Tet orders are constantly exploding, people in the "country cake" village sometimes only sleep for 1 hour to produce

TPO – These days, the Lang Nam cake making village (Nghe An) is working day and night to serve the Tet market. All the products are sold out as soon as they are made.

12/22/2024 | 10:34

TPO – These days, the Lang Nam cake making village (Nghe An) is working day and night to serve the Tet market. All the products are sold out as soon as they are made.

Video of people from Lang Nam cake village busy producing Tet orders

No one remembers when Lang Nam eggplant cake (Hung Tan commune, Hung Nguyen district, Nghe An) appeared. The oldest people here only know that when they were born and grew up, they enjoyed this rustic gift. With a better life, eggplant cake became a traditional dish of families. Gradually, Lang Nam eggplant cake became known and ordered by many people, becoming a commodity that brought in a good income for the households here. At the end of 2020, Lang Nam was recognized by the People's Committee of Nghe An province as a craft village producing eggplant cake.

From the 11th lunar month to about the 28th of December is the peak time for making banh ca in Lang Nam. This year, the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (born in 1970, residing in Lang Nam) invested in a rolling and granulating machine worth more than 7 million VND, which both frees up labor and improves production efficiency. Compared to doing it manually, using a machine is faster, the grains are round and even, and production costs are also significantly reduced.

According to Ms. Hoa, the secret to the unique flavor of Lang Nam rice cakes lies in the selection of ingredients and mixing techniques. The sticky rice used to make the cakes must be Vietnamese sticky rice, ensuring it is sticky and ground very finely. Each kilogram of sticky rice flour is mixed with 12-13 chicken eggs. To have small, crispy cakes, the dough must be kneaded thoroughly until it is soft and smooth, not too dry but not too soggy.

“Lang Nam eggplant cakes are completely free of leavening agents, coloring agents and preservatives. The porosity of the cake comes from the well-kneaded ingredients, the yellow color from the eggs and the frying technique. In particular, the cake is fried with vegetable oil, not recycled oil. There are 3 types of eggplant cakes: sugar-coated, sugar-free and salty, sold wholesale at 100,000 - 120,000 VND/kg depending on the type,” Ms. Hoa shared.

As Tet approaches, orders are constantly pouring in, and Ms. Hoa sits and watches the cakes cook while closing orders over the phone. “During peak times, there are days when we only sleep for about an hour, and all our time is spent making cakes in time to deliver to customers,” Ms. Hoa said.

To prepare for this Tet, the family of Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Khanh (residing in Lang Nam hamlet) has prepared 10 quintals of sticky rice, tens of thousands of eggs, sugar and cooking oil. Since the 11th lunar month, his facility has tripled its capacity to meet orders.

“Banh ca is made all year round, but during the days leading up to Tet, customer demand increases. To meet orders for Tet, my family has to hire four workers to work 10-11 hours a day. This Tet, we will supply about 15 tons of banh ca to the market,” said Mr. Khanh.

All stages from mixing flour, creating grains, and frying cakes all use supporting machines.

Ms. Phan Thi Dung (resident of Hamlet 6, Hung Tan Commune) said: "During Tet, the number of orders increased, so we had to work at full capacity, paid by the hour, ranging from 250,000 - 350,000 VND/day".

On average, during the peak month of Tet, each worker can earn 10-12 million VND. Production households, after deducting expenses, can earn a profit of 40-50 million VND/crop.

In addition to supplying the domestic market, Lang Nam rice cakes are now sold in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Tinh...

Thu Hien

Source: https://tienphong.vn/don-hang-tet-no-lien-tuc-nguoi-dan-lang-banh-que-co-ngay-chi-ngu-1-gio-de-san-xuat-post1703036.tpo