The golden-brown mining breads, with their thin crusts, dense crumbs, sweetness, and rich aroma, have long become a trademark and specialty of mine workers as well as the people of Quang Ninh.
Quang Ninh Mining Bread – A Simple Mid-Shift Meal for Mine Workers
Mao Khe Mine was the first place to make mining bread. By the 1990s, other mines began adopting the practice and making the bread a convenient mid-shift meal that helped workers replenish their energy and continue working deep underground.
Dense-crumb mining bread. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Perhaps only the coal mines of Quang Ninh have a type of bread that is not made for sale. When going down into the pit, each worker receives one mid-shift meal consisting of one loaf of bread and two cartons of milk. At a depth of 300m underground, the loaves can warm the workers’ hearts.
For those who have witnessed the development of Quang Ninh’s coal-mining industry, mining bread offers a chance to reflect on the industry’s progress and on the steadily improving lives of mine workers.
Workers receiving bread during their shift. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Today, mining bread is no longer an expensive or rare delicacy, but it still carries its distinctive delicious aroma, embodying the care that the bakers send to mine workers and their wholehearted attention to ensuring that workers always receive a meal of dependable quality.
The mining bread that is delicious and of good quality often accompanies workers home to their families, becoming a snack for their wives and children—a sweet expression of sharing among loved ones, as well as a way of sharing the hardships of working underground.
Bread makers at the company. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
For delicious mining bread to be produced, it must go through six main stages: kneading the dough, proofing the dough, shaping the loaves, fermenting, scoring the loaves, and baking. In the past, the bread was baked in a coal-fired oven, but today electric ovens have replaced them. Many machines also assist with the baking process, so a single person can produce thousands of loaves.
Bread providing enough energy for a snack meal. Photo: VTV.
The bread-making process has no special secret; the most important thing is to put one’s heart into each loaf. The bread must follow the correct quantities, with no cutting corners, and the ingredients must be fresh, high-quality, and compliant with regulations. The crust also needs to be thin so that the bread does not become stale when stored for a long time.
The joy of mine workers enjoying a meal with bread before continuing their work. Photo: VTV.
For mine workers and everyone else, mining bread has become a cherished memory for anyone from Quang Ninh, while also serving as a “cultural ambassador” carrying the fascinating story of this simple specialty as a gift for visitors to the Quang Ninh mining region.
