Dishes contain the cultural quintessence of ethnic groups
“Dong Dang has Ky Lua street/There is To Thi, there is Tam Thanh pagoda...”. The familiar folk song always invites tourists from near and far to visit Lang Son once. Lang Son owns a system of more than 330 famous relics and landscapes such as: Mac Dynasty Citadel, Dong Dang Mau Temple, Chi Lang historical relic site, Mau Son mountain, Tam Thanh - Nhi Thanh cave, To Thi mountain...
Lang Son tourism potential does not stop at relics and scenic spots but also in the unique cultural beauty of ethnic groups: Nung, Tay, Kinh, Dao, Hoa, San Chay... Ethnic diversity creates a rich cultural picture with unique customs, costumes, and cuisine , each with its own distinct flavor.
For the ethnic communities of Lang Son, culinary culture is not simply about the way of displaying or preparing food, but through it, it also shows the beliefs, as well as the unique and typical cultural features of each ethnic group. The folk knowledge of the ethnic groups in Lang Son province is very rich, from experiences in agricultural production, traditional medicine to methods of preparing culinary specialties and drinks such as: roast pig, roast duck, khau nhuc, lap xuong, black banh chung, purple sticky rice, hot pot porridge, khau nhuc, cao sang, cooc cake, coong phu, phoong dam, five-color sticky rice, Huu Lung grilled spring rolls, mugwort cake, Mau Son wine... This is one of the favorable conditions for developing the Foodtour type (culinary tourism).
When mentioning Lang Son specialties, visitors cannot help but mention the famous roasted duck, selected from the Bau That Khe duck breed. This duck breed, when roasted, still retains its thickness, firm meat, few bones, crispy skin but not fatty. Ms. Hong Xiem (Lang Son city) was born into a family with 4 generations of roast duck making, shared: “To make a delicious, fatty roast duck product, the most important thing is to choose a delicious, firm duck with a high lean meat ratio. After cleaning, the duck is marinated with more than 20 spices, including indispensable ones: mac mat fruit, cloves, cardamom, star anise, fermented soybeans... Then, the duck is pumped with air to help the skin separate from the meat and create crispiness. To create a cockroach-wing color, crispy, soft and sweet skin, the duck is "bathed" in wild honey mixed with water. Next, the duck is put in the oven to dry for about 1 hour, this step helps the duck absorb the spices evenly, the drier the duck is, the more plump and round the skin will be when cooked. After being dried, the duck will be put in the oven. After being roasted for 40 - 45 minutes, the duck will be cooked. When cutting the duck, the water in the duck's belly will be poured over each piece of meat Duck, when enjoying, visitors can feel the aroma of honey and the sweet taste of honey.
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Tourists discover how to make the famous Lang Son roasted duck dish. |
Like roasted duck, roasted pig is an indispensable specialty dish in the feasts in Lang Son because it is not only delicious but also has its own flavor in the culture of ethnic minorities, especially the Tay ethnic group in Lang Son. Lang Son people often choose Mong Cai pigs with small bones, firm meat and a lot of lean meat to roast. The pigs are cleaned, left whole, skillfully not tearing the skin so that when roasted, the pig's skin does not break, losing the sweetness and aroma of the meat. Spices to marinate roasted pig include many types such as salt, pepper, and honey leaves... stuffed into the pig's belly. Use honey mixed with vinegar to carefully apply on the pig's skin, while roasting the pig, apply so that when cooked, it is crispy and has a dark golden color. Lang Son roasted pork has the sweetness of well-cooked meat, the rich aroma of honey leaves, anyone who eats it once will remember it forever.
In addition to roast duck, duck pho here is also very famous. The soft and sweet duck meat, rich broth and sour taste of bamboo shoots create an irresistible attraction for Lang cuisine.
Each food, drink, and specialty fruit of Lang Son contains unique cultural features, personality, flavor, and the result of a creative labor production process, customs, practices, and valuable folk knowledge that have been preserved, maintained, and maintained by the people for generations.
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Visitors enjoy afternoon snack of duck-filled rice cake. |
Developing culinary tours
At the experience trip "Lang Son Culinary Tour" organized by the Lang Son Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Center at the end of November 2024, Ms. Nguyen Thuy Hien (Sen Vang Travel Company) excitedly said: "I have experienced culinary cultural tourism in many places, but with "Lang Son Food Tour", I find it more interesting, new, and diverse. I like phoong dam. I learned and learned that this is a long-standing dish of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups in Lang Son, the main ingredients are sticky rice and pork. To make phoong dam filling, people put pork on the stove to dry-fry, add wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, vermicelli, pepper... and stir-fry evenly over the stove for about 15 to 20 minutes until the meat shrinks and smells fragrant. Lang Son has many delicious dishes. However, Lang Son needs to be more selective about its specialties and restaurants need to be equipped with "The dish should be eye-catching and lively. The owner and staff should wear costumes that represent the national identity of the dish, which will attract many domestic and foreign tourists."
Ms. Thuy Duong (Mosaic Tour) said: “During the food tour, I enjoyed the special dishes of Lang Son. Especially, on cold days in the mountainous region of Lang Son, the best thing is to enjoy the hot, chewy coong phu balls and sniff the spicy flavor of ginger and the sweet aroma of sugar. I was quite impressed and took pictures to share the dishes on social networks, my personal page and received many responses and comments from relatives, friends and tourists. They will spend time visiting the famous landscapes of Lang Son as well as enjoying the culinary flavors here. I love Lang Son and appreciate it more when the identity and cultural beauty of the ethnic groups here are preserved and promoted.
Ms. Tran Thi Bich Hanh, Deputy Director of Lang Son Center for Promotion, Investment, Trade and Tourism, said that in recent years, culinary tourism (or food tour) has become a new trend in Vietnam, promoting the development of the smokeless industry. Grasping this trend, Lang Son has invited experts to survey, evaluate, and develop the tourism product "Lang Son culinary tour"; organized restaurants, eateries, hotels, and agricultural cooperatives in the province to register to participate; built trailers to introduce culinary products and experience Lang Son cuisine; built a map of Lang Son food tours; advertised to reach tourists on press media and social networking platforms so that many people everywhere know and enjoy and experience.
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Unique porridge hotpot dish. |
Lang Son encourages folk artists to explore, collect, and actively add more local culinary specialties to the menu to serve tourists; research and organize activities such as competitions, exhibitions, and demonstrations on culinary processing; visit local specialty production facilities; research and build market streets and corners of Lang cuisine... For example, the "Lang Son Cuisine Flavors" contest, displaying beautiful booths; the teams have processed and performed delicious dishes and unique products of Lang, attracting tens of thousands of tourists to visit and enjoy. The contest creates opportunities for units to exchange and introduce tour products and culinary tourism routes; at the same time, cooperate to develop tourism in the Northeast region.
In addition, every year, the Provincial Tourism Promotion Center produces 2 to 5 videos; prints and distributes 3,000 to 4,000 leaflets and tourism promotional publications, all of which include promotion of Lang Son cuisine and products. In particular, in all booths participating in domestic and international tourism cooperation, promotion and advertising events, the center dedicates a booth to display Lang Son cuisine.
In particular, from October 2020 to now, when Ky Lua walking street - Lang Son city was put into operation, Lang Son cuisine has a new space to perform, affirming its value in attracting tourists. Currently, Ky Lua walking street has food and drink stalls with many diverse and attractive dishes such as: sour pho, roasted duck, coong phu, cao sang, grilled food...
... Through the experience of "Food tour Lang Son", enjoying delicious dishes, visitors can feel more about the cultural beauty and customs of ethnic groups in the border areas of the Fatherland.
Food tours are a type of tourism that aims to seek and enjoy unique and memorable experiences in food and drink. According to the World Tourism Organization, tourists often spend an average of 1/3 of their trip costs on food. At the same time, more than 80% of surveyed tourism units and organizations identified culinary tourism as a strategic factor for destinations and an important driving force for tourism development.
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/am-thuc-xu-lang-niu-chan-du-khach-post533404.html
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