20 Unforgettable Specialties from Bắc Kạn

Bắc Kạn's specialties effortlessly leave a lasting impression on numerous travelers, featuring a diverse array of delicious and impressive dishes that encapsulate the rich cultural essence of the local ethnic communities. Let's explore 20 specialties from Bắc Kạn that consistently evoke fond memories in diners.

20 Irresistible Dishes from Bắc Kạn That Capture Hearts

1. Ba Bể Sour Shrimp

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The Ba Bể Sour Shrimp dish, with its rich, tangy flavor of shrimp, the spiciness of garlic and chili, complemented by the aromatic scent of ginger... This rustic dish is commonly found in the Bó Lù and Pác Ngòi villages around Ba Bể. In Ba Bể, people often enjoy Ba Bể Sour Shrimp with pork legs or belly, boiled alongside a side dish of sour starfruit, green bananas, and galangal... In addition to shrimp, various types of prawns or small fish caught fresh from the lake are also preserved in salt jars for gradual consumption.

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2. Smoked Spare Ribs

Smoked Spare Ribs, also known as kitchen-hung smoked ribs, feature pork from the local area, resulting in fragrant and firm meat. Bac Kan's Smoked Spare Ribs are marinated with stone ginger, a unique type of ginger that only grows on the stones of the ethnic people, giving it a special fragrance reminiscent of the highland sun, kitchen smoke, hints of ginger, the aroma of wine, and the sweetness of honey... When savored, you'll experience the chewiness of the meat, the sweetness of lean flesh, and the richness of fat blending together, creating a truly delightful dish. Smoked Spare Ribs are perfect for nibbling along with a sip of wine.

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3. Grilled Fish from Ba Be

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Ba Be Lake is generously endowed by nature with various types of fish. Locals often catch small fish, about the size of a thumb, resembling minnows or creek chubs, to make grilled fish, a delicious specialty. The fish meat is white, firm, and sweet in taste. The process of preparing grilled fish is time-consuming. Firstly, one selects fish of similar size, guts them, cleans them, and then sun-dries them before skewering them. Once the skewers of fish are grilled, they are ready to be enjoyed. Grilled fish is usually served with chili sauce and savored with a glass of corn wine.

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4. Wild Vegetables (Forest Fern)

Photo: Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper.

Rau sắng leaves are used to cook soup with meat or fish. The flavor of this vegetable is rich, and just a few stems are enough to make a large pot of delicious soup. Cooking rau sắng soup is similar to preparing regular fern soup. People remove the stems, keeping only the young leaves. After washing and crushing the leaves for a softer texture, they are added to a pot of boiling water and seasoned with spices and salt. According to the locals in Bắc Kạn, the rau sắng soup should be enjoyed plain, seasoned with a little salt. Chewing slowly and thoroughly on each small leaf, you can truly appreciate its sweet and indescribably rich taste. Rau sắng soup is often served with pickled eggplants in the summer for a refreshing and nutritious experience.

5. Black Plum

Black plum fruit.

Black plum is a specialty of Bắc Kạn in particular and the mountainous forests of Northeast Vietnam in general. The black plum has a diamond shape, sharp at both ends, with a deep purple color. The flesh is yellow-red, and the seed has a light white kernel. Black plum has a sweet, rich, and distinctive taste, and it can be used to make various unforgettable dishes, often cooked with pork belly or in sticky rice. There are two main types of black plum: sticky black plum and non-sticky black plum. Sticky black plum, known for its tender meat, is more popular, especially among the elderly and young children.

Wild lettuce, often found in rocky and challenging terrains, resembles ferns and is used for cooking and medicinal purposes. At first glance, its stems resemble bitter melon vines but are slimmer and have a tender, green, thread-like appearance like newly sprouted branches. After bringing wild lettuce home, without the need for complicated processing, simply clean it, sauté it with fragrant garlic over high heat, and you'll have a delicious and enticing dish. In addition to being prepared on its own, wild lettuce is also used in conjunction with pho, stir-fried noodles, or cooked with beef.

7. Mò sticky rice cake

Photo: Ma Thị Dung/Vnexpress.

Mò sticky rice cake is a long-standing specialty of the Tày and Nùng ethnic groups. In the Tày language, coóc mò means 'buffalo horn,' as the cake has a sharp, horn-like shape. The cake is made from glutinous rice, wrapped in banana leaves or dong leaves. Because it is made from the finest glutinous rice grown in the mountainous regions, the cake has a delicious, fragrant, sweet, and chewy taste. Regions with Tày and Nùng ethnic communities, such as Bắc Kạn, Thái Nguyên, Quảng Ninh, Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn, Tuyên Quang, all have mò sticky rice cakes available in local markets.

Đăm Đeng sticky rice is a unique type of sticky rice made from field glutinous rice, and all its colors are created entirely from the natural pigments of plants. The rice grains are beautiful and glossy but not wet. When cool, the rice grains firm up but remain soft, chewy, and fragrant. People in this area usually eat Đăm Đeng sticky rice with sesame salt or shredded pork. If you have the opportunity to visit Bắc Kạn during festivals or Tet, be sure to savor this dish to experience the colors and flavors of the mountains and forests.

9. Na Rì Bamboo Shoot Vermicelli

Dong vermicelli is a renowned specialty of Na Rì, Bắc Kạn. Bắc Kạn dong vermicelli is made from the root of wild rice plants grown on the Áng Toòng Pass at an altitude of over 1,000m. The vermicelli strands boast natural colors, a result of the skilled hands of the local people. When cooked, the vermicelli has a chewy, crispy texture and carries the fragrance of wild rice. From this type of vermicelli, various delicious and easy-to-eat dishes can be prepared.

Drying dong vermicelli in Côn Minh commune, Na Rì district. Photo: Tuấn Sơn/Nhân Dân Newspaper.

Packaging dong vermicelli. Photo: People's Committee of Bắc Kạn Province.

10. Măng Vầu (Wild Bamboo Shoots)

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Wild bamboo shoots are a renowned produce of the people in Đôn Phong commune (Bạch Thông, Bắc Kạn province). Wild bamboo shoots carry the distinct mountainous flavor of the region. In the early harvest season, the newly sprouted shoots have a sweet taste with a hint of bitterness. However, after the lunar month of February, the flavor becomes more intense and bitter. The locals process bamboo shoots into various dishes such as rolled shoots with meat, stir-fried shoots, or simply boiled and dipped in sesame salt. Among these, boiled bamboo shoots with shrimp sauce, lime, and chili are particularly enticing.

11. Candied Apricots

Although apricots are abundant in the region, it is only in Bắc Kạn that you find the large, golden apricots skillfully processed by local hands, creating a unique specialty. Candied apricots from Bắc Kạn have a distinctive and appealing flavor. The dark brown candied apricots appear translucent, offering a chewy and sweet experience. It's hard to believe they are made from apricots that are both tangy and bitter. When visiting Bắc Kạn, be sure to choose candied apricots as a delightful gift for family and friends.

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12. Wild Red Banana

Wild red bananas exhibit distinctive features, with their upright red blossoms. This banana variety is known for its abundant seeds, and when ripe, the bananas turn a beautiful golden yellow. People often use smaller bananas, which contain more sap and are believed to have medicinal properties.

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In Bac Kan, wild red bananas from Ba Be Lake are often sold on the way to Ao Tien, the area where tourists are welcomed from the entrance to the lake. One of the well-known beverages made from wild red bananas is medicinal wine. Medicinal wine infused with wild red banana is delicious, with a distinctive and nutritious flavor. Its main purpose is known for relieving back pain and fatigue.

13. Smoked Pork

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Smoked pork is a famous specialty of the Thai Dam people in the Northwest mountainous region. For the people of Bac Kan, this dish is no longer unfamiliar. Unlike some other ethnic groups, the Tay people living around Ba Be Lake often put meat into baskets or bundles before taking them into the forest and hanging them over the kitchen. The smoke from the daily wood-burning stove rises, giving the meat a blackish-yellow color. The hanging meat can last for a year without spoiling. Nowadays, Tay households around the lake always have some smoked pork hanging in the kitchen for use during special occasions, festivals, or other important days.

14. Sky Cake

Sky Cake, also known as 'pẻng phạ' in the Tày language, is a precious cake of the Tày people in Bac Kan. Sky Cake is indispensable in ceremonies to welcome the new year, celebrations in the fields, and more. The Tày people pour their emotions and ingenuity into each small cake. The cake looks tiny, round like a longan, bringing together the characteristic ingredients and flavors of the local area. The ingredients for making the cake include glutinous rice, white wine, sweet tea, and sugarcane. The outer layer of the cake is made from roasted and ground glutinous rice, forming a smooth white layer that wraps around the cake but cannot completely cover the brownish-yellow color of the sugar layer on the cake. Despite its rustic appearance, when tasted, the cake provides an irresistible charm.

Photo: Đỗ Thảo.

15. Wild Pepper

Wild pepper is a plant belonging to the Piperaceae family, similar to betel leaves. It has long branches with small smooth green leaves and hairy leaf stems. In Bac Kan, especially in high mountainous areas, wild pepper often grows at the source of rivers and streams, typically along riverbanks and ravines, in places with high humidity. The best time to enjoy wild pepper is from after the flood season until the end of spring. The young, curved leaves of wild pepper, with their sticky latex, are used to prepare various dishes such as stir-frying with sour bamboo shoots, making salads, mixing with shredded chicken, or even cooking soups.

Stir-fried wild pepper with sour bamboo shoots. Photo: Chiến Hoàng/Báo Dân Việt.

16. Thuy Mouth Cake

Thuy Mouth Cake is a famous dish among the Tày people in Bac Kan. The cake has a round shape like a quail egg, glossy, crispy, with a perfect balance of sweetness and fragrance. Thuy Mouth Cake is an indispensable part of important festivals for the Tày and Nùng communities in this region. The cake is made from various ingredients, going through multiple intricate steps. If you have the chance to visit Bac Kan, make sure to savor this renowned Thuy Mouth Cake.

17. Wind Pass Chili Bamboo Shoots

In the village of Wind Pass, Vân Tùng commune (Ngân Sơn, Bắc Kạn), there is a specialty dish called chili bamboo shoots with a spicy, rich, and distinctive aroma. Chili bamboo shoots serve both as a dish and an indispensable dipping sauce in the local cuisine. The best chili bamboo shoots in Wind Pass are made from a variety of bamboo shoots, with the most delicious being thorny bamboo shoots to achieve crispiness and fragrance. The process of making chili bamboo shoots may seem simple, but not everyone can do it, especially the fermentation and soaking stages.

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Chili bamboo shoots can be paired with various dishes, reducing greasiness for stir-fries and adding deliciousness to boiled dishes. They also add a spicy kick to hot pot dishes during the winter.

18. Snow Shan Tea from Bằng Phúc

With its cool climate, Bằng Phúc commune (Bắc Kạn province) is highly suitable for cultivating Snow Shan tea plants. The tea trees in this area are grown on hilly terrain and remain untouched by chemicals, contributing to the rich flavor of Bằng Phúc's Snow Shan Tea. Over time, Snow Shan Tea from Bằng Phúc has become a famous specialty in Chợ Đồn and the entire province of Bắc Kạn.

Snow Shan Tea region in Bằng Phúc commune. Photo: Bắc Kạn Province Electronic Information Portal.

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19. Mèn mén

Mèn mén is a traditional dish of the Mông ethnic group living in Đồng Luông, Quảng Chu commune, Chợ Mới district (Bắc Kạn). Mèn mén is made from the main ingredient, corn kernels. After crushing the corn into small pieces using a stone mortar, it is kneaded with a little water and then steamed. Although it's just steamed corn flour, the clever preparation of the local people, combined with serving mèn mén with other dishes, makes it even more enticing. Locals often mix mèn mén with rice or dissolve it in phở broth or noodles. If you happen to visit the highland markets of Bắc Kạn, don't forget to savor a bowl of delicious and hot mèn mén phở.

20. Bằng Phúc Leaf Men Wine

Men leaf wine is commonly found in many places, but Bằng Phúc has its unique version that stands out.

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Typically, to make this wine, an essential ingredient is wine yeast.

Posted by: Phạm Nhật Anh

Keywords: 20 distinctive specialties from Bắc Kạn that leave a lasting impression on food enthusiasts