Gifts from Uncle Ho's hometown

(Baonghean) - April morning, cool weather. The road leading to Hoang Tru village and Sen village winds through lush green rice fields. On both sides of the road are shady green trees, lotus flowers bloom in front of the house pond, and old people sit chatting on bamboo beds, chewing betel...

Fruit stalls for sale in Hoang Tru (Kim Lien).

In the small house next to her maternal hometown, Mrs. Men Thi Luong (Hoang Tru 1 hamlet, Kim Lien commune) saw us enter and warmly chatted: "Not only in May, visitors from everywhere come to Uncle Ho's hometown. Normally, there are also many visitors". She waved her palm leaf fan towards us and smiled: "Would you like a glass of water?". "I'm hungry, drinking green tea will make my stomach hurt, grandma". "My water is lotus leaf water, so have you ever had Hoang Tru lotus leaf water?". According to Mrs. Luong, for a long time, when the lotus season (May and June every year), the whole village harvested the lotus, every family picked lotus leaves, brought them home, chopped them, dried them in the sun, and used them to make drinking water.

Lotus leaf water has the effect of treating fatty liver disease, cooling the body, and sleeping well. Lotus leaves are picked during the day and sliced ​​at night. Each family buys a large piece of wood with a sharp blade. One person sits and slices while the other folds the lotus leaves tightly in the palm of the hand. The lotus is dried on a large tray. After a few days of summer sun, it is stored. If people want the lotus leaves to last longer and not lose their scent, they divide them into small packages. When they take the lotus leaves to cook, they add gloves to prevent sweat and mold on their hands. In Sen village, lotus is not only grown to beautify the scenery of Uncle Ho's hometown, people also harvest lotus. Lotus seeds, lotus hearts, lotus stamens, lotus flowers... are sold, lotus leaves are used to make drinks. For the past few years, Mrs. Luong has been cooking lotus leaf water to serve tourists, about 4 or 5 pots a day, which also brings in a few tens of thousands of dong...

To have delicious lotus leaf water, Mrs. Luong also took great care. When cooking, she added some sticky rice leaves to make it fragrant. When the rice harvest season came, she chose new rice, roasted it until golden brown, and when cooking the water, she added a small handful of lotus leaves. "Why is a cup of water made with such great care only costing 1,000 dong, Grandma?" "It's a gift from the countryside. At most, a guest from far away only comes back to visit Uncle Ho's hometown a couple of times a year. We sell it and treat them to the taste of home, my child!"

Mrs. Luong raised her palm fan to fan herself again, she looked towards the fruit stalls where people were selling guava, star apple, persimmon... and said with a smile: "Here, in addition to the large stalls selling souvenirs, CDs and DVDs, there are also many food and fruit stalls. From now until the end of June, fruit is sold even more. Customers buy it to burn incense to offer to Uncle Ho, buy it as gifts for their families, called fruit bought from Uncle Ho's hometown, everyone likes it."

Thu Huong