Bo To fenugreek sugar, handmade from molasses, without preservatives, with a strong sweet taste, is a traditional best-selling item during Tet.

Blogger Ha Cuong (owner of Cao Bang Hong fanpage ) and two friends visited the Bo To sugar-making craft village in Hoa Thuan town, Quang Hoa district, about 60 km from the center of Cao Bang city. The three brothers have the same passion for photography and filming to record scenes and human rhythms in Cao Bang.

Local people harvest sugar cane on the Tet holiday. Bo To has 150 households, mainly Tay and Nung ethnic groups, of which 85 are sugar producers, creating local jobs for nearly 400 workers.

Bo To has an area of ​​​​over 30 hectares of sugarcane growing, for every 100 kg of sugarcane, 20-30 kg of finished sugar cane can be obtained. Sugarcane trees are peeled, cut off tops and pressed for juice by an electric sugarcane press.

Sugarcane juice is put into a large cast-iron pan to cook on the stove for about 4-5 hours, people use bagasse as fuel instead of charcoal.

The process of cooking sugarcane juice requires people to observe and skim the foam, filter it many times to remove dirt.

When it was first boiled, the worker had to push it on high fire to make the sugarcane juice boil. When the water starts to thicken and thicken, keep the heat medium, if it is too hot, the sugar will be burnt and bitter

“I am impressed with the people’s process of cooking molasses. The natural aroma of smoke from sugarcane blends with the aroma of sugar pots,” said Mr. Trong Hai, living in Cao Bang City, coming to Bo To for the first time to take a photo. , To share.

Mr. Luu Quang Long, Head of the village, director of the Cooperative producing fenugreek and processing Bo To cane wine, said that after the sugar thickens and turns yellow, the workers begin to try it to know the sweetness and taste. The sugar pan is put down, stirred to cool quickly and help the color of the sugar be evenly yellow, neither dark nor light.

The cane molasses is concentrated in the mold and spread evenly over the surface. About 30 minutes later, the molasses cools, forming a large sugar cube.

“This traditional craft village has existed and developed for hundreds of years. Through many ups and downs, people stick to the profession and today affirm its position in the market inside and outside the province. Especially, the processing stages of people. comply with regulations on food safety production, do not use preservative chemicals,” said Mr. Long.

People also use concentrated sugar cane molasses to make candy, one of the stages is to drag sugar for about 45 minutes, so that the sugar gradually turns from yellow to white.

The finished product is cut into pieces. The quality of sugarcane and honey is good, so fenugreek is selling well, from 25-30 thousand VND/kg, the average income is from 50 to 100 million VND/household/year.

Currently, Bo To has about 40 sugar furnaces, bustling when the Lunar New Year is approaching. Phen sugar is often taken by people to make various kinds of rice cakes, Gai cakes, Banh Chung, Che Lam, ho lo cakes, nuggets, etc. Bo To street coffee is one of 24 products of the “One commune one product per commune program.” “Achieving the provincial 3-star standard in 2020. Follow (vnexpress)

Photo: Trong Hai, Cao Bang Hong