Ke Rice Cracker Village

Bánh đa Kế looks simple and is hard to make well. It is a rice cracker spread thin, dried in the sun, and grilled over charcoal.

Kế village sits in what used to be the Dĩnh Kế area. Today the area is part of Bắc Giang ward, in Bắc Ninh Province. Before the administrative reorganization, it belonged to Bắc Giang city and Bắc Giang Province. The village lies along Highway 1A, on the road from Hanoi to Lạng Sơn. On a sunny day, long rows of drying panels stretch along both sides of the road. That is the sight this place is known for.

The village elders say the craft is about two to three hundred years old. It was handed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth, not in writing. The exact age is still unclear. But no one disputes that bánh đa Kế has fed many generations of villagers and has become the signature of the old Bắc Giang area.

What sets this cracker apart lies in the steps of making it.

First comes the rice. It is rinsed lightly so that it keeps its bran, then soaked and ground into flour. The bran gives the cracker its distinctive fragrance after grilling.

Next the cracker is spread out. The first layer is thin. Once it has set a little, a second layer goes on top, so the cracker comes out thicker and sturdier. This double layer is what gives Kế crackers their thickness and chew, unlike other kinds of rice cracker.

Before drying, the makers sprinkle black sesame seeds and raw peanuts, coarsely crushed, over the surface. The center usually carries more sesame and peanut than the edge. When the cracker is eaten, the middle is the most fragrant and nutty part.

Then comes the drying. A sunny day is a day for making bánh đa Kế. Woven bamboo panels are propped at a slant across the yards, the lanes and every open space in front of the houses. When the surface has set but the cracker is not yet fully dry, the worker has to come out and peel it off and turn it in time. Left too long, it sticks, cracks or tears.

The last step is grilling, which many people call fanning the cracker. The worker lays it on glowing charcoal, holding the cracker in one hand and a woven fan in the other. The fanning must be even and the cracker turned without pause. The worker must also know the right moment to stop, so that the cracker puffs up, crisp and golden, without burning. This is the step that asks for the most experience. No formula of time or temperature can replace the feel of a skilled hand.

The scale of the work is considerable. In Decision 1399, the Bắc Giang provincial People's Committee records that the Kế crackers of Bắc Giang city come to about 5 million pieces a year, made all year round. Dĩnh Kế alone has 32 households making them, with about 67 main workers. Taken together, these numbers show that this is no small, scattered craft.

The cracker is crisp, with the nutty fragrance of rice, sesame and peanut. It is eaten plain or alongside everyday dishes of the old Bắc Giang area.

Kế is a village where the craft and daily life cannot be pulled apart. The panels drying in the sun, the clatter of fans over the coals, and the smell of grilling cracker are not a show put on for tourists. They are an ordinary morning in a craft village.