The bustling market on the eve of the Lunar New Year, with people buying and selling from the early morning until late at night.
Tran Quoc Cap market offers a wide range of dong leaves, from small to large, to meet the diverse needs of customers. The wild dong leaves originate from the provinces of Lao Cai and Tuyen Quang, while the homegrown leaves are sourced from Thanh Oai in Hanoi and Phu Ly in Ha Nam.
Ms. Ngo Thu Ha, a long-time dong leaf trader at Tran Quoc Cap market, shared that this year, a large volume of wild dong leaves has arrived at the market, and they are cheaper than the homegrown variety. Currently, Ms. Ha is selling wild dong leaves at a price of 55,000-60,000 VND per bundle (each bundle contains 50 leaves), while the homegrown leaves, available in various sizes, are priced between 80,000 and 100,000 VND per bundle.
In addition to dong leaves, the market also offers other ingredients for making traditional cakes, such as strings for tying the cakes and banana leaves. The strings are sold at a price of 10,000-15,000 VND per bundle.
During the Lunar New Year season, each vendor at the market can sell thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dong leaves per day.
The vendors cater to both wholesale and retail customers, and the bustling street, stretching just about 100 meters, is always crowded with shoppers.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Mui, the owner of one of the stalls, has been selling dong leaves at the market for the Lunar New Year for 10 years. This year, Ms. Mui has only been selling for a few days, but she has already sold 50,000 leaves, all of which are wild leaves sourced from Tuyen Quang and sold at a price of 50,000 VND per bundle. She is currently importing an additional 100,000 leaves to meet the demand during the peak Lunar New Year period.
As she quickly sorts and bundles the leaves, Ms. Mui shares that to satisfy her customers, she only sells the most beautiful leaves and is willing to discard smaller, less attractive, or wilted leaves.
According to the experienced vendors, to achieve a natural green color for the traditional cakes, it is essential to select fresh and resilient leaves that are not brittle. Choose leaves with a deep green color and a moderately sized leaf blade to ensure that the filling is completely enclosed.
Mr. Duong, a resident of Quan Hoa, Cau Giay, rode his bicycle to the traditional dong leaf market on Tran Quoc Cap Street to personally select the most beautiful and freshest bundles of leaves.
Mr. Duong shared that he plans to make 50 traditional cakes with his family and a group of friends to celebrate a warm and united Lunar New Year together.
Bundles of dong leaves are securely tied to bicycles, ready to deliver the festive spirit to every home.
