Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Aulacese (Vietnamese), with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, ## Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Going to the temple with a lotus branch Going to the temple with a lotus branch Having a meal by the lamp, planting rice in the moonlight Three, four young women rendezvous with the moon Befriend the moon We light the lamp and play with the moonlight on the veranda We pray for peace and harmony within and without.

Going to the temple with a lotus branch Going to the temple with a lotus branch Having a meal by the lamp, planting rice in the moonlight Three, four young women rendezvous with the moon Befriend the moon We light the lamp and play with the moonlight on the veranda We pray for peace and harmony within and without.

Going to the temple with a lotus branch Going to the temple with a lotus branch Having a meal by the lamp, planting rice in the moonlight Three, four young women rendezvous with the moon Befriend the moon We light the lamp and play with the moonlight on the veranda We pray for peace and harmony within and without.

Going to the temple with a lotus branch Going to the temple with a lotus branch Having a meal by the lamp, planting rice in the moonlight Three, four young women rendezvous with the moon Befriend the moon We light the lamp and play with the moonlight on the veranda We pray for peace and harmony within and without.

Going to the temple with a lotus branch Going to the temple with a lotus branch Going to the temple with a lotus branch Going to the temple with a lotus branch

You’ve just enjoyed the Northern Aulacese folk song “Planting Rice” with vocals and dance accompaniment by Ngôi Sao Xanh Group, describing the activities of the rural young women under the moonlight, in rice planting season. They do not, however, forget to go to the temple together to pray for a peaceful homeland and happy family.

Âu Lạc, a beautiful country situated in Southeast Asia, with sub-tropical climate, is graced by Mother Nature with green plants and sweet fruits, all redolent and delectable throughout the four seasons. Depending on the weather conditions and culinary preferences of each region, the local people have skillfully created many savory dishes.

In our program about Aulacese traditional cuisine, we are pleased to introduce the specialty foods of a land known for its freshness and abundance. Indeed, at a public lecture in the United States in March 1991, Supreme Master Ching Hai especially praised the rich natural resources of Âu Lạc.

“Âu Lạc is among the most enriched nations in this world: there are mines of gold, silver, uranium, lead, zinc, and tin. Âu Lạc has everything. There are morals, piety, harmony, and four thousands years of civilization. It is one of the most ancient countries in the world.

Our land has always had abundant foods and fruits. I remember when I was a student there, there was a great variety of fruits when I went to Bình Dương and Long Thành. And rice! Aulacese indigenous rice, called Tám Thơm, is the most famous in Southeast Asia and in the world. There are also other products, dried or fresh, that are most popular in the world.”

We are deeply grateful to Supreme Master Ching Hai for her treasured words and boundless grace for the nation and people of peace-loving Âu Lạc.

If green rice flakes are said to be a traditional food of Hà Nội, then Vòng Village is the cradle of this specialty. The green rice flakes of Vòng Village are soft, with a pure sweetness and light scent of young rice wrapped in lotus leaves at each arrival of autumn.

O Thư!

Yes.

Go to bed early, honey! Tomorrow, we’ll go to Vòng Village to visit your grandpa.

Yes. Mom, did you and Dad live there before?

No. Your dad lived in Vòng Village. I was in Hà Nội.

Then how did you get to know each other?

It’s been 10 years already, right, dear?

Green rice flakes, anyone!

Ah, Sơn!

Hà! How are you?

I’m fine. You came early today, why?

Because I miss Hà Nội’s sun so much!

Really?

Yes.

The green rice flakes today are so fragrant!

What green rice flakes that aren’t? These are green rice flakes for your dad. This is glutinous green rice for your mom.

What about me?

Here is green rice flake dessert for you!

May I? It smells so good!

Hà, why does it take half an hour to buy green rice flakes, dear?

Yes, Dad. I’m going back in now.

Yes sure.

Have some tea!

Here are your green rice flakes, Dad. And here is your glutinous green rice, Mom.

May I? It smells so good, doesn’t it?

Yes. Vòng Village’s green rice flakes are superb!

Only Vòng Village makes green rice flakes?

No. There are many places making them, but Vòng Village’s green rice flakes are famous for their softness and great taste.

Let us visit Vòng Village to learn how the people there transform the rice grains into a food specialty of Hà Nội City. Rice is harvested when it is still green and milky as we press it. Rice grains are taken home to be removed of stems and undeveloped ones.

Then they are left to dry and get roasted on high heat. Workers stir the grains evenly to avoid them getting burnt, until the grains turn milky. After getting roasted, the grains are left to cool and then husked. By this time, coarse green rice comes into being, with most of its husk removed.

Next, it is pounded in a stone mortar up to 4 or 5 times. After every pounding, workers screen to remove unwanted items such as rice husk, bran, and keep doing that until the green rice flakes are clean.

O Hà! How come we have no green rice flakes this week?

I haven’t seen him lately, Dad.

Why did you stop selling for the entire week, Dad?

I was ill at the time.

Grandpa and Mom must have missed you a lot!

Grandpa missed the green rice flakes for sure... but Mom missed only me.

No one knows exactly when Vòng Village began making green rice flakes. But legend has it that during an autumn thousands of years ago, when the rice plants started to bend, a fierce rainstorm swept by.

The levee collapsed, and water inundated fields of young rice plants. Vòng villagers had no choice but to cut the young green rice plants and roasted them to eat to ease their hunger.

Surprisingly, this food turned out to have a very unique and delectable taste. Nowadays, the green rice flakes of Vòng Village have traveled beyond the village’s bamboo grove to become a very popular delicacy of people in Hà Nội.

What happened next for you and Mom?

The ending, your Mom remembers best.

Have some tea, husband! What do you think? I find him gentle in nature. If he joins our family, you’ll have all the green rice flakes you want.

Goodness! You marry our daughter to a person, not to green rice flakes, right?

I don’t mean that. It’s just that I find him very bright and able. He can oversee our vegan restaurant and make green rice flakes to benefit the people here. Besides, we don’t want Hà to marry someone out of town and not be able to visit us often, do we?

Well, whatever makes everyone happy is fine. As long as you two don’t blame me that I forced a marriage because I like to eat green rice flakes.

As fresh green rice flakes taste good only for a short time, many products are made from desiccated green rice flakes so that people can savor green rice flakes longer. Since then, green rice flakes have become a main ingredient for many pure foods such as green rice flake cakes, glutinous rice, dessert, ice cream – all vegan. The green rice flake cake is especially a very familiar part of weddings, engagements, and anniversaries – a simple and elegant gift.

Your wedding must have been very happy?

Yes, it was! Our neighbors were feasted by Dad with green rice flakes; they kept commenting about it!

Mom was the happiest person. Right after the wedding, she asked me to teach her to make green rice flake dessert to go show off to her friends.

To make green rice flake dessert, we need fresh green rice flakes, vegan sugar, cassava flour and some pomelo flower extract. Cook the sugar in water until it dissolves evenly. Help me dissolve cassava flour in some water.

The cassava flour is dissolved. What’s next, honey?

Now, put the cassava flour in and stir evenly.

When can we put green rice flakes in?

When the water becomes clear. It’s clear now. Sprinkle green rice flakes; stir evenly and gently.

What to do when fresh green rice flakes are not available, honey?

You can use desiccated green rice flakes. Just soak them in water for about 10 minutes, and then drain. Green rice flake dessert is finished. We have to add a little pomelo flower extract.

Its fragrance is really nice!

We’ve arrived in Vòng Village, child.

Dad, Mom, hurry up! Good morning, Grandpa!

My beloved granddaughter!

Good morning, Dad!

Good morning! I’ve already prepared some green rice flake dishes for you.

That’s great! Thank you, Grandpa.

Here is your glutinous green rice.

Thank you.

She loves the glutinous green rice.

Don’t you make it at home?

We do occasionally, but she still prefers the glutinous green rice you make.

We now invite you to watch the making of glutinous green rice, a harmonious blend of green rice flakes and coconut. This dish is loved by both young and old.

Today I will show you how to make coconut glutinous green rice.

Yes.

The ingredients are mung bean, coconut, vegan sugar, and green rice flakes. Steam the mung bean well Mung bean is cooked, take it out and pound it then separate mung bean into fine pieces. Add the vegan sugar. Mix well.

Next, put scraped coconut in a basket; wash to remove the coconut milk. Put the drained coconut in a pan, and stir it. Add the vegan sugar, stir until it dries off. Put dried coconut and sugar in a bowl. Let it cool. Mix some coconut with the mung bean paste. Cook the sugar in water to dissolve it, then sprinkle it evenly on green rice flakes until the green rice flakes soften.

Next, add green rice flakes. Mix well. Now, the coconut glutinous green rice is finished. Put the mixture on a lotus leaf to retain its softness and fragrance longer.

Let’s sprinkle more coconut flakes on it to make it more appetizing!

Yes, my granddaughter is very smart!

Do you remember your promise that when Thư turns 10 years old, you’d come to live with us?

You’re advanced in age now. We feel uneasy when you live by yourself.

Come stay with me, Grandpa!

All right. I’ll go to stay with you. Ah, I also made some ice cream from green rice flakes for you.

May I have it?

Here is your green rice flake ice cream!

Thank you, Mom.

In the cool weather, relishing green rice flakes of Vòng Village is a very poetic enjoyment of the people in Hà Nội City. But be it Vòng Village’s green rice flakes or other unique foods made from them, all carry the light sweetness of young green rice, a source of nourishment that gentle Mother Earth has lovingly bestowed upon humankind.

Thank you for watching our program featuring Aulacese green rice flakes. Please tune in to Supreme Master Television for more on Aulacese specialty food and traditional cuisine in future broadcasts. Coming up is Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living, after Noteworthy News. So long for now.