Rich and unique experience

When visiting Ha Giang , in addition to experiencing the scenic landscapes and unique customs and traditions, tourists certainly cannot miss the opportunity to enjoy traditional specialties at their stops in the villages.

Ẩm thực cao nguyên đá Hà Giang: Trải nghiệm phong phú và đặc sắc

"Bánh chưng gù" is one of the culinary gems of the rocky plateau region of Ha Giang.

Ha Giang is not only famous far and wide for its majestic, towering mountains, golden terraced rice fields during the harvest season, dreamy buckwheat flower fields in vibrant pink, and unique ethnic cultural identity, but it is also a place where the essence of diverse and rich cuisine converges, with specialties that attract diners to this rocky plateau land.

Ha Giang currently has four specialties in the Top 100 outstanding gift specialties: mint honey, Hoang Su Phi snow tea, buckwheat triangular cakes, and seedless persimmons from Quan Ba; four dishes in the Top 100 outstanding gift specialties: men men (corn porridge), au tau porridge, thang co (horse meat stew), and smoked meat; and three dishes in the Top 121 typical Vietnamese dishes: bong fish, corn pho, and au tau porridge.

These irresistible delicacies, imbued with the flavors of the mountains and forests, along with five-colored sticky rice, buckwheat triangular cakes, corn wine fermented with leaves, grilled moss, humpback rice cakes, sausages, thang co (a traditional stew)... are the culinary essence originating from the lives and work of the 19 ethnic communities here, each with its own traditional dishes, reflecting the unique characteristics of each ethnic group, and using special ingredients bestowed by nature upon the northern mountainous region of the country, such as: mac khen (a type of spice), doi seeds, star anise, cardamom, and honey.

When visiting Ha Giang, in addition to experiencing the scenic landscapes and unique customs and traditions, tourists certainly cannot miss the opportunity to enjoy traditional specialties at their stops in the villages.

Corn pho is a culinary specialty unique to Ha Giang.

When mentioning Ha Giang, tourists often think of the local specialty, aw tẩu porridge. This dish has a rather unique taste. The bowl of porridge has a rich, creamy flavor mixed with a slightly bitter taste from the aw tẩu root, and a delicious aroma from the chicken eggs and accompanying herbs and spices. Aw tẩu is a characteristic root of Ha Giang, and it contains toxins.

However, the Hmong people detoxify water chestnuts by soaking them in rice water and then simmering them for 4-5 hours. Afterward, they mash them and cook them with bone broth and glutinous rice (specifically the "golden flower" variety) mixed with a little regular glutinous rice. When cooked, the porridge is served in a bowl with minced lean meat, salt, pepper, and scallions. Water chestnut porridge is a nutritious dish that treats colds and aches… During the cold winter days in the mountainous region, enjoying a hot, nutritious bowl of water chestnut porridge is sure to be an unforgettable experience for visitors.

Besides the "cháo ấu tẩu" (a type of porridge), "thắng cố" is an irresistible delicacy for visitors to the rocky plateau. "Thắng cố," meaning meat soup, is a traditional dish of the Hmong people, made from horse meat with a very distinctive flavor. Nowadays, to suit tourists , restaurant owners have replaced the ingredients with buffalo, beef, and pork. The locals also use beef offal, as horse meat is difficult to obtain. The essence of "thắng cố" lies in its broth, simmered from bones and offal, and mixed with 12 characteristic spices such as star anise, cardamom, and lime leaves… creating a fragrant broth. The meat is lightly fried before being added to the broth to simmer until tender. This dish has a slightly pungent smell for those trying it for the first time, but the more you eat, the more addictive it becomes. It's even more appealing when eaten with "mèn mén" (corn porridge), grilled corn cakes, and corn wine.

Visitors to Ha Giang, experiencing the buckwheat flower paradise, should not miss the opportunity to enjoy delicious and unique specialties made from buckwheat seeds, such as various types of cakes, pho, beer, noodles, dried vermicelli, and wine. Buckwheat, a flowering herb with many colors including white, light pink, purple, and red, has long been famous as one of the symbolic flowers of the Northeast region of Ha Giang.

On their journey to explore the rocky plateau, visitors can also enjoy other wonderful dishes such as: Dong Van Old Town rice rolls, humpback sticky rice cakes, Dong Van egg rice rolls, Bac Me bamboo rice, smoked buffalo meat, sour pho, thang den (a type of noodle soup)... If you have the chance to taste them, the flavors will linger in your memory forever.

Corn pho is a culinary specialty unique to Ha Giang.

Over the years, Ha Giang has emerged as a top attractive destination, with tourism becoming a key driver of the local economy. Among its tourism products, the community-based tourism model, integrating the essence of local culinary culture, has proven to be the most effective. With the support and facilitation of local authorities, homestays have skillfully incorporated distinctive culinary values into their services, ensuring the most satisfying experience for visitors.

Visitors not only get to enjoy local specialties but also witness the food preparation process and learn about the completely natural origins of the ingredients, which are harvested by the local ethnic communities from the forest, such as wild banana blossoms, mắc khén (a type of spice), bamboo shoots, colorful leaves for making five-colored sticky rice, or various plants and animals that they raise, grow, and care for to prepare dishes according to traditional recipes.

In recent years, to honor, preserve, and promote the cultural and culinary values of the locality, Ha Giang province organized the 2023 Ha Giang Culinary Culture Festival of the North, Central, and South regions in Ha Giang city with many vibrant and attractive activities, attracting a large number of domestic and international tourists. To continue the success of this event, Ha Giang plans to organize the 2024 International Cultural, Tourism and Culinary Festival - Ha Giang over three days, from March 29 to 31, 2024, at the 26/3 Square and Green Park in Ha Giang city.

With the theme "Ha Giang - The Quintessence of Cuisine, a Leading Destination in Asia," Ha Giang is determined to elevate the cultural values of its local cuisine, widely introducing and promoting it to domestic and international tourists; building and effectively exploiting the culinary tourism brand through collecting, restoring, and developing the quintessential, unique, and high-quality culinary and tourism culture; and strengthening cooperation in tourism development, promising to bring many exciting experiences to tourists.

According to the plan, the 2024 Ha Giang International Culture, Tourism and Food Festival will include a series of unique and distinctive events, most notably a program showcasing and establishing a Vietnamese record for "50 dishes and drinks made from buckwheat," with the participation of expert chefs from the Japan-Vietnam Culinary Association who will directly create dishes and drinks, and develop a menu of 50 dishes using buckwheat as the main ingredient, based on the five combinations of "plant, animal, flower, root, and fruit."

In addition, there are a series of activities such as: Organizing a competition and awarding prizes for typical dishes of provinces and cities; organizing experiential activities and cultural exchanges in cuisine and tourism; public art performances; organizing a survey program of top typical destinations in Asia - Ha Giang 2023; and organizing a workshop on positioning the Ha Giang tourism brand.

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