Not only a dish during Tet, Khau Xen cake is also produced year round to serve the needs of people and tourists.
The main ingredients for making the cake are rice and cassava. The colors of the cake are made from natural ingredients to ensure safety for health. The usual Khau Xen cake has 6 colors: white, red, yellow, purple, orange, green.
To create delicious Khau Xen cakes, Muong Lay people have to go through a rather elaborate production process. After being steamed, sticky rice and cassava will be ground into flour. Then, skillful women will use “rollers” to roll the dough into thin layers.
The cake is cut into many different shapes such as pencil shape (small as a finger), square, rectangular, triangular... then dried. When used, it is fried like shrimp crackers.
In recent years, the traditional cake making profession of the White Thai people in Muong Lay is not only a cultural beauty but also a profession that brings stable income to the people.
As one of the households that produces cakes all year round, Ms. Lo Thi Mien - Bac 2 village, Lay Nua commune, Muong Lay town said: "Each month, my family makes about 500kg of cakes, the selling price at home is about 60,000 VND/kg depending on the type of cake. Of which, cakes made from sticky rice have the highest price and cakes made from cassava have the lowest price, each month giving my family an income of about 30 million VND".
In order to promote this strength, the locality has actively built cooperatives, creating conditions for households to link production, improve product quality and expand markets.
Ms. Lo Chuc Chi - Head of the White Ban Flower Cooperative (Cooperative), Muong Lay town said that with 19 members, each month the members participating in the cooperative can earn from 3-3.5 million VND during the production season. The cooperative encourages members to create more jobs, gradually increase income and improve the quality of life, thereby motivating women to actively produce and make a living from their profession.
“In addition, the production of cakes under the cooperative model also ensures food hygiene and safety, easy traceability, and helps products easily reach the market. This not only contributes to preserving traditional culture but is also an important factor in creating attractiveness to attract tourists,” said Ms. Lo Chuc Chi.
In April 2024, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized the making of Khau Xen and Chi Chop cakes of the White Thai people in Muong Lay town as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
