Visiting the over 100-year-old Son Doc rice paper village

Kinhtedothi - Son Doc rice paper making village (Son Doc hamlet, Hung Nhuong commune, Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province) is over a hundred years old and is a famous specialty of Ben Tre province. Villagers are increasingly diversifying their products to preserve and develop this traditional craft.

Coming to Ben Tre, passing through Son Doc intersection, in Hung Nhuong commune, Giong Trom district, it is easy to see rows of rice paper stalls one after another.

Son Doc rice paper has been famous for hundreds of years. Photo HT

Currently, Son Doc rice paper craft village has many types of cakes such as: sticky rice paper, noodle paper, small rice paper used to wrap sticky rice, banana-sticky noodle paper... In 2018, this traditional craft village was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Ms. Bui Thi Sam (owner of Hai Sam production facility) said: Making rice paper is a feat when the worker has to wake up early to soak the sticky rice and cook it. After that, pound it with sugar and coconut milk to create a sticky dough mixture, then roll it into a round shape and dry it to supply the market.

"Now many stages of making cakes have been "mechanized" instead of the previous manual method. There are machines to help knead the rice paper, so it saves labor and increases productivity..." - Ms. Sam said.

As the oldest worker in this traditional craft village, Ms. Huynh Thi Liep (77 years old) shared: “This job is very easy, so even though I am old, I can still do it to earn extra income without having to ask my children and grandchildren for money. Young workers do more so their income is higher, while I only earn a few tens of thousands of dong a day.”

Recently, most of the rice paper production factories in Son Doc have switched to machine production to help ensure consistent, high-quality products and food hygiene and safety.

The special thing about the rice paper here is that the ingredients are carefully selected from waxy sticky rice combined with the skillful hands of the craftsman to make the crispy, fatty cake, so consumers love it.

Mr. Le Truc Lam, owner of Lam rice paper factory, shared: “My family has invested in machinery to do the dough-kneading and rice-making steps for more than 10 years, helping to increase productivity compared to manual methods. Currently, my facility has 2 3-star OCOP products: banana rice paper and fat rice paper.”

According to Mr. Lam, most people in the craft village have invested in machinery to reduce labor and improve product quality to meet the increasing demands of consumers. This change has helped the craft village survive and develop over time despite many ups and downs of the market economy .

In which, modern cakes are gradually overwhelming traditional cakes but Son Doc rice paper still holds firm and is increasingly going further with products that meet OCOP standards.

Mr. Nguyen Vu Phong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Giong Trom district said: "Currently, the craft village has nearly 50 establishments producing rice paper to serve the needs of consumers. On average, each year the craft village produces about 25 million rice paper to sell in the province and other provinces in the region.

According to Mr. Nguyen Vu Phong, in the coming time, the locality is orienting to develop traditional craft villages combined with tourism. Tourists coming here will be able to visit the stages of traditional rice paper making and enjoy the products on the spot.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/ve-tham-lang-nghe-banh-phong-son-doc-hon-tram-nam-tuoi.html