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Delicious dishes worth buying for making when visiting Dien Bien
Dien Bien Rice
Half a century ago, rice from all over the North of Vietnam crossed Pha Din Pass day and night by buffalo carts and shoulder poles, creating the legend of Dien Bien Phu and countless extraordinary stories on the rice transportation route. It is truly coincidental that when history turns its pages, in the valley nestled amidst these surrounding mountains, there seems to be a 'magic spell' that turns any rice variety sown into round, fragrant, unusually flavorful grains. And those grains of rice also contain numerous confessions from the time of economic openness.
Muong Thanh Rice can be used to cook bamboo rice, make special dishes like sticky rice with magenta leaves – a fragrant plant, which gives the rice a rich, fragrant, and sticky flavor), make dried grains (grains are dried and then rubbed off their husks before cooking), and also to make Papa cake (similar to making sticky rice cakes)... used as offerings in ceremonies and weddings.
There has been no scientific research on the rice grains grown here, but it is strange that any rice variety sown in this valley produces such sticky, fragrant, and glossy white grains. Economically speaking, there are many advantages: a high yield rate (70%), productivity is 70-150% higher than elsewhere, and there are significant cost savings in cultivation. Today, Dien Bien rice has its own brand that spreads nationwide.
Edible Insects
Edible insects are a nutritious dish that can be fried, stir-fried, or soaked in alcohol. (Photo – Ngoc Lan)
These are insects that typically live inside the trunk of chit trees. To identify which trees have chit worms, harvesters will select those showing signs of disease, unable to bloom (indicating that the tree has been parasitized by larvae). Locals catch chit worms by 'splitting' the chit tips to extract the worms. The fresh, plump chit worms, which are milky white in color, are usually placed in a light-colored wine jar. This wine helps preserve the worms' integrity.
Besides the most common method of soaking in alcohol for consumption, chit worms can also be sun-dried or used in porridge. Research shows that the 'cordyceps' species contains a protein content of 25-32% in their bodies, including 6 amino acids. Chit worms have a similar protein content, with the identified amino acid composition reaching 17 out of the 20 essential amino acids required by the body.
Therefore, in Dien Bien and other Northwestern regions, chit worm wine and chit worm meat are highly consumed by visitors from the lowlands.
Dien Bien Sticky Rice
Mountain Sticky Rice is predominantly cultivated in the Northwestern provinces, but when it comes to the best-tasting variety, people often think of Dien Bien Mountain Sticky Rice. The grains of Dien Bien Mountain Sticky Rice are plump and round, cooking up sweet, fragrant, and tender. The process of making mountain sticky rice is more meticulous than that of rice grown in irrigated fields. The rice must be steamed in a special wooden steamer of the Thai ethnic people, cooked with steam until soft and tender but not sticky. The rice must be soaked for several hours to prevent it from becoming stale when cooked. The preparation of mountain sticky rice is very elaborate, requiring two rounds of steaming for the rice to become fragrant and tender. After the first steaming, when the rice emits a fragrant aroma and is almost cooked, it is poured onto a flat surface and spread evenly with chopsticks, then after a while, it is poured back into the steamer and steamed again until the rice is evenly cooked.
The Thai ethnic people often enjoy mountain sticky rice with grilled fish, grilled pork... Grilled fish is marinated with Sichuan pepper seeds (a characteristic spice with a spicy and very fragrant flavor) along with chili, lemongrass, and ginger, then grilled over hot charcoal until golden brown to achieve the true flavor of the Northwest mountains and forests.
Tourists visiting Dien Bien often buy hot batches of mountain sticky rice from the Thai ethnic people to take with them on their journey for a warm meal. In the chilly atmosphere of the Northwestern mountains, it's hard to forget the fragrant and enticing taste of mountain sticky rice. It's immensely satisfying when you roll each handful of rice in your hand, enjoy it, and when you spread your palm, you still feel your hand clean and smooth, without any sticky feeling.
Tua Chua Black Chicken
This is a unique breed of black-boned chicken of the Hmong people, called Ka Du in the Hmong language. Despite thousands of years of nomadic life, Ka Du has been preserved through generations by the Hmong people, who consider Ka Du a valuable asset, always included in the list of inherited assets, used for dowries, and weddings.
Ka Du chickens have black-rimmed eyes, black skin, black meat veins, black organs, and even black bones. Ka Du chicken meat is very firm and tasty. Especially, the meat has twice the glutamic acid and iron content compared to regular chickens and low cholesterol levels. Ethnic minorities often cook Ka Du meat porridge to nourish young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and use Ka Du bones to soak in wine or make soup for the elderly, weak, and infirm.
Ban Flower Vegetables
Ban flower vegetables are a traditional 'rice companion' dish of the Thai ethnic group in the Northwestern region, especially in Dien Bien. These are the newly sprouted ban flowers with only a pair of leaves, harvested by Thai people from ban trees on high hills, cleaned, and then put in salt brine like pickled mustard greens in the lowlands. Salted ban flowers, eaten with braised Nậm Rốm river fish, are incredibly delicious. Just across Pha Din Pass, this season, both sides of the road have women standing beside baskets of fresh green ban flowers. However, to experience the 'spring of ban flowers' here, one must go up to Dien Bien Phu city, step into Muong Thanh market, and immerse oneself in the fluttering scarves, faintly discernible in the graceful attire of Thai women.
Fresh ban flower fritters are still lush green, exuding their characteristic fragrance. The beautiful flowers, delicately wrapped by Thai girls before handing them to guests, evoke a sense of deliciousness at first thought.
Ban flowers are one of the products of the Northwestern forests. Like ban buds, ban flowers are also food for the Thai people in the Northwest. Moreover, the image of white ban flowers has become part of the cultural and spiritual life of the Northwestern people, especially the Thai ethnic community. For the Thai people, perhaps no one has not experienced their youth, with fun activities of picking ban flowers and singing courtship songs. 'For a hundred years, we admire the blooming ban flowers forever. Each ban flower season brings forth youth.' The folk song of the Thai people not only reflects the vitality of that tree species but also invites you to visit the Northwest, even just once, is enough to realize its charm.
Tua Chua Snow Tea
In the 4 highland communes of Tua Chua district, Dien Bien is currently preserving a precious resource bestowed by nature, nearly 10,000 ancient snow tea trees.
Located over 50km from the center of Tua Chua district is Sin Chai commune, home to nearly 2,300 ancient snow tea trees, concentrated in villages such as Cang Ty, Sin Chai, Hau Chua, Mang Chien, Sang To... The name 'snow tea' that people in Sin Chai commune are accustomed to calling tea trees is perhaps due to the unique mountainous climate here. In the cold winter, on the high mountains, snow falls covering every branch and blade of grass. These tea trees, seemingly unable to survive the bone-chilling cold, with their bare branches covered in dew and snow. Then, when spring arrives, the tea trees sprout, bringing a plentiful 'green gold' harvest season, providing warmth and abundance to the villagers.
In addition to Sin Chai, the communes of Ta Sin Thang, Ta Phin, and Sinh Phinh also own over 6,000 ancient tea trees, some hundreds of years old. Compared to other tea varieties in famous tea regions in the Northern mountainous areas such as Ta Sua in Son La province, and Suoi Giang in Yen Bai, Tua Chua tea is of equal quality. Tua Chua tea grows naturally on rocky mountains, accumulating mountain dew, resulting in a fragrant tea aroma, golden color, rich taste with a balanced bitterness and sweetness.
Cheo Spice
Cheo is a Northwestern spice that has entered legend and is indispensable in the meals of the Black Thai people, mainly made from the Mac Khen fruit. Mac, in the Thai language, means fruit. However, there is no equivalent word for Khen in the native language. Therefore, Mac Khen will forever remain a unique name, naturally existing like the wild, mysterious mountains and forests, both unfamiliar and yet familiar to humans. In reality, Mac Khen is a wild plant belonging to the laurel family, containing essential oils. When it bears fruit, it forms small clusters of tiny fruits, emitting a sweet fragrance.
Sen Mouth Cakes
Xen Mouth Cakes are a traditional cake of the Thai ethnic group, made from glutinous rice and fresh cassava with a very distinctive flavor of the White Thai people in Muong Lay town, Dien Bien.
Xen Mouth Cakes are like rice crackers but firmer and chewier. The cakes can be made from various ingredients such as black glutinous rice, white glutinous rice, or mixed with gac fruit for a yellow color, or with purple rice to achieve a purple color. More flavorful versions are made from fresh cassava, a type of cassava only found in this region.
Making cassava cakes requires more effort. First, the cassava must be peeled, then grated and mixed with gac fruit, then thoroughly processed and ground before being rolled thin, dried, and cut into small pieces, then dried further until the cakes are completely dry.
The piece of Xen Mouth Cake is cut into a parallelogram shape, slightly smaller than two fingers, when fried it puffs up and looks very appealing. When eaten, the cake is crispy, fragrant, and has a rich flavor of glutinous rice and fresh cassava.
Bitter Bamboo Shoots
Bitter bamboo shoots are a specialty product found only in mountainous regions like Dien Bien. They grow on hillsides and slopes, emerging from the ground after rain. The best bamboo shoots are harvested when they are still close to the ground, with each shoot appearing pristine and enticing.
Bitter bamboo shoots are prepared in various ways. When dining at a restaurant or cultural village, you can request a boiled bamboo shoot dish served with chèo sauce, a dipping sauce with various spices such as pepper, garlic, chili, mắc khén, and aromatic herbs typical of the Thai people in Dien Bien. You can also enjoy grilled bitter bamboo shoots; stir-fried with pork, beef, or simmered with bones—all dishes are delicious. When tasting, you'll experience the bitterness and sweetness of the bamboo shoots, the spiciness of garlic, chili, mắc khén, the richness and aroma of coriander,... All the natural flavors blend together to create the distinctiveness of the Dien Bien Northwest mountainous region that cannot be found elsewhere. You can enjoy bitter bamboo shoots with traditional Thai dishes, all of which are rich and unforgettable.
Source: Compilation
Posted by: Đỗ Vĩnh Lộc
Keywords: Delicious dishes suitable for takeout when visiting Dien Bien
