As days shorten and become cooler, Thai villagers get together to make a favourite snack – rice crackers. However, in Chaiyaphum province’s Ban Non Nonghai village, this favourite pastime has turned into a business, generating up to 1,000 baht per day for the rice-cracker makers.
With temperatures dipping as low as 11 to 16 degrees Celsius in some parts of this Northeast province, many locals, especially those in Kaset Sombun district’s Nong Thong area where the Ban Non Nonghai village is located, have started making “Khao Pong” or “Khao Krieb Wao” rice crackers.
The tradition of making rice crackers dates back to the reign of King Rama III and has been passed down through generations. In the past, each family would produce their stock of rice crackers, particularly after the last harvest of the year. However, with modern technology and online media, families have started coming together and forming groups to increase their production and boost income.
Wiman Inkokphueng, 57, president of a community enterprise at Ban Non Nonghai village, said her group is working hard to meet the huge order it has received this year.
The process of making rice crackers begins with soaking 6 kilos of sticky rice overnight. The following morning, the rice is steamed and then transferred to a traditional mortar called “Krok Mong” in the local Isaan dialect. In the past, men would use their feet to pound the rice into a smooth paste, though now an electric motor is used to speed up the process.
Once the rice is finely pounded, 3 kilos of sugar, one tablespoon of salt, 100 grams each of black and white sesame seeds and a kilogram of desiccated coconut are mixed in and the mixture is divided and turned into small round portions. These balls are then flattened into discs and left to dry in the sun for at least two days.
Once completely dry, the rice crackers are grilled before being packaged and sent off to retailers in other parts of Chaiyaphum and neighbouring provinces.
Tongyoon Srithong, a member of the rice-cracker-making group, said that each member of the group earns at least 1,000 baht a day from making and selling Khao Pong. This year has been particularly profitable thanks to a large off-season harvest and longer winter.