Unique Quang Nam cassava noodle soup

In 2009, the People's Committee of Quang Nam province recognized Dong Phu cassava noodle village as a traditional craft village of the province. This event has opened up opportunities for the local traditional craft new development opportunities before the danger of being lost.

Caromi's products

Cassava trees thrive on barren land in Que Son district (Quang Nam province). During the resistance, cassava was a source of food to help relatives overcome hunger. Besides cassava rice, Que Son people have created many dishes such as cassava cakes, shortbreads, especially cassava noodle.

Ms. Le Thi Kim Anh – Co-founder of Caromi Joint Stock Company

In the early 1960s, several cassava noodle kilns appeared locally but quickly closed due to the war. It was not until 1996 that Mr. Duong Ngoc Xinh (from Dong Phu commune, Que Son district) continued and handed down the profession of making cassava noodle. As a result, in 2009, the Quang Nam People's Committee recognized Dong Phu Cassava noodle village as a traditional village of the province.

Caromi's products

Cassava noodle is light yellow, hammock-shaped, made from cassava flour. Unlike Phở made from rice that must be blanched through boiling water to be prepared, Cassava Noddle only needs to be soaked for a few minutes in warm or cold water. Because cassava contains small amounts of cyanide toxin, the worker peels the cassava before pressing for flour. Cassava flour is also soaked in water for 3 days and 3 nights to completely eliminate toxins, helping retain the necessary fiber and nutrients, followed by cooking into glue to make cassava noodles.

To shape the net, one person is responsible for sifting the dough while another uses bamboo blisters to apply non-stick grease, shape the cassava pho and put it in the sun waiting for the noodles to dry. At that time, all the stages were done manually, taking a lot of time as well as effort. In addition, the market is narrow (mainly local markets) so many households often lower their prices, others choose to switch to more stable income jobs.

Elevating the brand name of Quang Nam cassava noodle soup

Growing up in a family with a tradition of making Cassava Pho, Mr. Duong Ngoc Anh – son of Mr. Duong Ngoc Xinh understands the hardships of households working in Dong Phu commune. Once visiting his hometown, he felt sorry when he saw the village restored by his father in danger of disappearing. In 2018, despite working at the multinational technology corporation, he decided to return to Dong Phu to found Caromi Joint Stock Company, selling cassava products, mainly cassava noodle.

In order to improve the progress while reducing the cost of human energy, the stages remain the same but he focuses on investing in machinery such as powder mixers, noodle presses. The output therefore increased, on average, the company produced 200 kg of cassava noodle, supplying many restaurants and eateries in Quang Nam and distributing to super-large such as VinMart, CoopMart,...

Dishes made from cassava noodle conquer the taste buds of diners

After only one year of operation, Caromi won the start-up award including: First prize "Finding innovative start-up talents in the South Central coast and Central Highlands", second prize "Presenting startup ideas to surf da Nang international investors". Ms. Le Thi Kim Anh – co-founder of Caromi shared, the initial success is both a motivation for the company to continue pursuing the project and an effective promotion channel to help many people know about Dong Phu cassava noodle village.

Drying area before moving on to the split and packing stage

The encouraging signal began to appear when a lot of households returned to the profession because of the policy of commitment to ensuring output. Not only that, Caromi also creates jobs for the people of Dong Phu commune with an income of 7-15 million VND per month, partly stabilizing the life of Dong Phu commune relatives.

Ms. Kim Anh introduces visitors to the method of preparing delicious dishes from cassava pho

A group of tourists visiting noodle cassava village

In addition to cassava noodle, Caromi cassava rice paper is impressed by many diners because of its moderate toughness, plasticity and less tearing when rolled. The above two products are now available at local restaurants, serving visitors many delicious and rich dishes. Cassava noodle only needs to be soaked for about 5 minutes, pick it up to drain, cook a mix or noodle water served with fish meat, seafood.

Caromi’s Cassava noodle and Cassava rice paper products achieved 4-star OCOP certification at provincial level in 2021

In 2020, Caromi cassava noodle reaches consumers "Golden Temple" of Thailand. At the same time, Caromi company cooperates with the local tourism company to organize a tour to experience cassava noodle processing in Hoi An City. Caromi cassava noodle is recognized by Quang Nam People's Committee to meet 4-star OCOP standard and cassava cake also meets 3-star OCOP standard in 2021.

Because of the prolonged covid-19 epidemic situation, exports and tourism activities were temporarily disrupted. In the context that Quang Nam is the destination of the National Tourism Year 2022, Ms. Anh is studying the direction of developing tourism in the craft village, contributing to bringing Dong Phu Cassava noodle to a large number of tourists.

Qui Nhi (Translated by Tam Phan)