Choi Jong-rak is a Korean YouTuber who has been living in Ho Chi Minh City for more than 5 years. Jong-rak, his brother Sungrak and another friend created a YouTube channel and regularly share about culture, life and culinary experiences in two countries, Vietnam and Korea.

Currently, the YouTube channel of three Korean guys has received more than 924,000 followers and each video posted usually attracts from several tens of thousands to millions of views.

Most recently, Jong-rak had the opportunity to go to the North and take a trip to Cao Bang at the end of October. During the short time exploring this land, the Korean guy was taken by a local friend to visit and experience a food tour of a series of delicious and attractive local specialties.

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Jong-rak - a Korean YouTuber currently living in Vietnam, is excited about the food tour in Cao Bang (Photo cut from clip)

Jong-rak revealed that he enjoyed 7 delicious Cao Bang dishes in just one day, although they are all popular but no less famous dishes such as roasted duck pho, chao cake, cao chan cake,...

The first dish Jong-rak enjoyed in the morning was Cao Bang rice rolls. The Korean man went to a spacious restaurant in the city center, near the hotel where he was staying. Here, the rice rolls were hand-rolled, with minced meat filling, and dipped in bone broth instead of fish sauce like rice rolls in many other places.

At the restaurant, Jong-rak ordered a regular rice noodle roll and an egg rice noodle roll. He kept saying “wow” as he ate the food. “It’s so soft, the rice noodle roll is really soft. The bone broth and the sausage are really good too.”

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Banh cuon is one of the popular specialties that attracts tourists when traveling to Cao Bang. Banh cuon here is eaten with bone broth (Photo cut from clip)

He commented that a portion of food was quite large and the price was only 35,000 VND/bowl. He considered this price reasonable, enough to make diners feel full and satisfied because the food was delicious.

"The first dish was so delicious, I'm really looking forward to the next dishes on today's footour," the Korean guest said excitedly.

Continuing the trip, Jong-rak was taken by his local friend to another restaurant to enjoy the famous sour pho and roasted duck pho. While his friend ordered hot roasted duck pho, the youtuber chose the refreshing sour pho.

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Sour pho is one of the famous specialties in Cao Bang province.

He commented that Pho Chua is quite similar to Korean mixed noodles but has a more unique taste, suitable for eating in the summer, on hot days. On the contrary, Pho Roasted Duck is usually eaten in the winter or when it is cold to warm the stomach.

“Pho chua is suitable for Korean taste and in Korea there is also a mixed noodle dish quite similar to this. I never imagined that pho chua would be this delicious. I always thought that Vietnamese food would have Vietnamese flavor but here pho has a very different and delicious taste,” Jong-rak said.

Also on this Cao Bang food tour, Jong-rak got to know and enjoy two famous snacks here: banh bo and black jelly. Banh bo is made from ingredients including flour, yeast and sugar, and has a beautiful cockroach brown color. Black jelly, also known as grass jelly, is made from the plant of the same name, and has a characteristic and refreshing aroma when eaten.

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Jong-rak was surprised by the refreshing and unique taste of Cao Bang black jelly (Photo cut from clip)

In addition, the Korean YouTuber was also excited when he first tasted the Cao Bang Ap Chao cake. At first glance, this cake looks like a fried cake, but the filling is made from sliced ​​duck meat. Thanks to that, the cake has its own unique flavor, completely different from the salty fried cakes made from ground pork, wood ear mushrooms, and vermicelli.

Jong-rak was also surprised to learn that the chao cakes were very cheap, only 6,000 VND each, but were served with full side dishes such as papaya salad and delicious sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Cao chan cake appears in some northern provinces such as Lang Son, Bac Kan, but is most delicious and popular in Cao Bang (Photo: Diep Mau)

Continuing the journey to explore the cuisine of Cao Bang, the Korean guest was invited by a young woman to enjoy a cake with a rather strange name. It is Cao Chang cake, one of the popular specialties that attracts both locals and tourists from all over.

Banh cao chang (also known as banh cao sang, in Tay and Nung languages ​​means cake with layers) is made from rice flour, when cooked, poured into a tray and cut into bite-sized rectangular pieces. The cake is pure white, soft and smooth like jelly. The layers of cake stick together, on top is the cake surface covered with a layer of minced meat and scallions.

Depending on the taste and culture of each locality, people enjoy banh cao chan with soy sauce or bone broth. The cake is soft, chewy, and has the nutty taste of rice flour and the fatty taste of minced meat fried with dried onions.

Not only impressed with the taste of the cake, Jong-rak was also surprised because this afternoon snack was quite cheap, only 10,000 VND/regular portion and 20,000 VND/portion with ham and sausage.

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The Korean YouTuber admitted that Cao Bang's delicious dishes not only have unique and attractive flavors but also have "cheap prices" (Photo cut from clip)

Finishing the last dish of the 1-day food tour in Cao Bang, the Korean guy admitted that he liked the banh cao chan the most. Besides, he was also particularly impressed with the sour pho.

"Cao Bang City is small but has many unique delicious dishes. It is really worth a visit," he said.

Phan Dau