Tra Khuc River's sand bean sprout craft gradually fades
SGGPO
Once a traditional craft of the people in Tinh Ha Town in Son Tinh District, Quang Ngai Province, the practice of manually cultivating bean sprouts using sand along the Tra Khuc River is now only sustained by a few households.
In the past, more than 100 households in Tinh Ha Town produced bean sprouts by using fine sand along the river after the flood season. However, in recent years, the profession has gradually faded due to its inability to compete with industrial bean sprout production, along with changing weather patterns and the environmental impact of sand mining.
The family of Nguyen Thi Phuoc is one of the three households along the Tra Khuc River that still maintain the traditional craft of making bean sprouts incubated in sand.
Nguyen Thi Phuoc, 66, with over 40 years of experience in this craft, shared that only three households continue to maintain this practice. To produce 6 kg of bean sprouts, 1 kg of mung beans and four days of incubation in sand are required. Each day, she harvests about 20 kg of bean sprouts, which she sells to traders at VND10,000 per kilogram.
Phuoc emphasized that bean sprouts grown in sand are highly valued for their quality—clean, fragrant, and free of chemicals. However, the low income and the considerable labor involved have led fewer people to pursue this profession.
“This job is based on hard work for profit, but we still have to worry about the input costs. Now, I continue doing it out of habit and love for the craft,” she shared.
Phuoc prepares barrels filled with sand, which is selected as alluvial sand, free from salt contamination.
Next, she spreads soaked mung beans following the process of alternating one layer of sand and one layer of mung beans.
After incubating mung beans in the sand, it is necessary to water them twice a day.
After four days of incubation, the bean sprouts have sprouted.
The bean sprouts are long and pure white, having been incubated in the sand.
Next, she pours the sand out to make it easier to harvest the bean sprouts.
She uses a colander to sift the sand, keeping the bean sprouts.
This process is repeated several times until only the bean sprouts remain in the colander.
Next, Phuoc removes the bean sprouts that are substandard or damaged.
According to Phuoc, some of the damaged bean sprouts are due to the poor quality of certain mung beans.
Bean sprouts incubated in sand along the Tra Khuc River are long, white, with abundant roots, and have a fragrant, sweet taste.
Finally, the bean sprouts are washed clean before being sold.
Every day, Phuoc sells about 20 kg of bean sprouts.
Phuoc uses well water to wash the bean sprouts clean.
The bean sprouts after being washed clean
For many years, Phuoc has been using her bicycle to transport bean sprouts to the market to sell to traders.
