcane. In the past, it was done entirely by hand and used the pulling power of buffaloes and cows, so it was very hard and time-consuming. In recent years, people have invented sugarcane pressing machines, so the work has become easier.

Sugarcane is transferred back to prepare for pressing to extract honey.

Sugarcane brought from the fields and yards is cleaned. Nowadays, customers have high demands on food safety and hygiene, so this step is very important. After being washed, the sugarcane is also carefully cleaned with a curved knife. Next, the sugarcane is put into the press to extract the juice. After being pressed, the sugarcane juice is put into large pans to start boiling.

According to Mr. Ha: Cooking the finished product is also a complicated process that requires the cook to have the technique and experience to be able to produce delicious batches of honey. The most important thing is to keep the fire in the oven stable. If the fire is too big, the hand does not stir evenly, the honey can easily burn. If the fire is too small, the honey gelling process will take a long time. During the process of boiling honey, people must stir evenly and continuously skim off the foam so that the honey does not burn, turn black and retain its sweet aroma. The sugarcane juice is boiled continuously. It usually takes 5 - 6 hours to condense into honey...

Previously, to squeeze honey, Tho Son people used buffalo and human power, but now it is replaced by pressing machines.

Molasses process.

Boiled sugarcane juice.

After the molasses is cooked, people put it in pots or basins to cool and then bottle it for sale to customers. Mr. Vi Van Quang - a resident of Tho Son commune said: "The molasses here is delicious and popular. In recent years, thanks to molasses production, our lives have improved day by day."

A bowl of molasses just out of the oven.

Currently, Tho Son commune has about 10 households making molasses. In addition to purchasing sugarcane for local people, molasses also helps create jobs for local workers. For many people in Western Nghe An, molasses is an indispensable item during the Lunar New Year. The product is often used to make things like: honey cakes, floating cakes, honey cakes... or to cook sweet soups on the 23rd of December to worship Ong Cong, Ong Tao or to celebrate New Year's Eve on the 30th of Tet./.

Huyen Trang