Alcohol making has been quite popular in Vietnamese villages from the past to the present. But handmade wine which is famous nationwide like the Van village wine (also called Van wine), in Van Ha commune, Viet Yen district is rare. 

The ancient Vietnamese ginseng tree in the garden of Dang’s family and Danh Mountain ginseng wine.

According to the elders, the Van village wine made debut about 800 years ago. It is made from yellow flower glutinous rice combined with the yeast of 35 medicinal herbs and brewed in full 72 hours. The ingenious wine-making art of Van villagers has created a kind of clear water with soft taste, conquering even the most demanding drinkers.

In the feudal dynasties, the Van village wine was offered to the king and often appeared at the banquets in the royal palace. It was the special taste of the Van wine that made the kings voice their praises. In the 24th year of the Chinh Hoa (1703), King Tran Hy Tong granted the four golden letters "Van Huong My Tuu" (The good wine of Van Huong) to the Van village wine.

Throughout history, the Van village wine has experienced many ups and downs. There were periods when villagers lacked rice and jobs, so they had to cook cassava wine to sell to those who loved the strong fermentation of the Van village wine. 

Then there was fierce competition from products of other localities and factories as well as foreign wine. But perhaps the pride of the local specialty has urged many villagers to be determined to keep the trade and build a brand name for their wine.

Today, all wine made is sold out. The Van village-labeled wine appears all over the country, from large and small restaurants and hotels to popular food shops. In particular, thanks to diverse designs, the Van village wine is a specialty that tourists often buy as a gift when they come to Bac Giang.

Danh Mountain - a mountain 100 meters above the sea level, also called Chung Son Mountain in Viet Lap and Lien Chung communes (Tan Yen district), is considered a sacred land so it just produces a valuable medicinal herb called Danh Mountain ginseng.

The uses of this precious ginseng have become more thrilling and attractive. It was described as a "miraculous drug" when making the eyes of the mother of King Tu Duc – Queen Mother Tu Du bright again. It was said that during the reign of King Tu Duc, his mother had her eyes grow dim. 

Dong Can crab.

Loving his mother, the king found all rare and precious herbs as well as talented traditional herb doctors at that time to cure, but the illness got worse and worse. All traditional herb doctors were invited and good remedies were used, but no results were recorded. 

At the time of the king's despair, a mandarin offered precious ginseng from Danh Mountain area. Unexpectedly, the precious ginseng as the miraculous drug helped the eyes of the king's mother shine again. Since then, the Danh Mountain ginseng has been described as a miraculous herb, becoming a specialty offered to the king.

Knowing this, wealthy people in the area hunted the ginseng like hunting gold to make offerings to the mandarins to ask for tax reduction or give to the royal court. Because of their livelihoods, normal people also together went to the mountain to find ginseng, leading to the exhaustion of this product. 

More than 50 years ago, the family of Than Hai Dang in Dong Sen village, Viet Lap commune luckily discovered this precious species of ginseng and preserved it until now (this is also the only household that owns an ancient ginseng tree). On the market, the Danh Mountain ginseng is sold for about 2 million VND (865 USD) per kg (big roots) and 300,000 VND (nearly 13 USD) per kg (small roots) but supply does not meet demand.

Canh orange is grown widely in Bac Giang.

The folk said that the land of Bac Giang also had other products dedicated to the king such as Dong Can crab, Trung Xuong spinach in ancient Phung Phap village (now Tan Phuong village, Tan My commune, Bac Giang city), and yellow flower glutinous rice grown in some localities ... 

Bac Giang people are industrious and active in their lives, so they have brought many varieties of fruit trees which were previously the products offered to the king from other regions to grow in the locality, such as Thanh Ha lychee (Hai Duong), Hung Yen longan, Dien grapefruit and Canh orange (Hanoi), and Phuc Trach grapefruit (Huong Khe-Ha Tinh). 

Due to adaptation to climate and soil conditions, and good care, many products have even better quality than those grown in places where they originate from. All have created diversity and a brand for Bac Giang agricultural products in the domestic and foreign markets.

Ecopark longan fair to promote Hung Yen’s specialty fruit

A longan fair was held on August 25 at Ecopark, an urban area in Van Giang district of Hung Yen province, as part of a series of activities aimed at promoting local specialty fruit.

 

Luc Nam increases value of specialty products

(BGO) - Luc Nam district of Bac Giang province has 25 communes and two townships with many specialty products. Under the "One Commune One Product" programme of Bac Giang province for 2018-2020, with orientation to 2030, Luc Nam has nearly 30 kinds of products. Local authorities and people are exerting efforts to build brands, helping increase product value.

 

Trang Tien ice cream, a Hanoian specialty

Arriving in Hanoi in the hot summer, a lot of Hanoians will recommend you go straight to Trang Tien street to get an ice cream. The popular ice cream has become a specialty the city after more than 60 years of sales.

 

Com – A Vietnamese specialty

One of the origins of Com (green sticky rice) can be traced to Vong village, 7 km west of downtown Hanoi. The legend begins with a severe famine in the village many years ago.

 

Nem nuong Cai Rang, a specialty of Can Tho

The Mekong river delta city of Can Tho is well-known for Cai Rang district’s Nem nuong (literally grilled sausage). The dish is a real Vietnamese grilled pork sausage or grilled meatball served with rice noodles or rice as a main course.

 

Huy Nam