Rich and flavorful cassava cake from Hien Luong

About thirty or forty years ago, cassava cake was a food only for the poor. At that time, people would grind dried cassava into flour, knead it with water until it reached a certain softness and elasticity, then shape it into cakes and steam them to eat as a substitute for rice. To speed up cooking, people would often poke holes in the center of the cake with chopsticks, hence the name "chopstick-filled cassava cake." Later, as the economy developed and life became more prosperous, the cassava cake of yesteryear faded away for a long time, and few people remembered it anymore. However, in recent years, this simple, rustic treat has made a comeback, becoming a specialty of Phu Tho province alongside fermented pork, cassava leaves, dried fish, braised palm fruit, and fish stew with persimmons. Today's cassava cake no longer has the "chopstick" filling of the past, but comes in both savory and sweet varieties, giving consumers a choice according to their preference.

The Chien Tu cassava cake production facility in Hien Luong commune, Ha Hoa district, supplies the market with an average of about 30,000 cakes per month, generating revenue of over 130 million VND.

One of the areas with a long tradition and currently dozens of households engaged in making cassava cakes, supplying tens of thousands of cakes to markets both within and outside the province each month, is Hien Luong commune, Ha Hoa district. Upon arriving at the gate of the Mau Au Co temple, visitors will encounter stalls and vendors showcasing the traditional cassava cake of this historically rich region. Ms. Lang Thi Minh Tu, owner of a cassava cake production facility in Hien Luong commune, shared: "For the past four or five years, many people visiting the Mau Au Co temple have been asking about and wanting to buy cassava cakes as gifts. Since my family has a tradition of making cassava cakes, I decided to make both savory and sweet cassava cakes for sale." According to Ms. Tu, sweet cassava cakes are usually made from ingredients such as mung bean and coconut, black bean, red bean, banana, or peanut and sesame fillings. Savory cassava cakes are more elaborate, with variations using different ingredients such as pork and mung beans, minced meat, and wood ear mushrooms. Each type of filling brings a different flavor to the dish, but the most popular and beloved is the cassava cake with minced meat and wood ear mushrooms. If customers eat the cake on the spot, it is steamed; if they eat it raw, it is packaged in boxes of 20, vacuum-sealed for easy storage and long-distance transportation. The price of a sweet cassava cake is 2,000 VND/piece; a savory one is 5,000 VND/piece. According to incomplete statistics, in Hien Luong commune, there are more than a dozen households making cassava cakes, supplying an average of 7,000-8,000 cakes to the market each day. Of these, Ms. Tu's family's cassava cake production facility alone produces about 1,000-1,200 cakes, and during peak festival periods, her facility sells over 3,000 cakes a day. Hien Luong cassava cakes are not only sold locally but are also available in markets in many provinces such as Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City, Hung Yen, Da Nang, Hai Duong, etc. Ms. Duong Thi Bich, from An Thi district, Hung Yen province, said: "Some time ago, a friend from Phu Tho gave me some cassava cakes to try and I was captivated by their unique flavor. On a pilgrimage to the Mother Goddess Temple, I bought some and brought them back to share with everyone around me, and almost everyone liked them. Since I'm an online business owner, I contacted and collaborated with Chien Tu establishment to sell this product as well. Currently, I can sell an average of 300-400 cakes per day."

Recognizing that cassava cake is a unique product of the Hien Luong region with significant potential for expansion, abundant and readily available local raw materials, the People's Committee of Ha Hoa district assigned specialized agencies to support Chien Tu in establishing the Chien Tu Agricultural and General Service Cooperative, guiding them in building and completing the application dossier for recognition of cassava cake as an OCOP product. Simultaneously, they encouraged more households to engage in the same trade to facilitate management and ensure food safety and hygiene. Mr. Van Thanh Quan, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated: Compared to other OCOP products such as tea and fruits, cassava cake is a product with unique local characteristics; the local raw materials are abundant; and the opportunities for market expansion are enormous. Successfully establishing OCOP for cassava cake contributes to diversifying production in rural areas, providing people with additional income, and contributing to the successful construction of advanced new rural communes.

Quan Lam