Phu Long craft village in Tet green rice season

Tet comes, spring comes, besides traditional dishes such as: banh tet, cu kieu, candied ginger, candied squash along with trays of five fruits... in every family of Ham Thuan Bac people, banh com is indispensable to offer to ancestors and grandparents.

Therefore, these days, in the craft village of Phu Long town, Ham Thuan Bac district, everyone is busy with many jobs, in time to make beautiful green rice cakes with unique flavors to serve the market of the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin 2024.

Ms. Tran Thi Muoi (born in 1962), living in Phu Thanh quarter, Phu Long town, Ham Thuan Bac district, has more than 40 years of experience in the popping profession. She shared that because she started a bit late, in the past few days, she had to light the fire to pop pop all day and night, in order to provide customers with about 1.5 tons of pop pop/3 tons of sticky rice that had been prepared early. Sticky rice must be selected from the previous crop, dried, and stored carefully until just before Tet to be used. Before roasting, the sticky rice must be cleaned of dust, removing broken grains to prevent the popped grains from being contaminated, then sprinkled with water and incubated for about 3 days so that the popped grains pop evenly, achieving the highest yield. Although it is hard work, Ms. Muoi is still happy, because she wants to contribute to preserving the cultural beauty of the traditional Tet holiday.

Nguyen Thi Thiep - Phu Thinh quarter, Phu Long town, Ham Thuan Bac district said that currently, Phu Long town still has 3 families making traditional green rice cakes on the occasion of Lunar New Year. In order to supply the market with 8,000 - 8,400 traditional green rice cakes, with the raw materials prepared from 1 - 1.5 tons of popcorn, she mobilized more than 10 workers to do it. One person is in charge of processing ginger ingredients; one person is in charge of caramelizing sugar water, one person is in charge of mixing popcorn, pressing green rice, one person is in charge of gluing green rice... To make a beautiful, quality and delicious green rice cake is a whole elaborate process, from choosing sticky rice, processing sticky rice to roasting, caramelizing sugar, pressing, drying and wrapping the cake, all stages require the carefulness and dedication of the processor.

Although today, there are many rich and diverse types of cakes and jams on the market, the traditional green rice cake still has a special place in the hearts of the people of Phu Long town, Ham Thuan Bac district in particular and the whole country in general. The green rice cake offered to ancestors and grandparents when Tet comes is a beautiful traditional feature of the nation that is always preserved by every family.

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