The rice cooking contest, which falls on the eighth day of the first lunar month, aims to pay tribute to General Phan Tay Nhac, a general in the Hung Kings’ era with meritorious services to the national construction.

This custom, a unique way to pray for a prosperous, happy, and peaceful new year, has been followed in Thi Cam viilage for centuries.

In the reign of the 18th Hung King in 273 BC, General Phan Tay Nhac was ordered to fight the Shu invaders.

When his troops came to Huong Canh village, called Thi Cam village today, he ordered  a cooking contest to select a few capable locals to work for the army.

After defeating the invaders, General Phan Tay Nhac returned to the village and taught  the locals how to grow mulberry trees, breed silkworms, and weave silk.

After his death, he was worshiped as the village's tutelary god.

To express their gratitude to the general, the Thi Cam villagers began holding a rice cooking contest on the 8th day of the first lunar month each year.

The ancient Thi Cam village had four hamlets, and each of them sent a team to join the contest. Before the contest, the teams prepare items such as pestle, mortar, straw and pot. Each team was given 1kg of rice to cook.

The main parts of the contest include crushing rice, blowing fires, taking water and cooking rice. The contest has a very special "procedure" that when the rice pot runs out of water, the teams will hide the rice pot in piles of straw, that are still smouldering, in the communal house’s yard.

The judges will go to "find" the rice pots after a week of incense since the rice has run out of water. The better the team hides, the better the rice will be.

After the contest ends, the rice portions were offered to God and scored. The organisers will present the first prize to the team with the best rice cooker.

With unique values, the rice cooking contest in Thi Cam village has been recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage.
 

The event takes place in the village's temple.
 This year’s contest draws the participation of four teams, corresponding to four neighborhood groups in the ward.
 Cooking utensils and wood for the rice cooking competition are well prepared by the contestants. The bamboo sticks are stripped, while the straw is bundled to catch fire easily.
The first part of the contest involves children aged 12 to 14 years old. They must run to the nearby Nhue River to bring water to the village. 
 Older contestants assume the task of fire-lighting in the traditional way: using only bamboo and straw to make fire. 
 As the first spark burns the straw, the contest's atmosphere becomes more joyful than ever.
 The teams only have about 30 minutes from the time when the fire is made until the rice is cooked. 
 When the four pots of rice are cooked, they are judged by the village elders. 
 A jury member is searching for pots of rice within the ashes. 
 The winning rice cooker makes the most delicious rice. 
 Once the winning team is announced, the rice is distributed among all the villagers. 
They believe that adults who eat the rice will have a lucky year and children will grow up nicely.

Nhat Sinh