Vietnam Travel - Young Rice in Hanoi

YOUNG RICE IN HANOI

vongcom12345 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:15:51 +0000

FOR HANOIANS, NOTHING EVOKES AUTUMN LIKE THE TASTE OF YOUNG RICE FROM VONG VILLAGA. QUE CHI REMINISCES.

On my sixteenth birthday my mother presented me with a packet of Com (young rice) from Vong village, the grain so sweetly scented that they left a lasting impression. Upon untying the two strands of grass that bound the outer lotus leaves, I smelled the fresh scent of lotus. Inside was a second layer of leaves, these from a sweet potato plant. Pulling back these leave revealed a pile of delicate green gains, my mother watching as I took my first bite.

Many times as a small child I had wished for the money to buy some Com. Served with red persimmons or ripe bananas, Com is truly delicious. Vong village, on the outskirts of Hanoi, is said to produce the best Com in northern Vietnam.

To produce their famous Com, residents of Vong village grow a special variety of sticky rice. Wealthy families buy it for their lucky kids, and grooms’ families present it to brides’ families as engagement and wedding gifts. Poor children, as I then was, rarely had the chance to taste such an elegant treat. Vong Village is an unforgettable destination for visitors in Hanoi with Vietnam Travel.
Years ago I accompanied a friend to Vong village, where her grandmother told me about the strenuous work required to produce Com. The sticky rice must be harvested at just the right moment and the grains must be roasted shortly after being picked. The rice is roasted over a moderate heat and gently stirred, a process that is repeated seven times.

Aware that Hanoi is entering another autumn, I feel nostalgic, Today, packets of young rice are no longer sold in the city’s small lanes. I wonder if any vendors continue to wrap this special treat in lotus leaves.

Green rice is still available, however, as it is used in different local specialties. Green rice cakes are sold o Hang Than Street. Sticky cakes stuffed with green rice are sold on Hang Dieu Street and Quoc Huong green rice paste is sold on Hang Bong Street. Restaurants also offer dishes involving Com, such as chicken stewed with herbs and green rice, or green rice served with fried shrimp. The best Vietnam Travel Deals can be accquired for the best prices.

While these dishes are sophisticated, I long for a simple packet of Com like that presented to me on my sixteenth birthday. On that day, my mother presented that I would live far from Hanoi, which proved correct. In giving me a packet of lea-wrapped Com she gave ma a packet of sweet memories about my hometown, Hanoi.

Sticky situation

vongcom12345 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:12:02 +0000

Every autumn, in September or October, when a cool wind leaves a cold dew across the north of Vietnam, the sticky rice ears will start to bend, and the local farmers will know it is time to make com – a specialty made from young green sticky rice.
But this year, after decades of using his stone mortars to pound the green sticky rice, Nguyen Van Hung doesn’t want to hear about the cool wind, the morning dew or the sticky rice ears starting to bend. He has just sold his stone mortars to an antique collector, while the workshop will be rented out to students or another tradesman. For Hung it is time to move on. In Vong village, where he lives, making com used to be a common trade.
“Now there are just a few families making com,” says Hung after he has packed his mortars into the back of a van. “Our stone mortars have become antiques because now com is made with the help of roasting and pounding machines,” says Hung, before adding that com made by hand is far superior.
Com is a wonderful delicacy, sure, but to make money from producing it you have to make bucket loads, and Hung is sick of working so hard when his neighbours are making more from simply leasing out their property. “I make far more now than I did from making com,” says Hung’s neighbour Nguyen Dieu Hoa, who now leases out her house. “The materials we needed to make com were getting too hard to source and too expensive.”

Com Lang Vong – autumn’s gift of young rice

vongcom12345 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:10:10 +0000

The special rice is made throughout
Hanoi, but the country’s best com can be found in Vong Village, or Lang Vong, five kilometres from downtown Hanoi.
The village in Dich Vong Ward in Cau Giay District consists of four hamlets – Vong Tien, Vong Hau, Vong So and Vong Trung – but only Vong Hau and Vong So are expert com makers.
No one knows exactly when Vong villagers began to make com. It is said that one autumn, a long time ago, heavy floods submerged all the village’s rice fields with their young paddy grains.
The villagers were forced to gather the green rice and roast it for eating. To their surprise, the roasted young rice was delicious. Com Lang Vong even became a specialty chosen as a tribute to the kings from the Ly Dynasty in the 11th century.

Vietnam’s trade villages: Com Lang Vong

vongcom12345 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:08:32 +0000

Each autumn, when the cold winds blow fogs, and the rice plants bow under their ears, the seeds are plump and the rice milk is thick, it’s time to grill green rice, better known as Com.
The rice must be harvested when it is still young. Then it is grilled, cooled and poured into a stone mill, pounded lightly with a wooden pestle, sifted and winnowed. Then, the crystal spring rice is wrapped tightly in emerald lotus leaves to keep it from drying and allowing it to absorb lotus flavour.
Usually Com is eaten with banana or red persimmon and should be enjoyed slowly, chewed carefully to mull over the flavour of spring rice, which is sweet, nutty and buttery.
Com can be found throughout Hanoi, but the big city flavour hasn’t a bar on the taste sensation in Vong Village, 6km from downtown Hanoi. Folks say Vong com is the best in the country.
Lang Vong, located in the west Hanoi, is a famous village, which was known wildly in Vietnam with its speciality, which chosen as a tribute for the kings. The village’s name and is product and always called together: Com Lang Vong.