Near Tet, hundreds of households in the craft village pack Vinh Hoa Banh Chung (Yen Thanh district, Nghe An), so busy making cakes that they forget to eat and sleep to have enough goods to deliver to customers.
Tet atmosphere seems to have come close to Vinh Hoa craft village, Hop Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Many families are busy with the work of wrapping cakes.
Banh Chung is made all year round, but the busiest time is still Tet to spring. Vinh Hoa people work from the previous morning until the next morning to deliver the goods to customers. From the beginning to the end of the village, the trucks carrying ingredients for wrapping cakes and transporting cakes from the village to distribute in the South, outside the North are busy.
According to a craftsman in Vinh Hoa village, the famous delicious cakes are created by meticulousness, from the preparation of ingredients, the technique of wrapping, baking and the mind of the artisans. Hundreds of tons of delicious sticky rice are imported from Laos and Thailand. Selected banana leaves, dong leaves, fatty meat, onion pickles… to pack the cake together with many other necessary ingredients are prepared by the people.
Near Tet, the work of Vinh Hoa villagers starts at about 6 o’clock every day. In Vinh Hoa village, the old, young, girls and boys are all assigned tasks, some people soak rice, some people pack cakes, split, peel leaves… the voices laugh. Every village, alley, yard is full of dong leaves, the smell of cake is fragrant and attractive.
With his hands quickly wrapping cakes, Mr. Le Thai Yen (SN 1971) said that the profession of wrapping Banh Chung here has existed for a long time. Every New Year comes, work will be busier when there are many orders from all over, to serve the market during the Lunar New Year. From December 18 of the lunar calendar onwards, 7-8 people in his family have to work throughout the day when the orders are many. Yen’s whole family packs 1,000-2,000 cakes per day, worth about 25-30 million VND.($1=24,000 VND)
“On average, each Tet crop, my family receives about 10,000 thousand cakes, of which about 4,000 are served for the worship of Mr. Cong and Mr. Tao, and the rest is for Tet holidays. It is said to be the month of Tet, but it is the peak. From December 20 to the 29th of Tet, there are years when the whole family has to finish work until the evening of the 30th. These days, everyone works with their hands and feet, as if there is no time to rest or eat. When you eat through tangerine, when you are too tired, you always lie down on the mat, take a nap for 1-2 hours, and wake up to make the cake in time to deliver to the customer”, Mr. Yen added.
Having been making Banh Chung for nearly 40 years, Ms. Luu Thi Bich Vien (SN 1973) shared: “Banh Chung Vinh Hoa is famous everywhere, whether it’s delicious or not is how you choose the type of sticky rice and meat to make the filling. , then how to cook cakes… Normally to cook a pot of cooked cakes, it takes us 7-8 hours”.
Mr. Nguyen Van Ha’s family (SN 1960) has been working since 1998, packing 50-100kg of sticky rice every day, but more often during Tet. The place where his family sells cakes is not only communes in the district but also Nghia Dan district, Vinh city (Nghe An) and some places in Thanh Hoa province.
“After wrapping, the cake is cooked continuously for 7-8 hours, then wait for the coals to fade, the water to cool so that the cake is cooked evenly from the inside out. If you pick up the cake while the water is still hot, the crust will be burnt, the color will be different. The cake is not green. The cake is taken out, washed, and all water is squeezed out before it is delivered to the customer”, Mr. Ha shared.
Mr. Luu Duc Bang – Head of Vinh Hoa village said: “Vinh Hoa village was recognized as a agricultural product processing village in 2005. Currently, there are about 200/318 households doing bread wrapping. This is also the most populous hamlet in the commune. with 100% of the parishioners. The cake profession here is passed down from father to son, creating a unique brand, helping the local economy to become more and more stable and develop.”
Vinh Hoa Chung cake brand is more and more prestigious not only because the cake is very delicious, and beautiful design and most especially, it ensures hygiene and safety. Banh Chung here has the unique culinary culture of the people in the largest granary in Nghe An province
According (Dan Tri)