Buying banh chung for convenience
Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien (69 years old, residing in Boc Nguyen village, Cam Due commune) shared that for more than 10 years now, every Lunar New Year, her family no longer wraps and cooks banh chung at home.
Instead, she buys banh chung from establishments that cook banh chung for health, without having to worry about buying dong leaves, preparing sticky rice, meat, wrapping, and then having to directly cook very hard.
“Previously, there were many children and grandchildren, so I cooked a pot of banh chung for fun for children and grandchildren to eat and also as gifts when visiting relatives for Tet. Recently, my children have grown up and started their own families, so my family does not cook banh chung for Tet anymore. Because cooking little is time-consuming, cooking a lot is not enough to eat it all to spoil and waste,” Ms. Lien shared.
Ms. Lien recalled that during Tet, her family wrapped and cooked more than 20 banh chung, but the weather was hot and humid, and by the 8th day of Tet, they were all spoiled and moldy, and had to be thrown away very wastefully.
On Tet, a banh chung cake is indispensable for worship. It is an offering that must be on the tray, so I buy about 4 to 6 to worship, that's enough. Buy a little so that after worshiping, I can eat it all early, avoiding leaving the cake spoiled and wasted for a long time," Ms. Lien added.
Sharing the same view, Ms. Tran Thi Hai Yen (35 years old, residing in Ha Huy Tap ward, Ha Tinh province) said that she has been married for nearly 10 years. Since then, her family has never cooked banh chung during Tet. Because the family of only four people has not eaten much.
Every Tet holiday, I only buy a few pairs of banh chung to worship Tet. Modern life, all services are sufficient, so I just buy them ready for convenience," Ms. Yen confided.
Many banh chung establishments are overloaded
Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan (resident of Na Trung village, Cam Due commune) said that his family's Boc Nguyen green banh chung facility is running at full capacity this Tet and cannot meet the needs of customers.
Our facility started cooking Tet Chung cakes nearly 3 weeks ago. We plan to cook until noon on the 29th of Tet to finish. It is estimated that this year, we will cook from 10,000 to 12,000 cakes," Mr. Hoan shared.
According to Mr. Hoan, before the large demand of customers, his family's facility had to mobilize more relatives and neighbors to support with 15 workers working daily, but it still does not meet the needs of customers.
Mr. Hoan's family has been in the banh chung cooking profession for Tet for 10 years now. Since December 2024, the products of Boc Nguyen green banh chung facility have been recognized as meeting 3-star OCOP product standards.
Our facility currently has 2 pressure cookers, each time cooking 700 cakes. But it is still overloaded, not meeting the needs of customers. Therefore, I plan to invest in another baking pot in the near future to increase the scale and capacity," Mr. Hoan shared.
The owner of Boc Nguyen green banh chung facility said that currently, every Lunar New Year, about 90% of households no longer wrap and cook banh chung at home but buy and order banh chung from banh chung cooking facilities.
In Duc Tho commune, Ha Tinh province, Hao Trach green banh chung production facility of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hao's family is also rushing to produce to meet the needs of customers during Tet.
Ms. Hao said that currently, her family's facility produces about 3,000 cakes per day. The products produced have been pre-ordered by customers, so there is no worry about consumption, only worrying that production supply is not enough to meet demand and cannot keep up with orders for customers.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Nho's family is also one of the households with a long tradition of making banh chung in Khoong village, Duc Tho commune.
On normal days, Ms. Nho's facility produces from 150 - 200 cakes, but from the 22nd to the 29th of Tet, the quantity increases to 1,500 - 2,000 cakes per day.
