5 delicious and unique Phu Tho specialties that make visitors want to buy them as gifts right away

Phu Tho specialties are famous for many rustic dishes with unique flavors that are hard to find in other provinces such as Thanh Son sour meat, palm omelette, cassava vegetables, Doan Hung grapefruit, ear cake, etc.

Thanh Son sour meat When mentioning Phu Tho specialties, people immediately think of the famous sour meat of Thanh Son land. This is one of the rustic, familiar dishes of the Muong ethnic people living here. The dish is made from two main ingredients: pork and finely ground roasted rice powder. To make delicious sour meat, people have to choose pork belly and lean shoulder meat. Then, the meat is fermented according to a special recipe of the Muong people.

In Thanh Son, pigs are raised mainly on vegetables and wild fruits, so the meat is fragrant and when processed, it creates an attractive natural flavor (Photo: Pho Vang Foods).

Sour meat is best eaten with raw vegetables such as fig leaves, ginseng, dipped in chili sauce or sweet and sour fish sauce, becoming a favorite snack loved by many people.

Cỏ ốm Cỏ ốm is also one of the "famous" specialties made from a typical tree of Phu Tho province. Raw cỏ ốm is quite astringent and inedible, so locals often "ốm" (cook) it to soften the fruit and reduce the astringency. Thanks to that, cỏ ốm has a rich, sweet and fatty taste, becoming a snack loved by many people. To make a delicious batch of "ốm" cỏ ốm, it is necessary to calculate the appropriate water temperature and time. The cỏ ốm is washed and mixed with pieces of old bamboo to peel off the shell.

Palm season begins around the end of October and the beginning of November of the lunar calendar. At this time, people go to pick palms, bring them home to steam and make delicious dishes, attracting diners inside and outside the province (Photo: My Na).

Boil water at about 85-90 degrees Celsius, then pour it into a bucket or basin, soak the palm in that water for about 15-20 minutes to soften the palm. Do not soak the palm in water that is too hot, as this will cause the fruit to shrink, become hard and astringent. Do not soak the palm for too long, as it will become soft and mushy, and not taste good. When the water surface has a yellow film, the fruit turns from dark green to yellow, it is done. Delicious stewed palm has thick, soft flesh, a rich and sweet taste.

Cassava leaves are not a luxurious or sophisticated dish, but they have become a signature dish for the cuisine of the homeland. After being picked, cassava leaves are crushed and soaked in water to reduce the sap, then mixed with salt, seasoned and left to ferment for about 4-5 days. This vegetable is used like pickled melons and eggplants, and can be eaten immediately or used to braise fish, braise meat, cook perch soup, etc.

The freshest cassava buds are those that are young, plump, and still have a fine layer of powder on the tip of the shoot. After being salted, cassava leaves can be cooked into many different delicious dishes such as cassava leaves stir-fried with pork, cassava leaves stewed with shrimp, or fish soup, etc. (Photo: Hoa Bui).

Not only Phu Tho people but also many diners in Hanoi and neighboring provinces love the taste of cassava leaves, often looking to buy them to change meals and treat the whole family to enjoy.

Doan Hung grapefruit Doan Hung grapefruit is a famous specialty fruit with a distinct sweet and fragrant taste, creating a unique brand and is often bought by diners as gifts for friends and relatives. Doan Hung grapefruit has a round shape, when ripe the peel is bright yellow, slightly wilted, the pulp is thin, the segments are dry and juicy, ivory white, especially with a characteristic aroma. This specialty grapefruit variety is also valuable in that it can be preserved for several months to half a year, when cut open, it is still sweet and delicious as when it was just picked.

Doan Hung grapefruit is different from other precious grapefruit varieties in that the fruit is small, round, thin-skinned, has thick and juicy segments. This grapefruit variety is also very fragrant (Photo: Lan Anh).

This is also a specialty that diners often choose to buy as gifts in large quantities, to give to relatives and friends. In season, large, delicious grapefruits are sold for 80,000 - 100,000 VND/fruit, the cheapest is 15,000 - 20,000 VND/fruit, depending on the type and size.

Ear cake Ear cake (also known as pig ear cake) is simple to make but has become a favorite gift for many people when they have the opportunity to travel to Phu Tho. This cake is made from rustic ingredients including rice, pork and some familiar spices. The rice is soaked, ground finely, then mixed with a little water and stirred into a thick dough. Next, the pork is minced, marinated with spices, then wrapped in rice flour and steamed. When steaming, the heat must be high to avoid lumps. The ear cake is qualified when the aroma of the flour is released, mixed with the fatty meat filling. When eating, diners can feel the sticky, fragrant, and rich flavor of the cake. Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/5-dac-san-phu-tho-ngon-la-mieng-thu-hut-khach-du-lich-2133672.html