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Rice Paper Obsession, Traditional Artisans Strive in Vietnam

Rice Paper Obsession, Traditional Artisans Strive in Vietnam
AFP | Nguyen Thi Hue cooks rice paper near Thuan Hung Village in the Mekong Delta

Stuffed, rolled, baked or fried: rice paper rules in food-obsessed Vietnam, where diners have spurned factory-made versions for homespun ones, propping up a thriving cottage industry in the Mekong Delta.

They're a staple on dinner tables from north to south, eaten fresh with fish, fried with pork, or baked on an open flame and eaten like crackers -- a popular bar snack.

Traditional Vietnamese rice paper artisans. Image: AFP
Traditional Vietnamese rice paper artisans. Image: AFP

But regardless of how they're prepared, one thing most people in Vietnam agree on: homemade is always better. "It's better than the factory version, try it, it's tastier," Nguyen Thi Hue told AFP, offering a baked coconut version at her roadside snack stop in southern Can Tho province.  

She sources her 'banh trang' in nearby Thuan Hung village, known for producing some of the finest in the Mekong Delta, long renowned as the "rice bowl of Vietnam".

Some families earn a living making rice paper, even as factories have popped up producing creative flavours like salted shrimp, coconut or versions made with the notoriously potent durian fruit.

"Customers prefer those produced handmade in the village. We don't use chemicals, they're just natural," said 26-year-old Bui Minh Phi, a third-generation rice paper maker in Thuan Hung.

Ha Thi Sau (top) pours a rice and sesame mixture onto a hot fire stove as her 16-year-old daughter Dang Thi Bich Thien (bottom) rolls rice paper onto a mat for drying at their home in Thuan Hung Village in the Mekong Delta. Image: AFP
Ha Thi Sau (top) pours a rice and sesame mixture onto a hot fire stove as her 16-year-old daughter Dang Thi Bich Thien (bottom) rolls rice paper onto a mat for drying at their home in Thuan Hung Village in the Mekong Delta. Image: AFP

He can earn $65 per day spinning the trade, or double that during the busy lunar new year period.   

It's a common sentiment in Vietnam, where many diners eschew fast food joints for home-style restaurants serving pho noodle soup or banh mi sandwiches like their grandmothers might have made it. 

Image: AFP
Image: AFP

 

Rice paper making is a matter of family heritage for many like Ha Thi Sau. 

Sau’s son-in-law feeds the fire with rice husks, while her 83-year-old mother washes dishes on the river bank. Though other jobs are available in her village — once a rural backwater now dotted with modern cafes and mobile phone shops — she doesn’t dream of abandoning her trade.

"I've been making rice paper for so long, I don't want to leave it for another job," she said, as the scent of coconut wafted in the air.

 

 

Source : AFP

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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