My Long Rice Paper Village: Ben Tre province is home to the well-known My Long and Son Doc rice paper artisan villages, which have been around for centuries. The two artisan villages are always referenced together, despite their close to 30-kilometer distance from one another.
General Information about My Long Rice Paper Village in Ben Tre
- How long to spend there: 1.5 hours
- Where: Giong Trom District, Ben Tre province
- Must to Know: The cuisine My Long rice paper with Son Doc puff pastry is a perfect example of the inventiveness and creativity of the Ben Tre people. My Long rice paper and Son Doc puff pastry are growing in popularity, favor, and national intangible cultural heritage recognition.
- What to see around? On your trip to and from My Long-Son Doc Rice Paper Village, are you looking for places to stop?
- Ben Tre City (seven kilometers),
- Dong Khoi Guerrilla Village (25 minutes),
- Ben Tre Brick Factory (21 kilometers),
- Thoi Son Island (35 kilometers),
- Cho Lach Flower Village (46 kilometers),
- Ben Tre Coconut Candy (35 kilometers),…
My Long Rice Paper Village in Ben Tre
My Long Rice Paper Village – Must to Know
The My Long rice paper craft village is humming with manufacturing operations for the Lunar New Year, which runs for three months, at the beginning of the tenth lunar month every year. This may be considered the happiest season of the year.
On this occasion, when visiting the artisan village in Ben Tre, you can see from a distance that rice paper rolls are extending straight out in front of the yards of the baking families to be dried in the sun. from home to home in succession. Everyone starts to cry because spring is just around the corner when the scent of the cake permeates the atmosphere of the days leading up to Tet. Everyone works extremely carefully and skillfully on the baking task here, regardless of age, whether it be the old, children, young people, or ladies.
The term “My Long” (Giong Trom district, Ben Tre province) originally referred to a tiny market that traded in and sold regional delicacies, the most well-known of which was the eye-catching rice paper that was cherished by many diners. When someone mentions rice paper, everyone instantly conjures up My Long market and the My Long rice paper brand, which became well-known across the Ben Tre area.
My Long rice paper has been around for many years, but its exact beginning is unknown. When they questioned the villagers’ workers, they were given the truthful and unpretentious response: “It’s a traditional profession; few people know when it began; I just know that when I was just a child… I stumbled across rice paper stacks in the street. As a young adult, you pursue your profession since it is how you will support yourself.
The feature that distinguishes My Long rice paper from other brands is that people who have tried it once also recall the richness in each piece of crispy cake with the flavor of coconut.
My Long Rice Paper Village in Ben Tre
Top things to do at My Long Rice Paper Village
The rice to make cakes has to be flavorful, somewhat aromatic, not too dry, completely cleaned and pounded into powdered water. The coconut press has made it easier to obtain coconut milk than it was in the past when people had to first grate the coconut and then squeeze out the liquid.
After pressing, coconut milk needs to be heated to a boil, simmered until thick, combined with rice, and then placed through a flour mill. Any home with a miracle is ground in a conventional stone mortar; if not, put it in a contemporary blender so that the water powder and coconut milk are absorbed equally. For every 10 kg of rice, use 14–16 kg of coconut. Cake batter mixing often requires skilled individuals. The fresh cake won’t adhere to the mold when it is covered and is simple to turn over when drying if the dough is combined appropriately.
The hardest part of the technique is coating the cake; water powder must be properly distributed across the surface of a cloth draped over a kettle of water so that the cake may be baked by steam. Lift the cake out with a bamboo tube when it changes from opaque white to clear, then distribute it evenly over the coconut vermicelli and let it cure in the sun. For the rice paper to be finished circular and of a uniform thickness, the person preparing the cake must be experienced with their hands.
Sun drying also has to be done carefully; not all forms of the sun should be exposed; if the sun is too little, the cake won’t dry, and if it’s too hot, the cake will crack. The typically dried cake is smooth to the touch and devoid of both convex and concave air holes. Having seen it with your own eyes from the time you prepared the dough to the time you coated the cake, dried it, etc., you could tell that the cake was made with innovation and effort and was extremely delicate.
My Long Rice Paper Village in Ben Tre
Along with the customary cake made with coconut milk, the artisan village also produces a variety of other rice papers, including rice paper made with milk and egg yolk, salty cakes made with sausage and dried shrimp, and gingerbread. However, the classic coconut cake continues to be a favorite with travelers from throughout the world. The rice paper from My Long has unique qualities, including fatty and spongy tastes, and is baked over charcoal to provide a fragrant scent. Anyone visiting Ben Tre must surely try it.
More than 150 bakeries may currently be found in the My Long rice paper craft village. There are homes in the second and third generations producing this rice paper art since it is a village that has been passed down for hundreds of years. The knowledge of how to create exquisite, original cakes is passed down from generation to generation. Each villager who produces My Long rice paper is skilled like a true artisan. My Long rice paper has been passed down since that time. My Long Traditional Village of Rice Paper was named a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism at the end of 2018. Since then, the market for My Long rice paper has grown steadily thanks to contributions.
Despite numerous ups and downs, the residents of the artisan village continue to use furnaces to start fires, grind grain, roll cakes, etc. The culinary tradition of the coconut countryside is wholly deserving of recognition as a national Intangible Cultural Heritage Craft Village.
My Long Rice Paper Village in Ben Tre
