Bai was born in the countryside rich in cultural identity in Xuan La commune, Pac Nam district, Bac Kan province.
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Ca Thi Bai introduces her products. |
When she was small, she followed her mother to forests to find precious leaves and medicinal herbs to make yeast for liquor making. Realizing that the number of people with knowledge of making leaf yeast is shrinking, she was determined to study the craft in an effort to preserve the traditional trade of the ancestors and the culinary culture of the Tay ethnic minority group.
According to Bai, the traditional craft of making liquor using leaf yeast is very complicated. The main ingredients include rice, water and yeast. The water is taken from a mountain; Bao Thai rice used must not moldy; and the yeast is traditionally produced by her family.
The production of the liquor must follow all the steps from choosing plants to make yeast to the liquor making process. In particular, fermenting time, wood, fire level, and method of separating liquor must all be done in the right order, with no steps being skipped.
With the desire to bring the product further, Bai has enhanced communications work, and focused on applying new techniques to improving product quality, design, and packaging. She uses wood-burning boilers to produce liquor to ensure food hygiene and safety, fuel saving and quality products. Her Bay Tham liquor product was tested by the authorities and assessed meeting quality standards. The product has its origin traced and met the provincial 3-star OCOP standard in 2022.
Currently, she monthly supplies 700-1,000 liters of liquor to the market inside and outside the province. There were months when she supplied up to 2,000 liters.
Attentively, Bai also combines traditional liquor with precious medicinal herbs as traditional remedies of the Tay ethnic minority people to help treat patients suffering from bone and joint pains or to improve health.
With her achievements in economic development, Ca Thi Bai won the second prize in the third Bac Kan province innovation start-up competition in 2023.
Translated by Chung Anh