Rock sugar, a famous specialty in Quang Ngai

Mr. Dong Van Chinh in Nghia Dong commune, Quang Ngai city is devoted to the profession of making rock sugar.

Day after day, Mr. Dong Van Chinh (70 years old) in village 2, Nghia Dong commune, Quang Ngai city, owner of Bang Lam handmade rock sugar facility, is still diligently working on making rock sugar. His house is always filled with the sweet smell of sugar. Having worked all his life, Mr. Chinh only needs to look at the boiling sugar pan to know whether the sugar is "right" or not, and by the color of the sugar to know the right intensity to produce successful batches of sugar.
Mr. Chinh recalls that since he was a child, he saw his grandfather making sugar from molasses, and gradually fell in love with the profession and stuck with it until now. There was a time when the entire alluvial plain along the Tra Khuc River (Quang Ngai) was a large sugarcane granary. During the harvest season, buffaloes and cows in the village had to pull and press the sugarcane. The whole village lit a fire to cook molasses. At that time, there was no white sugar, rock sugar was made from molasses. During the sugar making season, horse-drawn carts lined up in long lines waiting to receive rock sugar, spoon sugar, cup sugar, and lung sugar to be shipped everywhere for consumption.

Rock sugar is made entirely by hand.

Mr. Chinh is the fourth generation to have the profession of making rock sugar passed down to him by his father. Rock sugar is made entirely by hand. The yellow and white colors of rock sugar do not come from coloring agents but from the raw materials of yellow and white sugar. In the past, our ancestors made yellow rock sugar from pressed sugarcane. Yellow rock sugar is made from 100% pure sugar, without any bleaching process, and has a stronger molasses aroma than white rock sugar.
“In the golden age of the profession, rock sugar was very precious, and sugar makers also became valuable. Batches of sugar were chosen as tribute to the royal court. When I was young, I saw my grandfather making rock sugar. The sugar factory was famous, but every now and then my grandmother would let each grandchild have a little taste to know how sweet rock sugar was,” Mr. Chinh confided.

Yellow rock sugar is made from yellow granulated sugar.

At the Dung Van sugar processing facility of Mrs. Tran Thi My Dung (65 years old) in village 2, Nghia Dong commune, there are 6 sugar workers along with Mrs. Dung and her husband, but the work is still not enough. These days, Mrs. Dung's facility always has a red fire to keep up with the supply to traders. Every day, Mrs. Dung's facility produces nearly 1 ton of sugar, mainly rock sugar. "My family has been making sugar for 22 years, and now my daughter is also following this traditional profession. This profession has helped my family stabilize their lives, and also helped many local workers have stable jobs," said Mrs. Dung.

Rock sugar making industry solves local labor problem

Mrs. Dung shared that her grandparents taught her the craft of making sugar, so she treasures it very much. This is a hard and laborious job. To make rock sugar, you have to go through many steps such as: lighting a fire, boiling water, pouring in white sugar and stirring well, adding eggs and a can of lime water and stirring well.
“The chicken egg and lime water will help the impurities in the sugar float to the top, the worker will start to skim off the foam and filter it. The most important step is to wait until the sugar is ripe and pour it into a pre-set barrel with threads. Wait 7 days for the sugar to crystallize, then separate the molasses to get the nails (rock sugar), then break it open to dry, put it in bags and send it to traders,” Ms. Dung added.
According to Ms. Dung, during Tet, the amount of rock sugar sold is higher than usual because people buy it to make fish sauce, pickle pickles, stew bird's nest... but that does not increase the selling price. The price is still kept the same as usual. At Ms. Dung's sugar processing facility, 1 kg of rock sugar is sold for 35,000 VND.
“There are many establishments nationwide that process rock sugar and lung sugar, but nowhere is as delicious as in Quang Ngai. Because the sugar in Quang Ngai is cooked in a very unique way, it has a fragrant, sweet and pure taste,” Ms. Dung shared.

Thread is the key to making rock sugar crystallize.

Ms. Bui Thi Anh Tuan (54 years old) in Nghia Dong commune has been working as a sugar maker at Dung Van facility for nearly 15 years. She said that nowadays rock sugar has become a familiar food, and when people eat it, they will see the thread inside. The thread is the key to whether the rock sugar crystallizes or not. Without the thread, there will be no delicious rock sugar, and all the molasses will be removed.
“Although sugar refining is hard work, it is very enjoyable because each product is consumed by the market. The wages paid to sugar workers are also stable, helping to cover living expenses and send my children to school,” said Ms. Tuan.

Sugar is in a transparent crystalline form, resembling quartz bars.

Mr. Nguyen Tran Hoang Quang, Vice Chairman of Nghia Dong Commune People's Committee, said that in Nghia Dong Commune, there are 4 establishments processing traditional rock sugar and lung sugar. Up to now, Bang Lam establishment has been recognized as a 3-star OCOP product, and 1 establishment is in the process of completing procedures to certify OCOP products.
“In 2022, the Department of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology ) granted a certificate of registration of the rock sugar trademark to the Farmers' Association of Nghia Dong commune. Currently, the locality is guiding rock sugar processing facilities to complete procedures to put products on e-commerce platforms to promote the Quang Ngai rock sugar brand to consumers,” Mr. Quang informed.
In the past, the land of rock sugar and lung sugar in Ba La - Van Tuong was very famous and loved by many people, so the ancients summarized it into folk songs such as: "Ba La rock sugar/Thi Pho malt", or "When you come back, remember to stop by Ba La/Buy a kilo of lung sugar for you and me"...

AS BRONZE

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