Malt hits memory

First, I have to explain a little about the name malt. According to a person in the traditional malt craft village, this recipe was passed down by a Chinese person. At first, I was half-doubting, half-believing. But looking up the dictionary, I found that the word malt is a metonym for the ingredients of this dish, which are rice and white rice (now sticky rice). This is also the origin of the name of this specialty dish.

I don’t know the details of the malt brewing process, but I know that the basic process is to ferment the rice husks to about 5cm, then dry them, then pound them into powder. The sticky rice is cooked and mixed with the rice husk powder, then mixed with water and fermented again. Finally, the juice is squeezed out, then the mixture is cooked until it thickens.

Malt is best eaten with rice paper.

When listening to writer Nguyen Nhat Anh recall the joys of childhood, I suddenly hear in my memories the sweet taste of malt candy.

When I was a child, I lived in the countryside. At that time, confectionery products were not as abundant as they are now, and imported goods were even rarer. My grandmother often bought "Thien But" malt (a famous malt brand in Quang Ngai ) for me to eat. At that time, malt was packaged in cow's milk cans, with tin lids pressed from bird's nest cans.

I was so happy when I took the chopsticks out of the can of maltose. I was so engrossed in eating the maltose with chopsticks, just like eating a lollipop that I had always dreamed of. Eating maltose cost my family quite a lot of chopsticks. Because when I was eating maltose, I often stuck it deep into the can and held it so tightly that I often broke the chopsticks. Every time I had an accident, I had to ask my grandmother for help. She helped me take out the broken chopsticks and then made me a "childhood specialty". That was maltose rice paper.

I mentioned it, and writer Nguyen Nhat Anh also nodded. Malt must be eaten with rice paper to be proper, to be stylish, and to show that you are a connoisseur of malt. My grandmother spoke malt very elegantly and neatly. In a flash, the shiny malt strands were spread thinly on the crispy golden rice paper, like newly woven silk threads lying on the loom.

I waited eagerly. When she broke the rice paper in half, folded it, and handed it to me, my joy was overwhelming. I sat still and quickly savored the taste of this simple gift, but my insides were jumping. The crispy aroma of the rice paper combined with the sweet taste of the malt candy made me forget my cravings while standing at the grocery store. If you add some peanuts on top, the malt rice paper would be just as good as sesame candy or cu-do candy.

Because of the memory that woke me up, one day when I returned to Quang Ngai, I ran to the town to buy a jar of malt. Thanks to that, I learned that now Quang Ngai malt has many brands and designs. There is the "Thien But" brand, there is the malt that has registered the OCOP brand (One Commune One Product program), there is the kind that comes in plastic boxes, there is the kind that comes in glass boxes... As for me, I had to find the kind of malt that comes in a milk can. Maybe to fit my memory.

Back home, my grandmother and I opened the can of malt syrup together. She complimented: "The oven put in less malt syrup, so the malt syrup is so clear and sweet." Then she smiled warmly, her eyes staring at the can of malt syrup. Perhaps, like me, she was recalling memories of a time long ago...

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/mach-nha-va-vao-ky-uc-185230902132724466.htm