Ginger jam, a speciality in Mỹ Chánh craft village in central Quảng Trị Province, has created jobs for many local residents during the lunar New Year Festival. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Thuỷ

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 Commune, 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 100 kilogrammes of jam per day. The cost of ginger jam was between VNĐ70,000-75,000 (US$3-3.2) per kilo.

Currently, more than 20 households are making ginger jam in the village, providing about 70 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.

A business household makes ginger jam in Mỹ Chánh Village.

Võ Thị Tâm, a ginger jam-making household business owner in Mỹ Chánh Village, said she her family has made ginger jam for more than 30 years.  

On average, the business produced about 1.5 tonnes of ginger jam per day, creating jobs for 50 local residents who could earn VNĐ200,000 ($4.3) each daily.

Chairman of Hải Chánh Commune’s People’s Committee Bùi Văn Sinh said due to COVID-19 pandemic, the productivity slightly decreased, but the cost was higher than last year, so it hardly affected the income of business households.

Sinh said the committee always asked business households to sign a commitment to ensure food safety and hygiene during their production.

The committee also registered for the trademark of Mỹ Chánh ginger jam and prepared to bring the products to the supermarkets and food festivals in the future, he said. — VNS