Making puffed rice in Japan. Photo: Nguyen Van Quyet

Making childhood snacks in Japan

Until now, Nguyen Van Quyet (27 years old, in Thach That, Hanoi) did not expect that his video making puffed rice shared on social networks would attract so much attention from the online community.

Working in Japan for five years, Quyet misses his hometown, especially the gifts and games associated with his childhood. As an assembler of semiconductor components at a company, he is busy eight hours a day in the factory.

At the end of the week, Quyet and a group of young Vietnamese came up with the idea of buying a machine making puffed rice.

After researching in Japan, Quyet found that there is no such machine in Japan, perhaps this is an "exclusive" device in Vietnam.

Therefore, they asked their families in Vietnam to buy the machine and send it to Japan.

After a month, at the end of May, they received the machine-making puffed rice.

Quyet said, "Remember when we were little, we took our mother's bowl of rice and spoon of sugar, and ran away to make puffed rice on cool, rainy days.

To make our childhood snacks, we contributed money to buy the machine, ingredients, plus shipping costs, for a total of more than VND10 million (US$422)."

Residential areas in Japan abstain from noise. Meanwhile, the machine makes a sound.

Therefore, with the machine, they have to go to a wood factory to ask for help. This workshop is located on a hill, away from the residential area.

The machine is powered by gasoline. The cost of this fuel in Japan is low, a three to four-liter gas tank can make dozens of pounds of puffed rice.

Japanese police are also curious

During their childhood, puffed rice only had rice and a little sugar. Currently, young people use rice with instant noodles, dried fruits, and beans to make puffed rice more delicious and attractive.

Rice and nuts of all kinds are mixed in a bowl. To operate the machine, one person pours the rice, the other wears gloves, pulls the puffed rice, and cuts it into even pieces.

"It's been a long time since we have seen the puffed rice, many friends came together and were interested. Even the Japanese came to see it out of curiosity. Some friends brought 3 kilograms of rice to make puffed rice," Quyet said.

The most special person coming to the factory is the area police.

"The police came to see what we were doing. After we explained that this was our childhood dish in Vietnam, the policeman was happy and excited to try the Vietnamese snack. The Japanese also dip the puffed rice into wasabi (seasoning in Japan)."

Many young Vietnamese people come to enjoy the "festival" of making puffed rice in Japan to help them remember their childhood days.

After the video of making puffed rice was shared, many young Vietnamese in Japan contacted Quyet. However, Quyet's group only operated machines and made puffed rice to serve the needs of friends, acquaintances, not for business.

When he went to Japan to work, Quyet and his friends followed the trainee program. After the Covid-19 pandemic, workers like him can apply for a visa for specific skilled workers with more benefits.

Quyet said his income is currently about VND27 million (US$1141)/month. When JPY has not been depreciated, his income can be up to more than VND40 million (US$1691)/month.

"If we save, don't spend much, we can save about VND20 million (US$845)/month. However, at this time, the currency has depreciated, so we all save money and haven't sent it home yet," Quyet said.

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