In the cold weather of Bac Ha autumn, all the Tay villages are bustling with the sound of pestles pounding rice to make nuggets. In other regions, there are usually two seasons of nuggets: in the fourth lunar month with the season of nuggets and from July to the end of September of the lunar calendar is the main season of nuggets. But Bac Ha has only one season of nuggets in the fall. Bac Ha com is big, green, and has a sweet, supple taste that can't be compared anywhere else. That's why so many people just enjoy it once and remember that taste forever.

Sticky rice seeds to roast to make nuggets

To make a batch of green, delicious, and sweet nuggets, the selection of sticky rice grains is very important. Glutinous rice must be grown in the hills and mountains far from ordinary rice fields, people usually reap sticky rice from "half past eight", ie when the rice is still young. The seed that has just sprouted and is full of milk is the most suitable time to harvest rice and make nuggets. After harvesting, people select each grain of rice and roast it on a thick cast iron pan. When roasting nuggets, you must ensure that the heat is kept evenly, at the beginning of the fire must be evenly large when the rice grains turn white, then gradually reduce the fire so that the seeds ripen evenly and do not break.

After roasting is complete, when it is still hot, put it in a stone mortar and pound it immediately. The stone mortar is buried under the floor to ensure compaction and avoid noise. Each such mortar can hold about 5kg of roasted glutinous rice, just pounding and stirring from top to bottom and then from bottom to top. In the past, when pounding nuggets, it took two people, one to kick the pestle, the other to sit and roll. Nowadays, when the technology is more advanced, some households have milling machines to remove the husks of the rice, so they just need to roast the sticky rice until it is cooked evenly and pound it until the nuggets are soft.

Com after removing all the husks

After pounding for about 10 minutes, the rice husk will be sieved to reduce the shell, and then poured into the mortar to continue pounding. Just like that, until the fifth time, people start to sort the nuggets. Each type is pounded separately 2 more times to finish. After pounding, the nuggets are soft, rich in flavor with natural green color and wrapped in glossy green dong leaves to keep the flexibility, softness and aroma of the new sticky rice.

Com is wrapped in green dong leaves

Traditional rice products of Tay ethnic people are often sold in the center of Bac Ha district, on weekends they are sold more to serve tourists. Bac Ha com has become an item that many tourists choose to buy as a gift when traveling here

In the cold weather of the Bac Ha plateau, you can enjoy the sticky rice grains, the rich sweetness, the aroma of young rice made by your own hands, nothing is more wonderful. And don't forget to bring this gift to your friends and relatives.

Luu Van Anh