Exploring Tempting Specialties in An Giang

Known for its diverse ethnic communities such as Cham, Khmer, Chinese, Vietnamese... with rich cultural backgrounds. Therefore, the cuisines of An Giang are distinctive.

1. Starfruit Salad

Starfruit, also known as carambola, is a wild plant most abundant in Chau Doc and the Seven Mountains region of An Giang. Its small, long, and slender leaves are tinged with purple when young.

Starfruit leaves are used in various dishes, most commonly starfruit salad with braised fish, braised meat, or served with Thai sauce, fermented fish sauce, once considered a rare delicacy. The strong salty flavor of the fish sauce blends perfectly with the bitter-sweet taste of starfruit leaves, creating an indescribable delight for the palate. But the most renowned dish in An Giang has always been starfruit salad. From shrimp salad, meat salad, fish salad to dried salad, each one is exquisite.

The gentle bitterness of starfruit leaves and the salty, sweet, chewy texture of fish complement each other, elevating the taste buds thanks to its unique, mouth-watering aroma, completely unlike any other salad.

2. Fermented fish sauce

An Giang is famous for fermented fish sauce, and fermented fish sauce is a delicious dish made from fish intestines mixed with germinated brown rice for about three months. The fermented fish sauce is mixed with palm sugar, giving it a very delicious flavor.

Raw fermented fish sauce is served with aromatic herbs and 'buffalo horn' chili peppers. For those who prefer rich and bold flavors, fermented fish sauce is cooked with pork belly, duck eggs, sprinkled with ground pepper, and thinly sliced ginger. Some prefer it hot and spicy, then choose braised fermented fish sauce served with a bunch of fresh green herbs.

3. Fluffy rice cakes from Chợ Mới market

Chợ Mới market is surrounded by alluvial soil all year round, so the native sticky rice grown here is of high quality, with round and beautiful grains. The sticky rice combined with mung beans grown on the fields produces fragrant and sticky rice cakes. Fried rice cakes have a golden yellow color, fragrant, and very delicious.

Enjoying fried fluffy rice cakes from Chợ Mới market can be dipped in chili sauce, soy sauce, or even eaten plain. Visitors to Chợ Mới market, Cù Lao Giêng, can enjoy fried rice cakes with roasted chicken. The free-range chicken is tender and sweet, roasted manually to retain the aroma and unique flavor. Kim Hương's fluffy rice cakes in the town of Chợ Mới are the most well-known.

4. Exploding Beef Sausage

'Tung lò mò' is another name for the unique dish of beef sausage. This delicacy originates from the Cham people in An Giang. Over time, the Kinh people have also come to enjoy and prepare beef sausage similarly to the Cham people, and it is now widely popular in areas such as Núi Sam ward, Châu Đốc, Tịnh Biên, and Tri Tôn.

Unlike pork sausage, beef sausage only needs to be air-dried after preparation before it can be fried or grilled. The most enticing way to enjoy it is by grilling it over charcoal. Once cooked, it has a pink-red color and a fragrant aroma without the smell of beef fat.

'Tung lò mò' should be eaten as soon as it's cooked. You'll experience the sweet taste of beef and fat, the sourness of fermented rice mixed with spicy chili, complemented by raw vegetables, fresh coriander, sourness of star fruits, and the bitterness of raw bananas. Beef sausage is best enjoyed dipped in a mixture of salt, pepper, and lime juice or chili sauce. For a more fulfilling meal, pair it with raw vegetables and either noodles or bread.

5. Fluffy Rice Cakes from Phú Mỹ

The craft village of Phú Mỹ fluffy rice cakes has been established, existed, and developed for nearly 70 years, with 50 production facilities attracting around 300 workers. Among them, renowned families with a tradition of making cakes include the families of Mr. Lê Minh Dơn, Ms. Ngô Thị Dờn, and Mr. Trần Văn Tâm...

Phú Mỹ crispy rice cakes are small as a plate but when baked, they puff up bigger than a hand fan. They are both fluffy and soft, biting into them makes a 'pop' sound due to the richness of glutinous rice, the sweetness of sugar, the fragrant aroma of milk, sesame, soybeans, peanuts... creating a distinctive flavor that cannot be missed in Tet meals or festive occasions like weddings.

6. Steamed Bamboo Leaf Chicken

This delicacy is from the Forbidden Mountain (Châu Đốc, An Giang). Bamboo is a type of tree with unique flavors that grows on the Forbidden Mountain. The chicken used for steaming must be free-range chicken weighing 0.8-1kg, marinated with salt, spices... then steamed for about 20 minutes. When the chicken is cooked, it is chopped into large pieces about the size of 2 fingers, finely chopped bamboo leaves are sprinkled on top. This dish brings diners the soft sweetness of the meat, the chewy richness of tender chicken skin blending with the strong flavor of bamboo leaves, the sweet bitterness of banana flowers, and the spicy saltiness of chili salt...

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Source: Mytour Travel Handbook – Via Vietnamnet