Gio (steamed pork paste) together with cha (deep-fried cinnamon pork paste) are considered delicious meat dishes during Tet (traditional Lunar New Year) that stand out from other, special, seasonal dishes.

Uoc Le Village, 20 km from Hanoi , is well-known for its traditional craft of making both kinds of pork paste.

“Gio and cha must be made by hand, not by machine, to ensure that they are delicious and firm in texture," says Trinh Thi Thuong, a respected figure in the village. Lean meat first needs to be pounded, then wrapped in young banana leaves and tied with bamboo threads.

"We make the food in a traditional way to ensure its quality, and, as a result, many people, including those in the south, prefer our products to others," Thuong says.

Unlike other villages where traditional crafts have perished, gio- and cha- making in Uoc Le continues to thrive because its traditional cooks have taken their art out of the village, into the city and around the country. They bring their profits home, and many households have prospered from the traditional secret recipes handed down from generation to generation./.