While studying in Ha Long City (at that time Hon Gai Town), during the summer vacation, CHILD (me) went to a classmate's sawmill to ask for something to do to earn money. The group of sawmill workers offered to help them cook rice and let me eat together, but they did not have money to pay. I agreed because I cooked two meals a day, so i still had time to do other things.
CHILD ate with the sawmill workers and was always very happy and excited when they showed me magic tricks, how to save energy to be able to saw wood all day, the principles of being a master and a servant...
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, a sawmill worker showed CHILD how to make fireworks using sawdust and clay. The first batch i burned for a test brought me "fame" in the "children's community" in Yet Kieu Ward. More than a dozen children came to ask me how to do it.
Looking at the red fireworks thrown high, CHILD realized that dry sawdust caught fire very well and thought of using it to cook rice. The honeycomb charcoal stove no longer uses coal but instead stuffs dry sawdust in, creating a round hole in the middle from top to bottom…then just a small stick of firewood can create enough fire to cook anything. In particular, the sawdust burns to create hot pink ash, which can be used to braise rice to create a delicious golden brown – a dish that the sawmill team really likes...
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