The image of people lining up to buy Phu Thuong sticky rice is easy to see on the streets of Hanoi every morning.
Early in the morning, when the Hanoi sky is still dark, Ms. Yen brings her basket of sticky rice to Phu Gia market (Phu Thuong ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi) to serve customers.
"I'm from Phu Thuong, I've eaten Phu Thuong sticky rice once, if it's delicious I'll come back," Yen confidently said.
In previous years, Ms. Yen sold sticky rice on the street, but she had many regular customers. "There was a fixed sticky rice stall on that street corner, but many people still waited for me to drive by and sell sticky rice to buy, they said they were used to eating Phu Thuong sticky rice," Ms. Yen said, and shared that in recent years, because of her older age, she chose to sell sticky rice permanently on a corner of the sidewalk of Phu Gia market to avoid hardship.
By around 7am, Ms. Yen’s nearly 30kg basket of sticky rice had almost sold out. Ms. Yen’s sticky rice buyers range from office workers to laborers to students.
"Phu Thuong sticky rice is fragrant and sticky. I bought the sticky rice and walked nearly 30 minutes to get to work, but the sticky rice package was still hot and fragrant," said Ms. Van, a regular customer of Ms. Yen.
Ingredients and cooking methods are the secrets that make Phu Thuong sticky rice brand.
In Phu Thuong, almost every villager knows how to make sticky rice. Currently, there are about 600 households in the village who are "fanning the fire" to cook sticky rice and sending it to all over Hanoi. The lifelong sticky rice burden of mothers and sisters not only helps each family in the old Ga village overcome famine, but today Phu Thuong sticky rice also helps people earn a living and get rich.
Ms. Sinh - one of eight talented sticky rice cooks who was recently honored at the Phu Gia Communal House Festival in the Year of the Dragon 2024 with nearly 30 years of dedication to the profession passed down from her mother-in-law. Ms. Sinh said that to cook a delicious pot of sticky rice, factors such as ingredients (rice, beans, water and people) are decisive.
"The sticky rice must be yellow sticky rice or upland sticky rice. The rice grains must be round, plump, and even. When soaking and washing with water, you must be skillful so that the rice grains do not break or crumble. When you shake it, the rice grains will immediately float away and not stick to your hands. That is a delicious yellow sticky rice grain," Ms. Sinh revealed.
To attract diners, Phu Thuong sticky rice is increasingly diversified in products and innovative in display.
A secret that Phu Thuong people believe in is that to make delicious sticky rice, it must be cooked with water from Phu Thuong village. "Once I went to my friend's hometown in Bac Ninh to visit, I brought the same type of sticky rice I usually cook to make sticky rice, but it was not as delicious as cooking it with water from the village's well," Sinh said.
Regarding the cooking method, according to Ms. Sinh, delicious sticky rice must be cooked twice, the first time for about 60 minutes, reaching about 80% doneness, then pouring into a basket (lined with a thin towel), stirring with chopsticks to release steam, 3 hours later take it out, sprinkle with water, squeeze evenly then steam again until cooked. Only then will the sticky rice be thoroughly cooked, chewy for a long time, and not hard.
Ms. Sinh shared that currently Phu Thuong village sticky rice has 7 to 8 types such as: peanut sticky rice, green bean sticky rice, corn sticky rice, gac sticky rice, and xeo sticky rice. Each type has a different recipe.
"When sticky rice is combined with other ingredients, it creates many different flavors, from bright red sticky rice with gac fruit, fragrant green pandan sticky rice to attractive fatty sticky rice with skewers... Hundreds of sticky rice packages bring hundreds of strange flavors that attract diners from both aroma and richness, making it hard for anyone to refuse," said Ms. Sinh.
Tay Ho District and Phu Thuong Traditional Craft Village Association regularly bring sticky rice to fairs and culinary exhibitions to promote
On the journey of bringing "breakfast food" to many places and events in the capital as well as other provinces, artisan Nguyen Thi Tuyen, Vice President of Phu Thuong Traditional Sticky Rice Craft Village Association, was still impressed with the event of Phu Thuong sticky rice serving diners at the Press Center during the US-North Korea Summit held in 2019.
"The day before the event, I received a call from the ward leader announcing that Phu Thuong sticky rice would be one of the nine dishes served at the Press Center during the US-North Korea Summit in 2019. At that time, the artisans and I felt very happy and excited. After discussion and agreement, I and another artisan were chosen to cook sticky rice to serve the Summit," Ms. Tuyen recalled.
Ms. Tuyen said that five-color sticky rice, xeo sticky rice, vo sticky rice and areca flower sticky rice are the dishes she cooked to serve diners at the Summit.
"Every day we serve nearly 100 kg of sticky rice to customers at the conference's press center. Regarding the way to cook sticky rice to serve at the conference, we also choose ingredients such as yellow sticky rice, green beans, delicious pork floss... as we sell on normal days. But with an international event, I have to pay special attention and be meticulous in every step, not allowing even the smallest mistake, because this is an event that represents the face of the country, bringing Phu Thuong sticky rice to international friends," Ms. Tuyen proudly shared.
Artisan Nguyen Thi Tuyen, Vice President of Phu Thuong Traditional Sticky Rice Village Association (right cover photo), serves diners at the 2019 US-North Korea Summit in Hanoi
During the days of serving at the US-North Korea Summit, Ms. Tuyen said that Phu Thuong sticky rice was chosen by many international and domestic reporters and highly appreciated for its flavor and presentation.
"Not only for breakfast, many reporters choose sticky rice for lunch. Many reporters in Europe and Asia (where many countries also have sticky rice) praise it as delicious. I heard from the interpreters that foreign reporters were very impressed and delighted when enjoying Phu Thuong sticky rice, especially the sticky rice with fried dough," said Ms. Tuyen.
As a reporter covering the 2019 US-North Korea Summit in Vietnam, Jaehyeong (international reporter) said that at this event he enjoyed many Vietnamese specialties. But for him, Phu Thuong sticky rice was the dish that left the most impression on him.
"During the days of reporting at events, I often choose sticky rice for breakfast. I am very impressed with this sticky rice dish, because of its irresistible aroma, the sticky and fatty rice grains," Jaehyeong shared.
Tay Ho District receives the Decision to list "Phu Thuong Sticky Rice Making Craft" as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyen said that before the establishment of Phu Thuong Traditional Sticky Rice Village Association, "everyone did it their own way". But since the establishment of the Craft Village Association, along with the attention of the local government, the promotion of sticky rice specialties has been focused on and done more systematically.
Remembering the early days of the establishment of the Craft Village Association, artisans and families spent time and effort to promote at fairs, culinary and cultural exhibitions in and outside the capital Hanoi.
"At first, there were many difficulties, such as not many people knew about Phu Thuong sticky rice or the rainy weather, the products brought to serve the event were damaged and had to be thrown away. At that time, there was no funding, so everyone in the association had to contribute together. Then the love for the job, the pride and confidence in Phu Thuong sticky rice helped us overcome that difficult period," Ms. Tuyen recalled.
On December 30, 2016, the Hanoi People's Committee officially recognized the title of Phu Thuong Sticky Rice Traditional Craft Village. Since then, the reputation of Phu Thuong Sticky Rice has also grown further and higher, and the relevant agencies have also paid attention to help develop and promote Phu Thuong Sticky Rice to domestic and foreign diners.
In 2019, Phu Thuong Traditional Sticky Rice Village was granted a Certificate of Registration for Phu Thuong Sticky Rice Trademark by the Department of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology). Phu Thuong Sticky Rice has products that meet the 4-star OCOP standards of Hanoi City.
And after many efforts of the people of the traditional craft village and the close involvement of the authorities at all levels, in early 2024, Phu Thuong sticky rice craft was officially listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
"This is an honor not only for the people of Phu Thuong sticky rice village but also for Tay Ho district and Hanoi city. To be worthy of the heritage, we and the artisans and villagers always try and make efforts to make Phu Thuong sticky rice "fly further and higher" through promoting the image along with increasingly improving the quality and diversifying sticky rice products", said Ms. Bui Thi Lan Phuong, Vice Chairman of Tay Ho District People's Committee.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/xoi-phu-thuong-hanh-trinh-tu-thuc-qua-sang-den-di-san-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-192240703111844907.htm
Comment (0)