Buzz
Traveling in Southwestern Vietnam, you must explore enticing grilled dishes with a rustic touch, such as grilling trui fish, clay-baked treats, and mọi skewers...
Grilled Snakehead Fish
Grilled snakehead fish, a creation of Southern farmers after a day in the fields, is a simple dish where the fish is cleaned, stuffed with straw, and grilled to perfection in the midst of wide, breezy fields.
Grilled Field Snails
Field snails and buffalo snails in Tram Chim, Tam Nong, are firm and heavy to hold. Placed on a grilling tray over red charcoal, the snail shells dry up and crisp. Once cooled, the snail meat is extracted using bamboo sticks and dipped in chili fish sauce or lime garlic chili fish sauce.
Grilled gun snake for all occasions
Gun snakes are a gentle snake species, often found in ponds, marshes, lakes, and waterlogged rice fields. Grilling gun snake over a flaming charcoal, as the tantalizing aroma rises, the snake's skin expands and then bursts open – a sign that it's perfectly cooked. Placing the snake on fresh banana leaves, snapping it into chunks, dipping it in chili salt, accompanied by cilantro and water spinach, results in a sweet and irresistible dish.
Terracotta-roasted chicken
Terracotta-roasted chicken is a must-have grilled dish when welcoming distant guests in the southwestern part of Vietnam. The chicken is coated with a layer of sticky clay on the outside, and roasted with straw following its original preparation method. Roasting continues until the clay dries and cracks, revealing clean and featherless skin. This traditional cooking method preserves the nutrients in the chicken, providing high nutritional value. The harmonious blend of the chicken's fatty taste, the fragrance of herbs, and the salty-sour taste of lime, pepper, and chili, along with the faint aroma of straw, allows diners to experience the unique flavors of this countryside dish.
Today, in barbecue restaurants, this dish has been modified to suit the restaurant's ambiance. The chicken is still coated with clay but wrapped in silver foil and then grilled over a charcoal stove, yet it remains one of the captivating dishes appreciated by both the elderly and the young.
Claypot-grilled delights
Grilled field snails
In Tram Chim, Tam Nong, snails like lác and buffalo snails are firm and heavy to the touch. Placing the snails on the grilling tray over flaming charcoal, the snail shells become dry and crispy, and when the mouth of the snail opens slightly, it indicates that the snail is perfectly cooked. Once the snails cool down a bit, people use bamboo sticks to extract the snail meat and dip it in a sauce made of minced lemongrass chili fish sauce or lime garlic chili fish sauce.
Grilled rat
Skinless, headless, and gutted rats are thoroughly cleaned and left in a basket for about 10 minutes to drain. Marinate the rats with fish sauce, stabbed garlic, crushed pepper, a bit of sugar, and a dash of seasoning powder; if there's five-spice powder, it's even better. Arrange the rats on the grilling tray over flaming charcoal until the rat meat turns a light yellowish color, dry, and slightly charred at the edges. Placing the rats on a plate, dip the rat meat in garlic soy sauce and chili. This is a delicious, easy-to-eat dish that many people enjoy.
As reported by Dân Trí
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Reference: Travel guide from Mytour
MytourApril 5, 2016
