Buzz
Chicken heart sticky rice – one of the renowned specialties of Da Lat that every traveler to the mountainous city of Da Lat wants to explore and taste. Visit the Hoa Binh area to enjoy Da Lat's chicken heart sticky rice, and you'll surely be enchanted by the unique flavor of this dish.
A unique combination
The unique combination of sticky rice cakes and chicken hearts has sparked curiosity among many travelers visiting the highland land of Da Lat, only to find themselves delighted by the remarkably unique and captivating flavor of this dish. It's the chewy, tender texture of the cakes blending harmoniously with the fragrant aroma and rich, savory taste of the chicken.
The most frequented dining spots in Da Lat city serving the beloved chicken heart sticky rice dish are likely in the Hòa Bình area, right by Da Lat market. Da Lat's chicken heart sticky rice can be regarded as a specialty of Da Lat due to its unique and unfamiliar nature, from its name to its flavor.
Preparation is not overly complicated
In essence, the chicken heart sticky rice dish has a straightforward preparation method, but for the people of Da Lat, its inherent elegance and perfectionism have made it truly special.
The people of Da Lat craft the sticky rice cakes with great skill and care right from the ingredient selection stage. The rice used for the cakes must be good and fresh for them to be fragrant. The rice is soaked, ground into flour, mixed with tapioca flour, cassava flour, and water in certain proportions to ensure the cakes have the right amount of chewiness so that they won't break when spread.
When spreading the cakes, the maker must be skillful to ensure evenness, without any uneven thickness. As for the chicken hearts and chicken meat served with sticky rice cakes, they must be meticulously prepared. The secret of these cake makers is to select free-range chickens that are not too large, with firm and tender meat. The chicken hearts must be carefully prepared to eliminate any gamy odor. After cleaning, they are lightly marinated with spices and a little garlic and then stir-fried until crispy and fragrant. The chicken meat is usually steamed or boiled until tender and then shredded.
When eating, people use deep plates or shallow bowls for the freshly spread hot sticky rice cakes, adding some herbs, thinly sliced chili, then topping with stir-fried chicken hearts and shredded chicken meat, sprinkled with a bit of pepper. Accompanying the plate or bowl of chicken heart sticky rice cakes is a small dish of fish sauce mixed with a bit of garlic, offering a subtly spicy and sweet taste. The fresh, fragrant chewiness of the freshly spread hot sticky rice cakes, the creamy richness of the chicken hearts, and the sweet aroma of free-range chicken meat, combined with the richly flavored dipping sauce, along with the intense spiciness of chili and aromatic herbs, create a unique, gentle, and refined flavor that makes this dish extraordinarily delicious.
Da Lat Specialty – The chicken heart sticky rice cakes are like this, carrying a strange yet delicious flavor with a delicate and exquisite taste because the people of Da Lat use spices in just the right amounts. When visiting Da Lat and wanting to discover this unique dish, tourists should head to the Hoa Binh area, where they will surely find eateries serving excellent chicken heart sticky rice cakes, which even upscale restaurants or those of famous hotels cannot guarantee to satisfy travelers.
A few addresses with delicious chicken heart sticky rice cakes in Da Lat
The chicken heart sticky rice stall from the Hòa Bình area near Đà Lạt market, turning into Trương Công Định alley connecting with Tăng Bạt Hổ. The stall opens from 2 pm to 7 pm, serving delicious fish sauce and mouthwatering dishes. Prices are quite affordable: a bowl costs 27 thousand dong, and a large plate of salad for about 4 people costs 80 thousand dong.
The chicken heart sticky rice stall Long – Thông Thiên Học: Located near the intersection of Thông Thiên Học and Bùi Thị Xuân, opening from 12 noon to around 7 pm. Rated as very delicious by diners, with plenty of chicken heart, and excellent dipping sauce at an affordable price of 15 thousand dong per bowl.
Experience Đà Lạt by sitting snugly at a small roadside stall and savoring piping hot, fragrant, and spicy chicken heart sticky rice amidst the 'moody' weather of the mountainous streets to truly appreciate the everyday pleasures of the locals here.
