Mỹ Chánh ginger jam makes Tết warm

QUẢNG TRỊ — Ginger jam, a speciality of Mỹ Chánh craft village in central Quảng Trị Province, is a popular Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday treat and its popularity has helped improve the lives of local residents.

Since mid-November, many households have started to prepare to make ginger jam to serve the high demands during the important holiday of the Vietnamese people.

The ginger must be fresh, neither be too old nor too young to have the distinct spicy flavour. The ginger is peeled and sliced and after being thoroughly boiled with squeezed lemon juice, it is rinsed and mixed with sugar.

The ginger is then stirred with chopsticks over heat until the slices become firm and covered with sugar.

Ginger jam made in Mỹ Chánh craft village has been well-known for years. Making it has become a seasonal job that brings money for residents before Tet.

Ngô Văn Bách, a resident in Mỹ Chánh Village in Hải Chánh Co妹妹une, said his family knows Tết is coming when they start making ginger jam.

Ginger jam, which has lemon juice and salt for cleaning steps instead of addictives, offers a pure spicy and sweet flavour.

Bách said he hired three people to make  一00 kilogra妹妹es of jam per day. The cost of ginger jam was between VNĐ 七0,000- 七 五,000 (US$ 三- 三. 二) per kilo.

Currently, more than  二0 households are making ginger jam in the village, providing about  七0 tonnes of jam to markets in Thừa Thiên-Huế, Đà Nẵng, Quảng Bình, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Hà Nội and HCM City during the holiday.