Com Vong village - a specialty of Hanoi's autumn

There is a gift that comes with the autumn of Hanoi, which is Com Vong village. People do not know the exact craft of making Com (since when has Vong village existed, but legend has it that in the autumn of a thousand years ago, a storm hit Vong Village, in Cau Giay district, today's Hanoi city, threatening, destroying the rice fields that have just ripened to the villagers.To avoid starvation, the villagers try to harvest the young rice early and dry roast it so that the rice does not spoil.

A pleasant surprise happened when the roasted rice grains had a characteristic taste and aroma, which later became a specialty dish of the village. Villagers started selling Lang Vong nuggets as a snack around Thang Long citadel. After that, it was hunted by many connoisseurs and became one of the village's tributes to the Ly king (11th-13th century). Com Vong is made with young glutinous rice when it is about to ripen, still has rice milk inside and has a fragrant aroma.

Making Com is a very hard and meticulous job. First, delicious glutinous rice is carefully selected, then the seeds are removed, sieved and washed in large tanks to remove the seeds floating on the surface. Young sticky rice is roasted in a large iron pan on a wood stove. After that, Com is put in a mortar and pounded by hand so that the sticky rice becomes flat. Therefore, many people also call Com Vong village Com flat.

The process of pounding and drying the nuggets is the most important step. These secret techniques are often kept in the family, never revealed to outsiders or daughters for fear of them passing on to the husband's family.

Experiencing many ups and downs of history, the traditional craft of making rice nuggets in Lang Vong is still preserved and thrived. As autumn approaches, local villagers buy young sticky rice from surrounding villages to make nuggets. Although Vong villagers today no longer grow rice, when autumn comes, the whole village still resounds with the sound of pounding rice and the smell of fragrant nuggets.

Previously, up to 98% of households in Vong village pursued the profession of making nuggets. The process of urbanization and modernization in the city has turned Vong village into a rapidly growing residential area. The rice fields around the town are gradually being occupied by high-rise office buildings, crowded apartments, and busy business districts.

Many families in the village are still enthusiastic about the traditional craft of their forefathers, so they have to buy young rice from other localities to make nuggets. This is a time-consuming job while the quality of rice is not guaranteed, so the profession of making green rice in Vong village is gradually disappearing.

This is also the concern of many villagers, but they still try to maintain this age-old profession despite the influences of modern life. Currently, Dich Vong Hau ward has 10 households with 70 artisans making nuggets. From the previous hand pounding of nuggets, people now use machines to shorten the process of making nuggets. Com has been introduced at many domestic and international fairs, exhibitions and seminars..

Two typical products of Vong village - dried and fresh - have now been exported to foreign markets such as Korea, Hong Kong, USA, Germany, France, Canada and other countries. Com Vong village was officially granted a protection mark by the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade from mid-2019.

If you happen to come to Hanoi on an autumn day, try sipping some Com Vong village, the green, flexible, but sweet nuggets will make you fall in love.