Traditional Western Vietnamese cuisine

When mentioning the Southwestern region of Vietnam, people often think of delicious, rustic dishes with a refreshing, sweet, and rich flavor characteristic of the riverside countryside...

The snakehead fish hotpot with water hyacinth flowers is a famous dish in the Mekong Delta.

Bac Lieu boasts many delicious dishes, but one unique must-try is the "năn bộp" (hollowed water spinach), a vegetable considered a "gift from heaven" of this region. It's called "năn bộp" because its hollow stem makes a pleasant "pop" sound when tapped. Every year, after the dry season, the rains arrive, causing the water in the fields to rise, and the water spinach begins to grow abundantly. Local people prepare many simple yet surprisingly delicious dishes from this vegetable, but the most authentic is eating it raw with crispy fried snakehead fish, grilled catfish, or grilled catfish marinated in ginger fish sauce.

Or, after peeling off the outer layers, the young shoots of the water chestnut plant can be used as a vegetable in various ways: raw, in salads, stir-fried, in soups, in hot pots, pickled, etc. Every dish is delicious. Another famous specialty of Bac Lieu province is stir-fried water chestnut shoots with shrimp. When the shrimp are just cooked to a golden brown, add the water chestnut shoots, stir well, season, and sprinkle with pepper. That's all it takes to create a fragrant dish of water chestnut shoots that will make your mouth water just by looking at it.

Another local specialty is the water spinach, famous in Cai Nuoc district – a major water spinach growing area in Ca Mau . Water spinach is harvested by hand or cut close to the root with a sharp knife. After harvesting, the roots are cut off and the long leaves are removed, leaving only the stem near the base. It is then processed to remove the tough outer layers, retaining only the tender core. Water spinach can be prepared into many delicious dishes such as pickled, salads, stir-fried with shrimp, or used in soups and hot pots.

Water chives are also a type of wild vegetable that grows in rice fields, canals, and swamps in the acidic soil of Dong Thap Muoi, and are abundant during the flood season. Water chives have soft stems and short, fibrous roots that cling to the muddy soil, making them very easy to pull up. In areas where water chives grow, the water is very clear, so harvesters must follow the path and avoid making the water muddy, which would make it difficult to see and pull the chives. The people of Dong Thap call water chives a gift from heaven because the plant grows wild, requires no fertilizer, and no care.

And if you visit Can Tho, you'll forever remember the unique and delicious dish of shrimp and Sesbania flower salad, a dish rarely prepared with such perfect flavor anywhere else. The main ingredients are shrimp and Sesbania flowers, quickly stir-fried over a fire until just cooked. When eaten, diners will experience the distinctive aroma of Sesbania flowers, the salty taste, and the crispness of the shrimp.

The fish dishes of the Mekong Delta also offer visitors unforgettable, rich, and rustic flavors. For example, braised dolphin fish is made from a rare type of catfish that usually lives in the freshwater of the Mekong Delta. When caught underwater or brought ashore, the fish often makes a "squealing" sound like a pig, so the locals call it dolphin fish.

It would be a shame to visit the Mekong Delta without trying the snakehead fish hotpot with Sesbania grandiflora flowers. A complete hotpot includes snakehead fish, sawtooth coriander, various fresh vegetables typical of the Mekong Delta, water spinach, Sesbania grandiflora flowers, and fermented bamboo shoots... The snakehead fish, only the size of a little finger, has soft bones and a rich, savory flavor, making it the soul of the entire hotpot. Enjoying the delicious dishes of the Mekong Delta allows you to experience the region's hearty, rustic, and strangely captivating flavors.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/dan-da-am-thuc-mien-tay-10301005.html