About Con Cuong, warm with wine from leaves

FULL FLAVOR OF MOUNTAINS AND FORESTS

Making leaf glaze is very elaborate. Photo: Thanh Phuc

These days,Xieng village of yeast wine making, Don Phuc commune (Con Cuong) is busy during Tet. At this time, in any house in the village, you can see people chopping wood, building stoves, and lighting fires all day to distill wine for Tet. Ban Xieng leaf yeast wine is popular with consumers because of its unique flavor created from leaf yeast balls.

Yeast for making wine is made from forest leaves, which are traditional Chinese herbs, and rice flour. Each batch of yeast requires 20-30 different types of trees and forest leaves, which are medicinal leaves that are beneficial to health. These leaves must be collected deep in the forest, climbing mountains, and wading through streams.

Ms. Vi Thi Hong, 60 years old, who specializes in making yeast wine in Xieng village, said: “To collect all kinds of leaves to make yeast, it takes 3-4 days of going into the forest. In the past, there were more forests, more abundant trees, and leaves were easier to find. Now, to get leaves, you have to go deep and far. There are types of leaves that are vines, clinging to old trees, and there are types that grow precariously on cliffs, so only men can collect them. Now, due to the increasing demand for yeast to make wine, households have been conscious of enclosing, protecting, and bringing many types of forest trees to plant in their gardens for easy harvesting.”

Each leaf glaze tablet consists of 20-25 different types of forest leaves, each of which is a precious folk medicine of the Thai people of Con Cuong. Photo: Thanh Phuc

When the wild vegetable leaves are harvested, they are washed, chopped, dried in the sun during the day, dried in the dew at night, and dried in smoke on rainy days. After drying, the leaves are pounded finely with a green stone mortar, and sifted thoroughly; the stems are boiled to get water to soak the rice. The rice used to make yeast must be fragrant sticky rice, harvested when ripe enough, dried thoroughly, milled, soaked in water from wild leaves for 1 day, then taken out and ground into powder. This powder is mixed well with the leaf water and shaped into yeast balls. The outside is covered with a layer of "coating powder" to prevent the yeast from sticking and breaking.

Each batch of rice wine is fermented for 20-25 days before being distilled into wine. Photo: Thanh Phuc

After the yeast has been molded, it will be placed on a large tray with dry straw underneath. After placing the yeast, cover it with a layer of straw. In the summer, cover it with a thin blanket. After 1 day, the yeast will be produced. In the winter, when the weather is colder, it needs to be incubated for 2 days (must cover it with straw and cover it with a cotton blanket) to produce yeast. After fermentation, the yeast is spread evenly on a tray in a cool place to dry gradually or put it out in the sun for at least 5-7 days before using it to make wine.

The wine is brewed with clear spring water, the firewood must be strong, well-burned, and heated evenly. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Sticky rice is steamed into sticky rice, spread out on a bamboo mat, wait for it to cool, then pound the yeast leaves very finely and sprinkle them in. Leave it to ferment for about 25-30 days before distilling it into wine. The water used to cook the wine is clear and sweet spring water. The firewood used to cook the wine is solid, dry and well-burnt. When cooking, the fire must be kept steady. A small fire will not be hot enough to produce wine, and a large fire will easily cause it to overflow, become sour, and burn.Yeast wineIt is precious because of the elaborate process from the stage of finding the ingredients, making the yeast and cooking. Of which, the yeast making stage is the most elaborate, requiring perseverance, hard work and experience, and each family's own secret. Each yeast leaf is a precious and very healthy medicine, creating the unique flavor of Ban Xieng wine.

PRODUCING LEAF YEAST WINE INTO OCOP PRODUCTS

In Xieng village, there are 3 wine-making groups with 41 participating households. Wine-making brings a decent income to the people of Xieng village. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Making yeast wine is a traditional profession for generations.Thai people in Xieng village.Wine is mainly purchased by traders for restaurants and regular customers in Vinh city and Hanoi. In recent years, the craft of making wine from fermented leaves in Xieng village has developed strongly, and the consumption market has expanded. Up to now, Xieng village has 41 households with 48 workers participating in the craft. The village has 3 wine-making groups concentrated in 3 households, always with 30-40 workers. With an average capacity of about 200-300 liters of wine/day; an average of 6-7 thousand liters per month, it has brought income to the craft village households of more than 28 million VND/year, the average income per worker is 18 million VND/person/year.

At the end of October 2021, the Provincial Council for Appraisal and Recognition of Traditional Craft Villages appraised and recognized the Ban Xieng leaf yeast wine making village as meeting all criteria for granting a provincial-level craft village recognition certificate.

Wine is stored in earthenware jars and treated for toxins before being supplied to the market. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Lu Ngoc Chi - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Don Phuc Commune said: "Being recognized as a craft village is an honor for the people, an opportunity to preserve and promote traditional crafts, and develop the economy from the craft. To create a unique brand for Ban Xieng leaf yeast wine, the government has directed and guided people to ensure food hygiene and safety, improve product quality, and at the same time invest in improving designs, packaging, and perfecting stamps, labels, and registering for product protection. At the same time, promote Ban Xieng leaf yeast wine on Facebook, Zalo pages and set up a website, instructing people to access online sales. On the other hand, gradually build Ban Xieng leaf yeast wine into a local OCOP product".

Ban Xieng fermented wine is sought out by customers who come to the place to order. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The good news is that households participating in the craft village are very conscious of maintaining their brand and product quality. According to them, if they lose their distinctive flavor and quality, they will be boycotted by the market and will be “throwing away their own rice bowl”.

Ms. Vi Thi Hong - Head of the Xieng Village Leaf Yeast Wine Making Group said: “The households have an unwritten rule that the yeast for fermenting rice wine must be genuine forest leaf yeast, the rice for fermenting wine must be upland sticky rice and the fermentation and cooking process must not use any chemicals or additives. At the same time, it is also strictly forbidden to mix wine from other places to sell on the market”. Therefore, the households doing the job, in addition to the pride of the profession, in addition to preserving the reputation of the traditional craft village, what they aim for is to bring the Xieng Village Leaf Yeast Wine brand further, to reach a larger market... to create a sustainable livelihood from the profession.