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 the three Korean guys has received more than 924,000 followers and each video posted often attracts from 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 chang 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 exclaiming “wow” as he enjoyed the food. “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 serving was quite a lot and the price was only 35,000 VND/bowl. He considered this price reasonable, enough to make diners full and satisfied because it 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 sour pho 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, roasted duck pho is often eaten in the winter or when it is cold to warm the stomach.

“The sour pho dish suits Korean tastes and there is also a mixed noodle dish in Korea that is quite similar to this. I never imagined that sour pho would be this delicious. I always thought that Vietnamese food would have Vietnamese flavors, but the pho here 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 aroma and refreshing taste 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 delighted 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 and 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.

Cao chang cake (also known as cao sang cake, in Tay and Nung languages ​​means layered cake) 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 scallion oil.

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 rich 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 serving and 20,000 VND/serving 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 as free" 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 banh cao chang the most. Besides, he was also especially impressed with pho chua.

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

Phan Dau