Top specialties in Kon Tum, strange flavors

Tourists who have visited Kon Tum and enjoyed the beautiful natural scenery cannot miss the opportunity to enjoy the cuisine of the Northern Central Highlands with both curiosity and excitement.

People know the mountainous town of Kon Tum as the city of strong winds, where there is the fierce Dak Bla River, where there is the towering Ngoc Linh Mountain with Ngoc Linh Ginseng famous for its rarity. Nature has given the land of the Northern Central Highlands a full range of products from the mountains, forests and streams, creating strangely delicious specialties. The small mountainous town of Kon Tum is both a meeting place of the cuisines of the three regions, creating a unique, gentle and distinct feature that cannot be mistaken for anything else.

Tourists who have visited Kon Tum and enjoyed the natural beauty cannot miss the opportunity to enjoy the cuisine of the Northern Central Highlands with both curiosity and excitement. Everyone must admit that it is a wonderful and skillful blend of rustic and sophisticated, simple and complex, hidden in each individual dish. Below are the specialties of Kon Tum that tourists should try.

Kon Tum specialty: Enjoy delicious sticky rice with bamboo shoots and mackerel

Soft sticky rice, eaten with crispy bamboo shoots and salty fish creates an unforgettable rich flavor. (Photo: MiA)

When it comes to sticky rice, many names come up such as coconut sticky rice, mixed sticky rice, corn sticky rice, peanut sticky rice, xeo… which are certainly not strange to everyone. However, when it comes to Sticky rice with bamboo shoots, many people are amazed by this strange name. For those living in Kon Tum, Sticky rice with bamboo shoots is a very familiar and attractive dish.

The ingredients for making sticky rice with bamboo shoots are quite simple, there are two indispensable things: sticky rice and wild bamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots must be mountain bamboo shoots, freshly picked. The sticky rice chosen is delicious, round, fragrant.

In order to attract people, local chefs have created a special side dish with sticky rice, which is braised fish. On full moon days or vegetarian days, braised fish is replaced with tofu. Diners can order sticky rice to eat with beans or bean porridge, which is also very delicious. If braised fish eaten with sticky rice creates a chewy, fatty flavor, then tofu makes that flavor much more strange and attractive.

Specialty food in Kon Tum: Grilled dishes in bamboo cages, an interesting point in the cuisine here

Beef grilled in bamboo tubes has a beautiful color, the meat is still chewy and fragrant. (Photo: MiA)

Bamboo is a member of the same family as bamboo. Visitors can find bamboo forests in many areas of the Central Highlands, especially in Kon Tum province. In food processing, bamboo becomes a tool to wrap food and grill over a red fire. Bamboo used in cooking are all carefully selected trees, not too old and not too young.

Grilling food in bamboo tubes is a typical cooking art of ethnic minority communities, especially the Ba Na people. If the ingredients are not too big, they will be easily grilled in bamboo tubes and create an irresistible aroma. Food grilled in bamboo tubes will retain its aroma for quite a long time because the flavor will be locked in a fairly closed space.

Grilled dishes in bamboo baskets often retain their delicious flavor for a long time. (Photo: MiA)

Grilled sticky rice in bamboo tubes has a sweet taste, is soft and sticky, and has a characteristic aroma mixed with the sweetness of the bamboo tubes.

Grilling the fish in bamboo tubes will keep it soft without being too dry. The fish is also protected by the bamboo layer so it is not too burnt. This is a dish that many restaurants prioritize to put on their menus to serve diners who want to enjoy the rustic, rural flavors.

With grilled beef in bamboo tubes, beef is the type of meat that the Ba Na people often want to grill in bamboo tubes to preserve the delicious flavor as well as the nutrition in the meat. Beef grilled in bamboo tubes combined with wild vegetables will bring an extremely delicious and unique flavor.

Kon Tum specialty dish: Chicken hotpot with ginseng leaves is a famous dish with its attractive aroma and special flavor.

Realizing that throwing away ginseng leaves is often quite wasteful because ginseng leaves also contain a certain amount of nutrients, Kon Tum people decided to use ginseng leaves in food processing. (Photo: MiA)

To prepare the ginseng chicken hotpot, the first ingredient is a young hen with high nutritional content, lots of meat and easy to eat. After being cleaned, the young hen is marinated with spices and stewed with some ingredients such as red apples or ginseng roots that have been washed and thinly sliced.

Vegetables served with this hot pot will include mushrooms such as shiitake mushrooms, lingzhi mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms. Of course, the fragrant and nutritious ginseng leaves are indispensable. Just boil the chicken hot pot, blanch the ginseng leaves, and visitors will enjoy the fragrant aftertaste of this famous Kon Tum dish.

The ginseng chicken hotpot has a very distinctive aroma from the smell of ginseng leaves rising up. When enjoying this dish, do not eat it in a hurry, but scoop it into a bowl, then slowly enjoy the aroma of ginseng leaves and red apple juice slowly spreading to the sense of smell.

The broth of hot pot is often sweet from the ingredients of red apples and ginseng. In addition, the chicken is cooked in the broth, creating high nutritional value. The chicken is not too tough, easy to eat, combined with the elegance of the accompanying mushrooms, creating a refreshing dish during the holidays.

Kon Tum specialty dish: Bamboo shoots carry the hometown flavor of the people of the great forest

Kon Tum bamboo shoots are the best type of bamboo shoots in the region. This type of bamboo shoots is used to make delicious dishes of the region that tourists must try when traveling to Kon Tum. (Photo: MiA)

Kon Tum bamboo shoots are the best type of bamboo shoots in the region. This type of bamboo shoots is used to make delicious dishes of the region that you must try when traveling to Kon Tum.

Kon Tum bamboo shoots are a delicious type of bamboo shoot in the Central Highlands, so they are sold at a fairly good price compared to other types of bamboo shoots. Kon Tum bamboo shoots are often sold in three different forms. The first is fresh bamboo shoots that have just been dug up, not boiled. This type of bamboo shoot is usually sold for 9,000 - 10,000 VND/kg. If the bamboo shoots have been boiled, the price will be slightly higher, usually from 12,000 to 13,000 VND/kg. That is also the second type of bamboo shoots sold. The third type is often much more expensive, which is dried bamboo shoots, commonly known by the brand name Kon Tum dried bamboo shoots.

Besides, bamboo shoots also bring to Kon Tum people childhood memories of the famous bamboo shoot sticky rice. The fragrant sticky rice eaten with the slightly salty stir-fried bamboo shoots creates an unforgettable taste for every Kon Tum person. If you happen to be far away from home, just a package of bamboo shoot sticky rice can make you feel like your hometown is right next to you.

Specialty dish in Kon Tum: Sour fish dish is rustic and simple but full of attraction and contains the unique cultural identity of ethnic minorities.

When enjoying Kon Tum sour fish, you will feel the saltiness of salt, the spiciness of pepper and chili, the light aroma of dried rice powder and the sweet taste of betel leaves. (Photo: MiA)

Kon Tum sour fish is made from a rather strange type of fish that looks similar to the carp in the plains but has a flatter and smaller body, and only lives in the rivers and lakes of the Central Highlands. Kon Tum sour fish is carefully marinated by local people with necessary spices before being preserved, so it tastes very rich. Compared to familiar dishes such as steamed fish, braised fish, etc., sour fish has a new, unique and completely different flavor. Many tourists from far away seem very hesitant when hearing the name of sour fish, but that feeling quickly disappears after enjoying it.

According to the experience of the Je Trieng ethnic people here, the longer Kon Tum sour fish is stored, the more delicious and flavorful it will be when eaten. Because if stored for a long time, the fish meat will absorb the spices and become firmer. At this time, Kon Tum sour fish will have a little salty taste of salt, the spicy taste of pepper and wild chili, the mild aroma of dried rice powder and the sweet taste of betel leaves. All of these blend together to make Kon Tum sour fish much more delicious.

A special feature of Kon Tum sour fish is that after the process of hanging in the kitchen and fermenting, visitors can eat it directly to fully enjoy the unique, distinct flavor of this one-of-a-kind rustic specialty . Just put the fish on a plate, add some wild vegetables, green bananas, rice paper and a bowl of garlic and chili sauce with a few cups of Doac wine and the "travel enthusiast" will have an unforgettable meal right in this land of Kon Tum.

Kon Tum specialty dish: Grilled Mang Den pig with delicious and attractive flavor easily wins the hearts of diners after the first taste

Grilled Mang Den pig is a type of upland pig raised naturally by local people, so the skin is thin and the meat is very fragrant, sweet and firm. (Photo: MiA)

Located in the Northeast of Kon Tum city, Mang Den Eco-tourism Area is honored to be an attractive destination with the wild and magnificent features of the Central Highlands, attracting thousands of domestic and foreign tourists every year. Among them, we cannot fail to mention roasted Mang Den pig - a rustic, familiar dish but with an irresistible appeal.

The roasted Mang Den pigs of the indigenous people are mainly wild pigs, which are pigs raised by the people in a natural grazing style. Therefore, wild pigs often have thin skin, very little fat, and the meat is fragrant, sweet, firm and extremely nutritious. The roasted Mang Den pigs have a rather hard skin, so in the past, people often threw it away, but now it has become a specialty that is hard to find.

The pigs are always cleaned of hair and gutted, then marinated with spices from rustic ingredients such as shallots, coriander roots, coriander, lemongrass, and chili peppers picked directly from the Mang Den mountains and forests. The roasted Mang Den pigs have golden, crispy skin and a fragrant aroma that will surely make diners want to enjoy them immediately.

Taking a light bite, diners will feel the crispy, fatty skin and the soft, sweet taste of the wild boar, which is extremely stimulating to the taste buds. In particular, the delicious natural flavor of roasted Mang Den pork combined with ingredients from the Central Highlands mountains and forests will surely captivate visitors and leave many unforgettable impressions right after the first taste.

If you want to enjoy the authentic taste of roasted pork, you just need to go straight to Mang Den town in Kon Plong district, Kon Tum province to see countless shops selling this specialty dish.

Kon Tum specialty: Stop and enjoy the fragrant grilled fish dish

This fish species usually only appears in spring and summer in rivers, streams, under old forests, and many rocky rapids. (Photo: MiA)

The Nieng fish has a beautiful, shiny appearance. On the outside, the Nieng fish has a slender, round body like a carp. When the Nieng fish swam in the water and the sunlight shone down, their scales sparkled like a crucian carp. This beauty makes it easy for people to recognize them when they are underwater.

Especially for those who do not like seafood because they cannot smell the fishy smell, they will definitely enjoy enjoying Nieng fish. Nieng fish only eat moss and algae around the edge of rocks, so their intestines are very clean, so they have absolutely no fishy smell. Nieng fish has a pure sweet aroma and contains many nutrients that are good for health.

During a one-day tour in Kon Tum during the summer, "travel enthusiasts" will definitely encounter a shower there. When stopping at a small stilt house in Kon Tum, the locals will invite visitors to enjoy grilled fish.

Grilled Nieng fish is a specialty that has just been caught from the stream and has been cleaned of its intestines. Because this type of fish has a lot of nutrients and fragrant meat, the cook does not need to do complicated wet cleaning. Then, just pierce the whole fish body through a thin bamboo stick and place it on a glowing charcoal stove. When cooked, the Nieng fish will be golden brown, the fat will sizzling, the smoke will billow and give off an extremely attractive aroma.

When enjoying Nieng fish, diners should not forget to dip it in salt. Because when combined together, grilled fish brings to the diner the experience of fatty, chewy, crispy meat, sweet from the bones and bitter taste of fish organs. These flavors blend together, making anyone who eats it once fall in love with it.

Kon Tum specialty dish: Porcupine meat has a delicious flavor, is rich in nutrients and has good health benefits.

Kon Tum porcupine meat stir-fried with lemongrass and chili is favored by many diners because of its special delicious flavor from lemongrass and a little spicy chili that makes diners exclaim in admiration. (Photo: MiA)

Porcupine meat is ranked as the rarest animal in our country. Therefore, there is no reason why a dish made from this animal does not have its wonderful uses. Kon Tum porcupine meat is very delicious and sweet. The cooked meat will be sliced about 4-5mm thin. Not only that, compared to wild boar, porcupine meat is leaner and much richer in protein. Dishes made from porcupine meat are extremely nutritious, with many benefits for human health.

Kon Tum porcupine meat is not only good for health but the dishes made from it always make diners feel excited. For ethnic minorities, porcupine meat is a very familiar dish. Therefore, they always want to send this unique dish to their distinguished guests.

Stir-fried porcupine meat with lemongrass and chili is favored by many diners because of the special delicious flavor of the dish. When stir-fried, the meat is permeated with the aroma of lemongrass and a little spicy chili, making diners exclaim in admiration. To help make the stir-fried porcupine meat with lemongrass and chili more delicious, people often eat it with herbs, raw vegetables, rice or bread.

Kon Tum specialty dish: Fried crickets is a famous specialty that can only be enjoyed during the rainy season and carries the breath of the Central Highlands.

Fried crickets from Kon Tum are sold quite a lot on the streets from the ordinary to the more crowded ones. Among them, we can mention Ba Trieu, Phan Dinh Phung, Tran Phu streets. (Photo: MiA

Fried crickets in Kon Tum are a famous specialty dish in the sunny and windy basalt land. You can only enjoy this dish when you set foot in Kon Tum province. What's more special is that crickets in the Northern Central Highlands are bigger and have sweeter and fatter meat than in other regions. Therefore, people really like to enjoy this dish when they set foot here.

According to the travel experience of many people as well as those who have tried fried crickets in Kon Tum, diners should stop by a riverbank to fully enjoy the delicious taste of this dish. The crickets on the riverbank have just been caught, the spines on the legs are removed, and the fat thighs are kept. Then, the wings and tail of the cricket are also cut off. Before being washed and dried on banana leaves, the cricket's intestines must be squeezed out and washed thoroughly.

While waiting for the crickets to drain, the cook will light the stove. People usually light the stove first to make the charcoal fire glow. During that time, to save time, they will use small thin pieces of bamboo to pin each cricket together. A special note is that when frying and grilling, the cricket pins must be turned continuously to avoid burning and still retain the aroma. When cooked, Kon Tum fried crickets have a beautiful golden color and an extremely attractive aroma.

This dish is often served with sour mango, crab leaves and wild chili. The perfect combination of sour, spicy and salty flavors has made the flavor of the dish even more complete. Just take a bite of cricket meat, the fatty and fragrant flavor of the dish will spread in your mouth. If you chew a little more, you will feel that the cricket meat is now very crispy and extremely rich. The specialty flavor of Kon Tum fried crickets cannot be mistaken for anything else.

In addition, for "foodies" who are connoisseurs of this dish, they often add a little salt and wild pepper to ensure enough flavor. There are also many places where diners choose to eat it with red chili sauce and crushed roasted peanuts. After dipping in chili sauce, they will roll it around in a bowl of roasted peanuts. When putting each cricket in their mouth to enjoy, diners will slowly feel the fatty crunchiness lingering in their throat.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/top-mon-an-dac-san-o-kon-tum-huong-vi-la-mieng-232731.html