The communal house yard is on fire during the Thi Cam village rice cooking contest

On February 5 (January 8), people from Thi Cam village (Xuan Phuong ward, Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi) crowded the local communal house yard to watch the rice cooking contest.

On March 9, 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 827/QD-BVHTTDL announcing the Traditional Festival - Rice Cooking Competition of Thi Cam village into the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

People and tourists crowded the communal house yard to watch the festival. Members perform a ritual before the rice cooking contest. The competition still retains the method of making fire by braiding straw, "pulling fire".According to the rules of the competition, the team that makes smoke and creates fire first will win this round and use this fire to cook rice.Meanwhile, the rice grains were pounded by the teams using wooden pestles and stone mortars.The 10 team members must coordinate very smoothly and skillfully.

The fire is lit and water is boiled waiting for the rice to be clean.

After the rice boils, the teams usually cover it with straw ash for about 20 minutes to cook the rice evenly.

In addition to the piles of ash used to bury the rice pots, the teams also burned many fake piles of ash without the rice pots inside to extend the incubation time. The judges walked around the yard, using bamboo sticks to poke through each pile of straw to find the pots of rice. The first pot of rice was found in the ashes burned in the middle of the courtyard of Thi Cam communal house. The rice was brought to the village temple to be judged publicly in front of the villagers and members of the participating teams.Bowls of fragrant, evenly-grained white rice are offered to the village's tutelary god.

Le Phu/Tin Tuc Newspaper

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/anh/san-dinh-do-lua-hoi-thi-nau-com-lang-thi-cam-20250205200231430.htm