Fragrant rice from my hometown

As a native farmer, it has been more than 35 years since the early years of the country's renovation that I have had a meal of fragrant rice again, but it was Cho Dao fragrant rice given to me by a friend in Long An , 5 kg as a gift.

When cooking rice, the aroma of boiling rice makes me never forget the time in my homeland with many hardships. I remember clearly, after the 6th Congress of the Party, December 1986. The country continued to promote the innovation of economic management mechanism to socialist business; innovation of state management, innovation of organization and cadre work, innovation of leadership style and mass work of the Party. Farmers were divided land according to rations. At that time, my family had 10 rations including: Father, mother, grandmother and 7 of us, so we were divided 5 sao of rice fields. After more than 1 year of independent production, paying product contracts to the cooperative, the remaining rice in my family had food and savings. And, from then on, every year my father and mother set aside 1 sao of rice fields to grow fragrant rice, the rest was still grown as normal rice.

In late November and early December, walking along the banks of the rice fields, looking at the golden ripe rice, I saw my father with a bright smile. With the thin, bony face of a hard-working farmer, my father's smile and eyes made our future brighter since the day the country entered the renovation period. At that time, in the fields of several dozen hectares, only a few sao were planted with fragrant rice, because we had to grow short-term rice to have enough yield to pay for the cooperative and still feed our families. Short-term rice varieties only last for 3 months to harvest, but fragrant rice takes twice as long.

The fields chosen to grow fragrant rice are slightly higher than the other fields, to avoid flooding when it rains heavily for many days, and to easily drain water to the lower fields; moreover, fragrant rice stalks are taller than normal rice, about 1.2 - 1.4 m high, so they are very easy to break or fall when flooded. At that time, there was not much fertilizer, but fragrant rice had the characteristic of having few pests and diseases, preferring organic fertilizer; but on the contrary, the yield was slightly lower than other short-term rice varieties. From the beginning of the 6th lunar month, rice seedlings were pulled out and planted, but it was not until the cold winter that the rice would bear ears. After 6 months, on cool days, it was harvested. The rice grains were long and slender, with a thin layer of bran on the outside of the rice grains that was very fragrant, and the middle of the grain was pink. The harvested rice was bundled and brought home, trampled by buffalo or cows or beaten by hand, dried and stored to eat during Tet. In the past, rice was milled and pounded manually using mainly human power, so the bran layer was still there, so when cooked, the fragrant rice was very fragrant. The rice was very sticky, and when left overnight, it did not spoil easily, and when eaten with bean salt or sesame salt, the cold rice was hard to swallow. The meals I had with fragrant rice erased the hunger and deprivation of the subsidy period in me, and when I recalled it, I swallowed my saliva.

According to folklore, the name "Nang Thom" rice comes from a sad love story between a girl and a poor man in the village. Because they were not well matched, the two could not be together, and the girl sadly passed away. Hearing the news of her lover's death, the man came to her grave and cried, then died with her. Where they died, a fragrant rice variety grew, the rice grains were milky white like the tears of the couple.

Because of the value and quality of Nang Thom rice, every year my father and mother often set aside a small amount to give to grandparents and relatives during the Lunar New Year. Especially those living in urban areas, they really appreciate the hand-pounded rice grains, the nutrients in the bran layer are very beneficial to human health. For a long time, the quality of Nang Thom rice was no longer the same as before; farmers and many agencies gave up halfway for many years, perhaps the variety degenerated. And there were also cases where, for personal gain, traders mixed Nang Thom rice with other types of rice, so the quality was not high, losing the brand. During the winter days, living far from home, having a friend give me a gift of this specialty made me extremely happy. I silently thanked heaven and earth, thanked my parents for giving birth to me in this world; silently thanked my homeland, thanked the rice grains of the farmers who raised me to be an adult. Today, my hometown no longer has rice fields like before, all the fields have become lush green dragon fruit gardens. At night, electric lights shine throughout the countryside to light up the dragon fruit for Tet. I pray that when spring comes, Tet comes, the dragon fruit of my hometown will have a good harvest and good price so that farmers can smile.

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