Specialty Foods in Vietnam (Part 1 – Northern Specialties)

Specialty Foods in Vietnam

Vietnam is a country with rich cuisine with a wide range of foods in different regions. Traveling to this country, visiting many attractions and eating specialty foods is a good way to enjoy your life. It’s interesting to learn more about local life and culture through cuisine. Ha Giang province is famous for Buffalo Bacon, Nam Dinh province is well-known by Goat Meat. I’m going to write a post about Specialty Foods in Vietnam. There’s nowhere you can try them out of Vietnam. Let’s go around Vietnam and learn more about Specialty Foods in different regions of Vietnam.

1. Buffalo Bacon in Ha Giang

Coming to Ha Giang in Northwest Vietnam with high lands and many forests, there’s no better to eat steamed rice with buffalo bacon. This kind of bacon is not only smelling but also tasty with a traditional recipe. Carefully chosen shank of buffalo is cut parallel to the muscle fibers, then is marinated with chili, ginger and a special spice of North West region – “mac khen”. The meat is smoked by wood in forests for 1 year and the buffalo bacon can be kept in about 1 month.

2. Barbecue in Sapa

Sapa town of Lao Cai province is the coldest region in Vietnam. It’s 376 km far from Hanoi and worth a visit for beautiful sights and unique life of locals. Barbecue is one of the most favorites of Sapa people and any tourist would love it. It’s different from barbecues in other places because all of the ingredients (meat, fish, spices…) are found from forests or grown in forests.

3. Sour Pho in Lang Son

Lang Son is a province in far Northern Vietnam, bordering Guangxi province in China. Lang Son is famous for its specialty – sour Pho. This food is made by mixing cut Pho noodle, sauteed pork, crushed peanuts, quarterly cut fertilized duck egg with a wide range of spices and sauce. The sour Pho is sweet, sour, hot and totally flavorful.

 

 

4. Pork “Carried under One Arm” in Lai Chau

Let’s me explain why this food has an interesting name. This kind of pork is small enough to carry it under one arm to the market. Pork “Carried under One Arm” is pure blood and grow naturally in the forest. Because they only eat things they could find so that the weight is light but its meat is not greasy and extremely tasty. All dishes cooked from this kind of pork have great flavor.

5. Tieu Quan Chicken Pie in Hung Yen

Tieu Quan Chicken Pie originated in Tieu Quan village, Khoai Chau town, Hung Yen province. The chicken is ground carefully for many times before being steamed, fried or grilled. With secret receipt, Tieu Quan Chicken Pie has become one of the most delicious savory pie in Vietnam.

6. Braised Sweet Soup in Nam Dinh

Not similar to other Vietnamese sweet soups, this kind of sweet are dried with only one main ingredient – mung bean. The mung bean is peeled, ground and mixed with so much sugar. The mix is cooked until it’s dried and chewy but still tender and soft. It’s better to eat with tea.

7. Mung Bean Cake in Hai Duong

Mung Bean Cake from Hai Duong is one of the most popular gifts in North Vietnam. The ingredients are mung bean, sugar, pork fat, pomelo flower extracted oil. This cake is soft, sweet, tender and melt on your tongue immediately after you eat it.

8. Spicy Bread in Hai Phong

Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour

Vietnamese Bread (Banh Mi) is famous all around the world for the crispy bread and perfect blend of pickle, pork and the sauce filled into the bread. The famous Spicy Bread in Hai Phong is very tiny, extremely crispy, filled with greasy paté and grilled on charcoal. To eat, dinner dip the bread into a special sauce named as “Chí Chương”. The spicy taste and smelling paté make this food different from other Banh Mi.

9. Goat meat in Ninh Binh

It would be a big miss if you don’t try goat meat grown in Ninh Binh. There are enormous dishes cooked from Ninh Binh goat meat such as: toasted goat meat, grilled goat meat, steamed goat meat… One of the most favorite is rare-goat meat which is tough and tender. This food is eaten with vegetables in forests which are fresh and have special taste.

10. Fertilized Pork in Thanh Hoa

Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour

Pork without fat and tendon is ground and mixed with chili, black pepper, garlic and “nem” yeast. Then the mix is wrapped in “dong” leaves and banana leaves. After a few minutes, the Fertilized Pork is ready to eat with steamed rice, rice noodle, stuffed pancake… The traditional receipt making Fertilized Pork of Thanh Hoa people is famous all over the country so that any visitor coming to this province always buy some to bring home.

If you have time to visit our country, please do not miss Specialty Foods in Vietnam. They aren’t only foods but also culture, it’s not a taste but also the life. In fact, you don’t have to travel to each

You might like this:

Top 10 Specialty Foods in Saigon