The essence of buckwheat

Visiting the Tuyen Quang Stone Plateau in October or November, tourists will surely experience many interesting things, especially the sight of vibrant buckwheat flower fields stretching out in the sun with many different colors such as white, pale pink, and purple. At the end of the buckwheat flowering season, the locals begin harvesting. The young buckwheat stems can be used as vegetables, the dried buckwheat seeds are partly fermented into the famous rice wine, and partly ground into flour and made into a favorite cake of the Mong people. This shows that, besides its elegant beauty that attracts tourists, buckwheat flowers also have uses in processing characteristic products of the entire Stone Plateau region, helping the local people to develop their economy and tourism.

The Tam Giac Manh liquor product of Ta Lung Agricultural Service Cooperative.

Buckwheat Wine

Buckwheat wine, a traditional beverage of the Hmong ethnic group, is made from buckwheat grains, corn, and yeast. This tradition has existed for about 10 years. To make buckwheat wine, a mixture of corn and buckwheat grains is used in varying proportions, commonly one part buckwheat to two parts corn. The brewers select beautiful, uniform buckwheat grains and cook them like rice. Good quality corn is crushed and boiled until soft. The cooked buckwheat and corn are then mixed thoroughly with traditional yeast. The entire mixture is placed in earthenware jars and fermented for 15 days to form the base wine. Next, the wine is distilled using a still, just like other types of wine. For the best quality wine, after brewing, it is aged underground for 24-36 months.

Buckwheat wine is clear in color, has a distinctive taste, and is not too strong, making it quite smooth compared to other types of wine. It's not spicy like rice wine, nor sweet like fermented rice wine, but a balance between the two. The Hmong people believe that only men can brew delicious, strong buckwheat wine.

Buckwheat triangular cakes are appealing to every visitor.

Buckwheat Triangle Cake

Buckwheat cakes are a famous specialty of the rocky plateau region, made from buckwheat flour, water, and other ingredients. These cakes are commonly sold at highland markets. Buckwheat grains are smaller than beans and very nutritious. Local people skillfully grind them into a fine flour to make the cakes. The process begins by drying the buckwheat grains in the sun for about a week, until they are completely dry and easy to grind. After grinding, they mix the buckwheat flour with water and knead thoroughly until the mixture becomes smooth and pliable. Finally, the dough is poured into traditional molds to form round cakes. Although it seems simple, grinding buckwheat flour is not easy. The flour must be ground by hand, and to achieve the necessary fineness, it must be ground very carefully to avoid grit. Buckwheat cakes are soft, fluffy, and offer a subtly sweet, rich flavor, along with the alluring aroma of forest plants, making them an appealing dish. The nutritional value of the cake can vary depending on the preparation method. Among them, steamed and baked buckwheat cakes retain the highest nutritional content. Conversely, fried and crispy cakes tend to lose some nutrients due to the more processing steps involved. According to nutrition experts, buckwheat grains contain approximately 2.42% tannin, an active compound with antibacterial properties that helps treat conditions such as enteritis, mucosal ulcers, diarrhea, and digestive poisoning. In addition, each buckwheat grain contains 2.41% flavonoids, a compound that contributes to the grain's color. Flavonoids help prevent health problems such as atherosclerosis, liver degeneration, stroke, aging, and effectively support detoxification.

Buckwheat grains are used to make rice wine and buckwheat cakes.

In addition, there are several other products made from buckwheat such as buckwheat gummy candy, buckwheat beer, chewy buckwheat cakes, crispy buckwheat cakes, etc. All of these products offer tourists interesting culinary experiences during their journey to explore the northernmost region of Vietnam.

H.Anh

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/van-hoa/du-lich/202509/tinh-hoa-tu-tam-giac-mach-0c732bb/