Traditional dishes - a unique feature of tea-growing cuisine.

A meal featuring traditional dishes in Ba Be, Thai Nguyen . *Photo: Hoang Vu*

Enjoy mountain snails at Thai Hai, the " World's Best Tourist Village".

The Thai Hai Ethnic Village Ecological Reserve received the "World's Best Tourist Village" award in 2022 from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). It is home to the Tay ethnic community, boasting many unique cultural features, including its cuisine , which is a major draw for visitors. One of the distinctive dishes at Thai Hai community tourism village is mountain snails.

Mountain snails typically appear after the rain, clinging to rocky shores, tree hollows, and cave entrances. Snails living in clean, airy places with many medicinal plants have fragrant meat and thick intestines. Locals soak them in water with chili peppers or lime leaves to remove the slime. A bowl of boiled mountain snails, still hot and fragrant with the aroma of lime leaves and lemongrass, offers a rich, crunchy taste. Dipped in a ginger, garlic, and chili fish sauce, it leaves an unforgettable impression on visitors.

Sticky rice with black beans

If you have the chance to visit Thai Nguyen in the autumn, don't miss the opportunity to enjoy sticky rice with black olives – a rustic yet refined specialty. Carefully selected, plump black olives are steamed until cooked, then the chewy, nutty flesh is extracted and mixed with fragrant, sticky glutinous rice before being steamed again. When cooked, the translucent rice grains blend with the dark purple color of the olives, creating a visually appealing and delicious dish.

Sticky rice with canarium fruit has a sweet, rich, and creamy flavor from the canarium fruit combined with the fragrant aroma of glutinous rice, making it unforgettable for anyone who has tasted it once. More than just a rustic dish, sticky rice with canarium fruit embodies the spirit of the countryside, becoming a characteristic delicacy in the culinary culture of Thai Nguyen.

Crispy fried stream fish in Ba Be

When visiting Ba Be National Park, a common local dish served to guests is stream fish. These small fish, caught directly from the streams, have firm, naturally sweet and fragrant flesh and are often prepared by locals in various ways, such as grilled over charcoal, deep-fried until crispy, or braised with sour bamboo shoots.

In particular, grilled stream fish, golden brown and fragrant, served with betel leaves dipped in chili fish sauce or enjoyed with bamboo-cooked rice, will provide an unforgettable experience when visiting Ba Be. Enjoying stream fish is not only about savoring the pure flavors of the Thai Nguyen mountains and forests, but also an opportunity for visitors to better understand the simple and heartfelt culinary culture of this region.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/mon-an-dan-da-net-rieng-cua-am-thuc-xu-tra-717636.html