Ke rice crackers

Updated: 15:25, 28/12/2016

(BGO) - Ke ancient village in the northern province of Bac Giang’s Dinh Ke ward has long been renowned for its special rice crackers of distinctive flavour that could not be found anywhere else. Each Ke pancake is the fruit of its cook’s labour and culinary skills.

The art of cracker making has existed in Bac Giang for up to 300 years and has been passed through generations. In the old days, selling the rice crackers was a secondary job of residents. Now, it has become a main source of livelihood of many local families. Ke people have grown to be attracted and inspired by their own culinary delight.

The business involving Ke crackers have brought back prosperity for the village, where big round pancakes displayed on flat bamboo baskets to dry can be seen almost anywhere.

Sesame and peanuts are coated both sides of a crunchy Ke cracker, leaving a tasty experience for anyone who tries a bite.

Nguyen Xuan Truong, a descendant of Ke cracker makers, decided to follow his ancestors after finishing military duty. Through dozens of years of ups and downs as a cracker businessman, he understands that the cake is not only his hometown’s specialty but also a key earner for people like him to support their families when the harvest fails.

“Our traditional cracker-making job has saved many starving people during bad harvests a couple years ago,” Truong said.

Truong has never seemed to be tired of trying to bring his home cakes to other parts of the country through various trade fairs and cooking contests. He even won a creativeness award for his idea of making the cake using electricity instead of hot coals as tradition.

Now, at his old age, Truong is no longer making Ke crackers himself but he has passed all his know-how to the next generations and found joy in helping his family run their “crunchy” business.

Ke-cake maker Nhung is another example of local passion for the traditional specialty. Both her parents did not follow the business, but Nhung has fallen in love with it since she was a little girl. Now she and her husband are running a cracker business, where passion is the thing that keeps them move forward.

Making the cakes is a painstaking process itself. The cook needs to be up early in the morning, at around 4 or 5 am, to prepare ingredients that include rice, cooked rice and sweet potatoes. The potatoes help boost the flavour and colour of the cakes. After thoroughly soaked in pure water for a while, rice is mixed with cooked rice, before being grinded into a batter.

The smooth and thick batter is steadily spread on a steam stove. The pancake is made with two layers of batter. The cooking process is the hardest part that requires experience and quick hands. During this process, the cakes are sprinkled with sesames and peanuts.

Once done, the pancake is put on large flat bamboo baskets for drying. If it is sunny, between five and six hours are enough for the cakes to set; if is cloudy or rainy, dryers might be needed.

Once one side of the cake already dries, it must be flipped quickly to prevent it to stick to the basket surface or be cracked.

Finished cakes are then stored. Before reaching food lovers, they need a skillful grill that will give them the perfect look and crunchiness.

Ke rice crackers have become a beloved snack across the country overtime. Eating the cakes, people feel not only the tasty flavour but also hard work made by the cooks behind them.