The scent of autumn green rice

The Tay people in Ngan Son and Bang Van communes have maintained the profession of making green rice flakes for a very long time.

Fragrant pearl of heaven

In some northern communes of Thai Nguyen province, the green rice season of the Tay people usually starts from around mid-August to early October of the lunar calendar.

When the terraced fields were still hidden in the mountain mist, mothers and sisters went to the fields to select and cut each young sticky rice flower with a very simple but unique tool, the Tay people call it "hép". This tool helps mothers and sisters to easily select the sticky rice flowers they like in the vast sticky rice fields.

Com of the Tay people in Ngan Son and Bang Van communes has long been loved by many people because it is made from delicious sticky rice, which the locals call “Khau nua lech”. Following the mothers and grandmothers to harvest rice in the Khau nua lech fields when they are ready to produce full grains, we realized the special appeal of this sticky rice variety.

Just approaching the “Khâu nua lech” fields, one can feel the fresh, sweet fragrance spreading throughout a large space. That fragrance will be carried home by mothers and sisters to the welcome of their children.

Ms. Phan Thi Them in Thuong An village, Bang Van commune explained to us that: Sticky rice must be cut in the morning, avoiding sunlight as much as possible because the sun will dry the sap, making the green rice not delicious and not sticky. After being harvested, the young sticky rice will be threshed, washed and boiled. The stage of boiling the green rice is very important, determining the softness or hardness of the finished green rice.

The Tay people harvest young sticky rice flowers to make green rice flakes using a tool called Hep.

The Tay people harvest young sticky rice flowers to make green rice flakes using a tool called "hép".

Com is called “Khau mau” by the Tay people in the North of Thai Nguyen province. After being cut, the glutinous rice flowers must be threshed, cleaned of broken grains and boiled immediately to ensure the rice grains retain their chewy texture.

The boiled rice grains are taken out and roasted on large cast iron pans. The purpose of roasting the green rice is to dry the rice hulls and to firm the green rice grains inside, so that when pounded, the green rice grains will not be crushed and stick to the husks. At this time, the aroma of the native sticky rice has spread throughout the stilt house, spreading to the village streets and alleys.

After roasting, the rice is spread out on a bamboo mat to cool. During the peak season of making green rice, every household prepares a golden bamboo mat on the porch of their stilt house. After the rice has cooled, the job of pounding the green rice is usually assigned to young men because it requires more strength.

To make a batch of delicious green rice, you have to pound it very carefully, separating the husks without crushing the rice grains. After pounding the green rice, the women will sift the green rice to remove the husks and pick out the unhulled rice grains. This work usually takes a lot of time and requires meticulousness and dexterity.

Through the diligence and patience of the mothers and sisters, the green rice grains have been filtered out, becoming clean and pure, and the fragrance has begun to spread, covering the whole village. According to the way of making green rice of the people in Bang Van and Ngan Son, after being sifted and cleaned, the green rice grains will be pounded again to increase the softness and stickiness. A batch of green rice grains produced has flat, green grains and the fragrant, fatty smell of young rice.

OCOP products are popular

The story of the origin of the Tay people's green rice dish is quite special. During lean seasons, when there was no rice to eat, people had to harvest young rice for food. Then they came up with a way to process young sticky rice into today's green rice dish.

In Bang Van and Ngan Son communes, the green rice dish has been packaged and vacuum-sealed by households to increase its shelf life, and sold to many markets. The Tay people have promoted the traditional culinary dish passed down from their ancestors to produce goods, increasing their income.

Nowadays, roasting green rice has become easier thanks to the use of supporting machines.

Ms. Dinh Thi Mai in Thuong An village, Bang Van commune said: Our Khau nua lech green rice product has been recognized as a 3-star OCOP product at the provincial level since 2022. Our green rice is sold in the wards of Bac Kan , Duc Xuan, and the center of Thai Nguyen province and some provinces and cities such as Hanoi and Binh Phuoc. The retail price is 120,000 VND/kg. Currently, we are mobilizing people to participate in growing only sticky rice to produce goods on a larger scale.

In addition to Bang Van commune, currently in Ngan Son commune there are also many villages and hamlets making green rice flakes such as: Hop Tien 1, Tan Lap, Hoang Phai, Na Ngan.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Ngan Son Commune, said: Ngan Son Commune has established two cooperatives for making green rice flakes. Currently, the whole commune is growing Khau Nua Lech rice on an area of over 30 hectares. People grow sticky rice in a alternating cropping pattern to extend the time for making green rice flakes.

Every year, local authorities also actively promote local specialties such as organizing green rice pounding competitions to encourage people to preserve their ancestors' culinary traditions and promote products and cultural beauty...

If in other regions and ethnic groups, people have many ways to prepare green rice such as: green rice with salt and pepper, green rice with coconut filling, green rice cake... then the Tay people in the northern highlands of Thai Nguyen enjoy green rice simply.

The most typical green rice dish is green rice stir-fried with candied green beans. While roasting the green rice, the women prepare the soaked green beans to cook, then stir-fry them in a pan with sugar. The green rice grains are then mixed evenly in a hot pan with green beans in a reasonable ratio so that when eaten, they have the fragrant taste of green rice, the light sweetness of sugar, the rich taste of green beans and the sticky taste of sticky rice. In addition, people also make popcorn and green rice sausage.

When the golden sunlight slanted over the treetops in front of the house, the sound of buffalo bells echoed from the distant hills, the scent of new rice reminded me of the old seasons. Perhaps because of that, autumn also became gentler, more beautiful.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202509/huong-com-mua-thu-4b357f1/