Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

By Huynh Phuong, Huynh Thanh Liem   November 30, 2022 | 07:37 pm PT
The traditional craft of making tapioca strips used mostly in desserts and as candy lends colors and sweetness to a town in the border province of Tay Ninh.
Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

This photo series on bot khoai (tapioca strips) was done by Huynh Thanh Liem.

After steaming, tapioca sheets are spread on framed bamboo "stitchers" to be dried in the sun.

Many families in Hoa Thanh Town have stuck to the traditional vocation through generations and watching them make the strips with practiced ease is a worthwhile exercise.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

Sunlight illuminates smoke inside a household where women and children pour tapioca flour, white and colored, into trays before steaming.

Liem is an accountant who is also passionate about photography. He is a member of the Young Photographers Club of the Literature and Arts Association of Tay Ninh Province.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

Tapioca sheets are placed to dry in the hot sun.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

Sheets made with a tapioca flour are thick. "In addition to the traditional white color, we also steam batches of colored sheets, using yellow, red and green food coloring without preservatives to make the strips more eye-catching," said Xuan, a longtime artisan in Hoa Thanh Town.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

A batch of colorful tapioca sheets laid out in the sun.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

A machine cuts tapioca sheets into strips.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

People dry semi-finished tapioca strips for one more day.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

Tu (C) packs the finished product with his grandchildren.

Southern town gets colorful and sweet, making tapioca strips

Thin apioca strips are an indispensable ingredient in the popular che (Vietnamese sweet soup).

 
 
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