During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese soldiers planted their own cassava in many places throughout the jungle where they marched through. Any cassava plant from which they removed the root to eat, the soldiers had to replant it by cutting the stem off the cassava plant and then just sticking it into the soil. The cassava plant will grow without much care. My uncle was a soldier and he said this was a plan used to defeat the South Vietnamese Government. The continuous cassava planting was to feed the North soldiers if they got lost in the jungle.
Cassava can be boiled, steamed, baked, or added to a stew. Growing up in a large family with a modest income, my mom used to cook cassava with rice to save some rice for another day because rice was quite expensive.
Another dish that I loved while growing up was baked cassava cake, but my mom seldom made it for us because it required more ingredients that she could not afford at that time. Luckily for me now, I am living in
If using a fresh cassava root, then the cassava needs to have thick skin peeled off first and then have the white flesh shredded. I found an easy way to make this cake by using frozen yuca, which is sold in most Asian markets. I created this recipe which includes cooked mung beans to add more flavor to the cake because this cake has the unique taste of both yuca and mung beans.
Ingredients:
16 oz shredded or grated frozen yuca (1 lb.)
1 cup cooked mung beans
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 eggs
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla extract
2 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs butter cut into small pats
Directions:
Grease an 8” x 8” baking pan with coconut oil. Preheat oven to 350°.
In a blender, add mung beans, tapioca flour, coconut milk, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and eggs.
Blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into a mixing bowl and add the yuca. Whisk them to combine.
Pour into the prepared cake pan.
Dot on top with butter pats and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown.
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