The story of 200 years ago (early 19th century), in the peaceful countryside, closed by the Cam Le river, there was a poor and gentle woman of the Huynh Duc family, who diligently shouldered and took care of the family so that her husband and children could devote themselves to study. That year, the Hue Court opened an examination contest but because of the poor family, the road to Imperial Citadel is far and dangerous, the travelling expenses was seriously lacking. With a heart of infinite love, it was painful to think of the scene of her husband and children suffering from hunger and cold on the way to the Imperial Citadel. She thought of making a delicious dish from local products, bringing the typical flavor of her homeland and being able to last for a long time. That was the beginning of the sesame cake.  

After that, the sesame cake followed the husband to the hands of officials and scholars in Hue Imperial Citadel, they tried it and were all conquered by its sincerity as well as its unique and delicious taste. There was a great official, after enjoying sesame cake, he praised that: “This is a rare cake, worthy of the “first cake”, although it looks rustic, but when eaten, it “ awares” of all five senses of the diners”, that is “ sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste”.

1- Eyes can see many colors: ivory white of roasted sesame, yellow of sugar silk.

2 - Nose can smell many scents: roasted sesame, Tra My cinnamon, and the gentle scent of ginger.

3 - Tongue can taste many flavors: sweet of sugar, fleshy of glutinous rice flour, fat of roasted sesame, spicy of ginger and cinnamon.

4 - Chewing mouth can sees: soft, hard, spongy, crispy.

5 - Ears can hear the crackling sound of cakes.

The cake is brought in with the taste of the homeland with the alluvium of the earth, the water, the scent of the sun and the wind, mixed with the diligence and hard work of the countryside of Quang Da. Sesame cake - a rustic cake but full of love, loyalty, simple but extremely precious pride of the people of Da Nang.

This is a gift every time visitors come to this place, of children who are far away from home. This is the pride of the locality with the characteristic stumbling shape of a “suffering, hard work, blood sweat and tears”, “truthful, spontaneous, simple and also very friendly, gentle and hospitable” Quang Da people that image sent the soul in the cake. Especially, the cake is made from simple rustic ingredients such as rice, glutinous rice, sesame, ginger, cinnamon and sugar. With the process: Screening, arranging, cleaning, caring, ready” plus the dedication of the baker, firstly: Wash the rice to dry thoroughly and then put it into the mortar to pound (mill) into fine powder - Add enough water to knead well, then put it in the steamer to cook - Wait for the pot of dough to cook, prepare a griddle and a cake mold with equal squares, about the size of two or three fingers - When the dough is just cooked, pour it into the pan to make it flat - Remove the mold, small square pieces of dough are placed on the charcoal grill for the first time - The charcoal fire is just hot enough for the slices of cake to be baked slowly to dry evenly on both sides - When the cake has dried evenly, it will be placed on the charcoal stove for a second time to bake crispy, wake up the sweet aroma of rice and glutinous rice – The next step is to cook sugar (boil down sugar) until the sugar is even, thick and sticky into endless silk threads - Sesame is peeled, roasted crispy, golden yellow, fragrant - Bring a pot of sugar and place it on a warm charcoal stove, dip each slice of fragrant white cake into the sugar, then quickly roll it over the sesame tray. And then, so hundreds and thousands of sesame cakes were made.

During the years of long-term resistance against the French colonialists and the invading American empire, sesame cake accompanied our revolutionary cadres and soldiers in the process of performing their duties in the ancient land of Quang Da. The cake has become dry food for our soldiers in day and night marches in the deep forests or poisonous water, a reserve food for cadres carrying out undercover activities in enemy-occupied zones, a specialty of the Tet holiday among the field camps, a dish providing hunger relief for thousands of cadres, soldiers, revolutionary establishments of Hoa Vang district and some localities in Quang Nam-Da Nang province (former) captured by the enemy, tortured and beaten at the bridgehead garrison Cam Le. So far, sesame cake has become an offering, deep gratitude and remembrance of posterity on the anniversaries of July 27, the anniversaries of martyrs and revolutionary cadres who were brutally killed by the enemy, buried in mass graves at the relic of the Cam Le bridgehead garrison (1946-1954).

This love story and folk dish seems to have been forgotten over the years but fortunately in 1945, Mrs. Phan Thi Nhan (the daughter-in-law of the Huynh Duc family), because she missed the taste of “country love” of the old sesame cake, she prepared a mortar and made a cake mold. At first, it was just made for children and grandchildren eat, gradually the villagers knew, everyone was interested and learned the profession of baking. And sesame cake and sesame cake making were widely spread inside and outside the locality, and then became indispensable dishes in the culinary culture of the Quang people. Especially on Tet holidays, sesame cakes are respectfully placed on the ancestors’ altars, given and invited to each other in deep moral love.

Up to now, the son of Mrs. Phan Thi Nhan and Mr. Huynh Duc Khien has inherited and promoted the family’s heirloom profession, establishing a sesame cake facility named “Ba Lieu Me” – a famous and typical brand of production and trading of traditional sesame cake in Da Nang city. With the motto of constantly improving product quality, image, design, brand identity, investing in modern machinery and equipment, in line with the trend of scale development, ensuring food hygiene and safety to ensure domestic demand, aiming to export to international and regional markets. With constant efforts, the brand “Banh kho me Ba Lieu Me” has become a unique specialty with many values of traditional culture and nutrition, visited and reported by media and press agencies such as VTV, Da Nang, Nhan Dan newspaper, Tuoi Tre newspaper, etc.  

Sesame cake is made from ingredients of rice flour - glutinous flour, sesame, sugar and ginger. The cake has a square or rectangular shape, the outside is a layer of sesame covered with sugar as flexible as malt. Sesame cakes must be baked seven times to become delicious cakes. That is why it is also called the seven-fire cake.

A simple cake with popular ingredients but full of flavors by the heart of the baker. If without the love to husband, children, without patience, how can you patiently pound the rice to powder, sit by the wood stove, hot coal stove many times to make a seven-fire cake!

Passed down through the generations, the cake of the wife, the mother following the man who went to the Imperial Citadel is still preserved by people today. Eating a sweet and crunchy cake, remembering the hearts of traditional village bakers.

Banh kho me Ba Lieu Me is recognized by the People’s Committee of Da Nang as a Da Nang Specialty.

Accomplishments and awards that the Facility achieved:

+ Top 10 famous Vietnamese gift cakes voted by Vietnam record organization.

+ Typical commercial products of Da Nang 2019.

+ Certificate of Typical Rural Industrial Products of Da Nang City in 2016 and 2019.

+ Cultural Heritage of Vietnamese Cuisine - 2015

+ Vietnamese quality in accordance with the Standards - 2013