Buzz
When you set foot in Lai Chau, you simply cannot miss out on the dried buffalo meat infused with the smoky aroma from the kitchens of the Northwest mountainous ethnic people. This specialty of Lai Chau is often made from the beef of freely grazed buffaloes in the mountainous regions and hills. The buffalo meat is dried just right, not too tough, retaining its sweet taste. Each piece of meat is marinated with special spices, imbued with the scent of cardamom, dried chili, and peppercorn. To savor the dried buffalo meat, you can tear it into small pieces and add a few slices of lime to tantalize your taste buds.
3. Bitter Leaf Soup
To truly appreciate the unique culinary art of this land, one must indulge in the bitter leaf soup when visiting Lai Chau. Making bitter leaf soup requires venturing into the outskirts of the forest and along the streams to gather these leaves. Typically, only esteemed guests or hosts would venture into the forest to gather leaves as a gesture of hospitality. Nowadays, locals have begun cultivating these plants in their gardens or on their plots, making it possible for you to purchase the leaves at local markets.
The ingredients for bitter leaf soup include finely chopped pork lungs, a piece of pork blood pudding, various aromatic herbs, and a handful of bitter leaves (either fresh or dried and crushed). Boil the water and add all the ingredients, simmer until everything is well-cooked, and you'll have a fragrant and delicious bowl of bitter leaf soup to enjoy. At first taste, you may find it difficult to eat due to its bitterness, but once you get used to it, you'll appreciate its sweetness, richness, and aroma. Bitter leaf soup also has the added benefit of relieving alcohol intoxication and aiding in digestive ailments.
4. Jungle Herb Salad
Jungle herb salad is a distinctive dish of the Thai people in Lai Chau specifically, and the Northwest ethnic groups in general. The Thai people also refer to jungle herbs as 'pắc cút', a type of plant similar to coriander, with thick stems, wide leaves, and a smooth green surface. This plant only grows on the banks of streams or in moist areas.
5. Fried Sadnesses
6. Buried Ash Catfish
Buried ash catfish is a renowned delicacy in Lai Chau. The catfish here are usually caught in rivers and streams, with even the largest ones barely the size of an adult's index finger. To create the delicious and visually appealing buried ash catfish dish, it undergoes a meticulous and complex preparation process, requiring the skill and experience of the chef.
7. Charred Lambs
Charred lambs are considered the most unique delicacy in Lai Chau. The dish's enigmatic name and incredibly unique flavor intrigue people. In the Thai language, 'lam' means grill, and 'nhọ' means marinated. First, the Thais select the finest pieces of fresh buffalo meat, then quickly pat them dry with a clean cloth to prevent bacterial contamination. Particularly, they do not wash the meat with water as it would diminish its aroma and flavor.
Once the meat is cleaned, the cook begins grilling it over hot charcoal until fully cooked. Then, they thinly slice it horizontally and mix the meat with characteristic mountainous spices such as salt, ginger, garlic, chili, peppercorn, wild eggplant… After the meat, vegetables, and spices are thoroughly mixed and infused, they are stuffed into bamboo tubes for further grilling to ensure even cooking with the meat. Subsequently, they are removed and pounded into a smooth paste and placed back into bamboo tubes for a final grilling until everything is tender. When enjoying charred lambs, you'll experience a rich sweetness, tenderness, and cohesion of flavors.
8. Orchid Blossom Salad
The orchid blossom is one of the characteristic symbols of the Northwest forests, often seen in shades of purple and white. Orchid blossoms are also used as an ingredient to create orchid blossom salad, a rustic delicacy of the Thai people in Lai Chau. The orchid blossom salad combines all flavors: bitter, sour, spicy, salty, sweet, and nutty.
For making salad, the best types of bamboo shoots are still the bamboo shoots and bitter bamboo shoots. Bitter bamboo shoots need to be finely chopped, soaked in salt water for 30 minutes, then boiled twice and drained, while bamboo shoots are boiled and stripped small. Select fresh orchid blossoms, cut off the thick petals for use. Next, select a fresh and delicious mountain stream fish, with a thick body, grill over charcoal, remove the flesh. Then, mix the mixture of lemon juice, garlic, chili, basil, and coriander finely sliced and mixed with bamboo shoots, orchid blossoms, fish, and the mixture. When eating, you will feel the characteristic flavor of the mountain forest from the ingredients blended together.
9. Sticky Rice Stuffed Pig Intestines
Sticky rice stuffed pig intestines, also known as 'tùng càng nhảng'. Sticky rice stuffed pig intestines are prepared by mixing raw pig intestines with glutinous rice, minced herbs, then stuffing into pig intestines. Then boiled until cooked, removed and eaten immediately or gradually over the days of Tet. The sticky rice stuffed pig intestines have the richness of the intestines, the fragrance of herbs, and the chewiness of pig intestines.
10. Cat Melon
11. Pork Mixed with Sour Leaves
Pork mixed with sour leaves is an extremely enticing dish in Lai Chau with a simple preparation method. Sour leaves are readily available in the forest year-round, crushed with chili, cardamom, then mixed thoroughly with pork. Delicious to eat without feeling overwhelmed. Pork mixed with sour leaves is a delicacy of the White Thai ethnic group in Lai Chau.
12. Armpit Carried Pig
Armpit carried pig, also known as 'hanging pig', is a specialty pig breed found abundantly in highland areas, especially in Lai Chau. This type of pig originated from the husbandry practices of ethnic minority groups in highland areas such as H'Mong, Thai, Dao… With mainly free-range husbandry methods, these pigs grow very slowly and are not too heavy, so people often carry them in baskets, slung over their shoulders, hence the name 'armpit carried pig'.
To make delicious armpit carried pig, it must be roasted over both fires to meet requirements. After roasting, the hair is scraped clean and sliced into parts for cooking. From the armpit carried pig, many delicious dishes can be made such as: pork belly used for steaming, pork leg used for grilling, pork shoulder used for stewing, pork belly used for making pickled pig skin, cleaned intestines used for boiling, filtered bones used for making soups… Armpit carried pig meat has a delicious aroma, almost no fat, if there is any fat on a piece, it still doesn't feel greasy when eaten.
According to Mytour
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Reference: Mytour Travel Guide
MytourJune 14, 2023
