Where women dry their stoves and bask in the sun to create cakes that bring in 4.5 billion VND each year

Craft village has 80% female workers, revenue of 4.5 billion VND/year ( Video : Hoang Lam).

Vinh Duc craft village (Do Luong town, Do Luong district, Nghe An ) is nearly 300 years old and is famous for its sesame rice paper and peanut candy products.

According to statistics, the craft village currently has 60 households, creating regular jobs for 245 local workers, of which about 80% are female workers.

70% of households in Vinh Duc craft village specialize in producing sesame rice paper, the remaining households produce peanut candy.

From a traditional product, in January 2022, Vinh Duc sesame rice paper was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product (One Commune One Product Program). With its own secret, Vinh Duc sesame rice paper has a unique flavor, difficult to confuse with similar products from other craft villages.

The unique flavor of Do Luong sesame rice paper is created by mixing ingredients in certain proportions according to the secret recipe of each production household.

According to Ms. Dinh Thi Hong (36 years old), who has more than 20 years of experience, choosing the most important ingredient to make rice paper is Khang Dan rice, freshly ground, which means that the rice is ground and spread as it is. Sesame must be of good quality, with round, firm, heavy seeds and a thin shell.

To create flavor for rice paper, factories grind garlic, pepper, seasoning powder... and mix them into the flour mixture before spreading.

Every day, Ms. Hong spreads 30kg of ingredients, resulting in 1,000 rice paper sheets. "The rice paper is made entirely by hand, so productivity cannot compete with machine-made rice paper," Ms. Hong said.

Mr. Vo Quang Hoang - an official of the People's Committee of Do Luong town, in charge of Vinh Duc craft village - said that there are currently 10 households making rice paper on a large scale, investing in automatic rice paper coating systems. However, half of the households in the craft village are maintaining manual production methods.

"On average, each household produces about 1,500 rice paper cakes per day. In 2022, revenue from rice paper products of Vinh Duc craft village will reach more than 4.5 billion VND," said Mr. Vo Quang Hoang.

Along with the traditional black sesame rice paper products, Mrs. Dinh Thi Chung’s household (Vinh Duc craft village) also produces gac rice paper and purple sweet potato rice paper. These types of rice paper have beautiful colors and designs, and higher production costs, so the selling price is 1.5 times higher than black sesame rice paper.

After being cooked, the rice paper is spread on a bamboo mat and placed out in the sun to dry. The temperature and drying time will affect the quality of the rice paper.

During the drying process, the assistants must constantly flip the rice paper to ensure that it dries evenly and has a beautiful color. Currently, Vinh Duc rice paper is sold for 2,000 VND/unbaked piece, and 2,500 VND/baked piece.

The cakes are dried in a temperature of 30-37 degrees Celsius. At around 10-11am, when the cakes are dry on both sides, they must be collected quickly because if left in the sun, the cakes will crack, break, warp...

Exposing yourself to the strong sunlight, combined with the heat from the concrete yard, is an unpleasant experience. Workers must wear thick coats or multi-layered shirts, conical hats, masks, and gloves to protect themselves from the heat. They must also work quickly so that the cakes can be turned evenly.

Ms. Tran Thi Lan has 7 years of experience working in rice paper factories. Her wages, like those of many other workers, are paid according to the nature of the work.

"If you only dry, collect, and arrange the cakes, the salary is 130,000 VND/session, working from about 6am to 11am every day, with afternoon off. On days when you are on duty to spread the cakes, you get paid an additional 50,000 VND," said Ms. Lan.

When collecting the cakes, the workers will take the whole tray, load it onto a cart and take it to the warehouse. The cakes will be removed from the tray and cooled slowly.

Working in the hot sun makes many workers quickly lose strength and get tired. In return, this job lasts 30 days a month, helping them have a stable income.

Rice paper is either raw or grilled depending on the customer's request. Unlike the baker, the baker always has to sit next to a red-hot charcoal stove, regardless of winter or summer.

The heat from the charcoal stove in the middle of summer forces the workers to wear protective gear for their faces, hands, knees and shins. Two electric fans running at full capacity only help them to slightly dispel the stifling heat. On average, each worker can bake 1,000-1,500 cakes per day, earning more than 250,000 VND.

Along with the quality and unique flavor, Vinh Duc village rice paper products are increasingly diverse in design and materials, meeting the needs of the market. Currently, Vinh Duc sesame rice paper products are consumed throughout the provinces and cities in the country and through a business for export to Taiwan (China), Japan, Korea, England...

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/noi-phu-nu-hong-bep-phoi-nang-tao-ra-thu-banh-mang-ve-45-ty-dong-moi-nam-20230821151614435.htm