8 Specialty Foods in An Giang

Specialty foods in An Giang

Coming to An Giang province – the region of mountains and pagodas, tourists shouldn’t miss flavorful specialty foods which couldn’t be found anywhere in the country. Long Xuyen Rice Noodle Soup With Fish, Beef Dishes, Tung Lo Mo, Salad with La Sau Dau, Macerated Fish Guts, Fried Ground Steam Sticky Rice, Chau Doc Cow Cake with Palm Sugar are Top Specialty Foods in An Giang. These foods are culture and made by ingredients which may be strange to most visitors. But when you try them, you will love them for great taste.

1. Long Xuyen Rice Noodle Soup With Fish

Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour

Head fish – the main ingredient of Long Xuyen Rice Noodle Soup With Fish must be fresh. After being washed carefully, fish is boiled. Fishbone and skin are removed from fish meat which will be marinated with turmeric and stir-fried before being served. The highlight of Long Xuyen Rice Noodle Soup With Fish is using turmeric to marinate fish meat so that it’s tastier, more smelling and has a yellow color. The broth is very smelling and attractive with a yellow color which comes from turmeric. This rice noodle soup is served with broth covering noodle and topped with stir-fried fish meat with turmeric, shredded morning glory and water mimosa. Another version of Long Xuyen Rice Noodle Soup With Fish is Bun Ken which has a very special recipe. The broth is cooked from coconut water, curry, daikon and blood pudding. In my opinion, this food is number 1 on the list of Specialty Foods in An Giang.

2. Beef Dishes

Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour

Sam Mountain with Tay An Pagoda, Ba Chua Xu Pagoda and Thoai Ngoc Hau Temple… is one of the most worth visiting attractions in Chau Doc city, An Giang province. Coming to Sam Mountain, do not miss flavorful beef dishes including Boiled Beef Guts, Grilled Beef with Question Cake, Rice Congee with Beef Head, Braised Beef with Bread, Stir-fried Beef with Vang Leaves and Shaked Beef ( or Stir-fried Beef with Vegetable).

3. Tung Lo Mo

Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour

Tung Lo Mo is similar to sausage and made first by Cham people in An Giang. Tung Lo Mo has become popular in the area around Sam Mountain. The fresh Tung Lo Mo sausage is dried under the sun until it’s dry entirely. It’s the best way to grill Tung Lo Mo on charcoal. After being grilled, the sausage is cut into smelling pink-brown pieces and eaten with rice vermicelli (or bread), chili, herbs and star fruit, slices of green banana. It’s usually dipped in chili paste or a mix of salt, black pepper and lemon juice. Locals love to eat grilled Tung Lo Mo while grilling it.

4. Scorpion

Small black scorpions are easy to catch in Bay Nui area of An Giang. The scorpions aren’t killed and cooked right after being caught but after a few days so that their stomachs will be empty and “clean”. The cook usually deep-fries these scorpions until they become crispy. What an amazing food fear factor! Are you dare to try?

5. Salad with La Sau Dau

In An Giang, the bitter La Sau Dau (or Azadirachta Indica leaf) is one of the most favorite vegetables to eat with Braised Fish, Braised Pork, Macerated Fish and Steamed Macerated Fish. However, the best way to cook La Sau Dau is to make salads. It depends on the cook to use dried foods, pork, shrimp or fish to mix with La Sau Dau.

6. Macerated Fish Guts

Maybe in other countries, Macerated Fish and Macerated Shrimp (Mam) is a food fear factor. But in Vietnam, these are traditional foods and they have won the hearts of many Vietnamese generations. In An Giang, there is a very special kind of Mam – Macerated Fish Guts which is made by mixed fish guts with ground toasted brown rice, then kept in a jar for 3 months. When Macerated Fish Guts is ready to eat, it can be eaten with steamed rice and herbs. Vietnamese people also mix Macerated Fish Guts with pork belly, duck egg, ginger… and steam the mix to make a very delicious dish.

7. Fried Ground Steam Sticky Rice

Mother Nature gives An Giang a good environment to grow good sticky rice. Locals have used sticky rice to make very interesting food which looks like a ball. The steamed sticky rice must be crushed carefully until it becomes a smooth dough. The dough is used to make a thin circle that is deep-fried in a pan until it becomes a crispy ball. If you come to An Giang, do not miss this delicious food – one of the most amazing Specialty Foods in An Giang.

8. Chau Doc Cow Cake with Palm Sugar

Coming to Chau Doc city, An Giang province, you can see sugar palm everywhere. Sugar palm is a multi-functional tree which leaves are used to install house roof, palms are used to make columns for houses, tables and chairs. Tourists shouldn’t miss eating sugar palm fruit’s meat is fresh, chewy but tender. In addition, the juice from sugar palm is used to make sugar and it’s the reason it’s called sugar palm. Chau Doc Cow Cake made from rice powder, palm sugar and yeast.

You might like this:

Top things to see in An Giang

Mekong Delta travel guide