Ke rice paper, a gift from Kinh Bac region

Every time I go far away, I suddenly hear the song "Back to Home" by the late musician Pho Duc Phuong with the lyrics: "Oh my homeland, rice paper, rice cake. Where the grass is fragrant, the green fields are green, the fruits are sweet...", the children of Kinh Bac land feel homesick, miss the rice paper that their mother used to buy as a gift at every market session.

I remember back then, as soon as I saw my mother coming back to the alley, my sisters and I ran out to grab her bag, searching for the still-hot gifts from the countryside. At that time, the rice paper from Dinh Ke village, now Dinh Ke ward, Bac Giang city, Bac Giang province, was a simple, affordable gift from the countryside, so mothers and grandmothers often bought it when they went to the market.

The freshly baked Ke rice paper cake smelled of sesame, peanuts and rice flour cooked on charcoal fire. Joyfully holding the cake as big as a conical hat in their hands, the children fought to break it off and eat it to feel the crispiness as the cake gradually crumbled in their mouths.

When we were a little older, in middle school and high school, when preparing the Mid-Autumn Festival feast at school, we chose the biggest rice paper to hang on a bamboo branch to make the moon. The whole class was delighted when the teachers who judged the feast praised us for our creative way of making the Ke rice paper from our hometown.

No one knows since when the people of Dinh Ke village have been making rice paper. The milestones of 10 generations, 15 generations or about a few hundred years… that the people who make rice paper in Ke village told me are probably only relative. I only know that in Vietnam there are many rice paper villages in Lang Son, Nam Dinh , Binh Thuan… but Ke rice paper is a different specialty, carrying the soul of Kinh Bac countryside that cannot be mistaken for anything else.

Ke rice paper must be skillfully grilled over charcoal to produce crispy, fragrant cakes.

To create big, crispy, fragrant Ke rice paper, the people of Ke village always keep their own secret which they say is "family secret". Ke rice paper is made entirely by hand through many processes such as: grinding rice flour, spreading the paper, sprinkling sesame, sprinkling peanuts, drying the paper on a rack in the sun, then baking the paper with charcoal. In particular, the way of baking the paper is the secret, a "certificate" of the skillful hands of the girls of Ke land.

Nowadays, on every trip back and forth through Bac Giang, people from far away often buy Ke rice paper as gifts for friends and relatives.

For adults, Ke rice paper has long been a great appetizer at every party. It's great to sit with friends and sip a cold beer, with a piece of crispy Ke rice paper dipped in chili sauce. Not only in Bac Giang, but now in many beer bars and pubs in many provinces and cities in the North, we always see Ke rice paper on the menu.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/diem-den-hap-dan/banh-da-ke-qua-que-vung-kinh-bac-20201022222747499.htm