Eye-catching cassava noodle dish

Cassava is widely grown in garden plots and rice paddies in rural areas. Besides the traditional boiled version, people have also created a variation called cassava noodle cake, incorporating natural vegetable food coloring to make the dish more visually appealing and attractive.

Báo Cà Mau•04/07/2024

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Cassava flour, sugar, coconut milk, and food coloring derived from vegetables are the main ingredients for making cassava noodle cake.

Making cassava noodles is also very simple. Peel the cassava tubers and remove the fibrous core; in the past, people used to grate the cassava into a smooth paste, but nowadays they usually use a blender, which is faster and more hygienic. The grated paste is squeezed to remove excess water, then mixed with tapioca starch, a little sugar, coconut milk, and vegetable juice to create the desired color for the noodles, such as carrots for orange-yellow; pandan leaves for green; beetroot for red; and purple basil leaves for purple... After mixing the cassava paste with spices and colors, it is placed in a tray and steamed.

Grate the cassava, squeeze out the water, then mix with food coloring to taste, add coconut milk, tapioca starch, a little sugar, and salt to taste, then steam.

After the cake is cooked, it is removed from the oven, allowed to cool, and then cut into long, slender strips resembling silkworms, hence the folk name "silkworm cake." Cassava silkworm cake tastes even better when combined with grated coconut, mixed with sesame seeds, salt, and crispy roasted peanuts, making the cake rich, fragrant, and delicious.

Steam the cake for about 10 minutes until cooked.

Ms. Dang Ngoc Ngan, from Tan Dien B hamlet, Thanh Tung commune, Dam Doi district, enjoys making cassava noodle cakes, combining natural colors to create very eye-catching dishes.

Colorful cassava noodles, with their chewy texture, each strand of noodle in a different color has a distinctive aroma from pandan leaves, purple yam leaves, and beetroot, along with the rich, fragrant taste of coconut milk and peanuts. This is a simple, familiar dish of Southern Vietnam in general, and Ca Mau in particular, associated with childhood memories for many.

Banh tam (a type of Vietnamese noodle) is cut into long, thin strands and tastes even better when combined with grated coconut, mixed with sesame seeds, salt, and crispy roasted peanuts.