Refreshing Da Mai noodle soup

BAC NINH - The vermicelli-making craft in Da Mai appeared relatively early (about 400 years ago), and is one of the four ancient vermicelli-making villages in Northern Vietnam, becoming a source of pride for the people of Da Mai ward (Bac Ninh).

Making rice noodles is a meticulous and extremely arduous craft. While producing a single noodle product is difficult, creating a high-quality product like Da Mai noodles that has a strong market position requires significant investment of effort, intelligence, perseverance, and exceptionally skillful hands.

Illustrative image.

The process of making rice noodles involves many steps: Rice is soaked in fermented water for 2-3 days, then ground or milled into a fine powder, and then filtered to remove excess water. The fine powder is rolled into medium-sized balls, then boiled until about 1/4 of each ball is cooked, and then pounded in a mortar to create a pliable consistency. The resulting rice noodle balls are then kneaded thoroughly in a ceramic bowl, then sifted, and only the smooth dough is used to press into noodles. Nowadays, while some steps in the noodle-making process are assisted by machinery, the traditional procedures must still be strictly followed to produce a high-quality product.

Da Mai rice noodles are chewy, refreshing, and don't turn sour even after being left all day. Da Mai has four main products: tangled noodles, snail-shaped noodles, three-strand noodles, and leaf noodles (also called flat noodles). Snail-shaped noodles and three-strand noodles are usually only prepared during village festivals or when someone places a special order. Currently, in addition to fresh noodles, the Da Mai Clean Agricultural Products and Noodle Production and Business Cooperative also produces dried Da Mai noodles, including regular white noodles, brown rice noodles, and moringa noodles.

In 2010, the People's Committee of Bac Giang province (formerly) recognized Da Mai as a traditional craft village with nearly 120 households specializing in rice noodles and cakes. In 2017, Da Mai rice noodles were further recognized as one of the 14 characteristic agricultural products of the province, and in 2019, the Intellectual Property Office granted a collective trademark certificate; the Provincial People's Committee recognized it as a typical rural industrial product of the province.

Minh Hanh (compiled)

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/mat-lanh-bun-da-mai-postid434070.bbg