Top 10 Delicious and Famous Local Specialties in Hà Nam Province

Though not elaborately prepared, each bite of Phủ Lý steamed rolled rice pancake offers a unique sensation with the simple and rustic flavors of the homeland. Similar to other rolled rice pancakes, Phủ Lý steamed rolled rice pancake is made from ordinary rice, but it must be the best tám xoan rice for the highest quality pancake.

Phủ Lý steamed rolled rice pancake is not eaten with cinnamon pork or pork sausage but with grilled meat. The meat used for the filling is thinly sliced pork belly marinated with various spices for richness and then grilled over glowing charcoal. Grilling the meat requires skillful hands, a careful rotation to ensure even cooking, and a large fan to make the fire big, causing the meat to cook faster. The meat is grilled until golden, the edges of the slices are crisp, and the aroma is released. The grilling process ensures the meat stays juicy and retains its delicious flavor.

Phủ Lý steamed rolled rice pancake is thick and as white as the white of a chicken egg after being steamed, just enough to be cooked. When removing the pancake, add some slices of dried shallots, a few drops of lard to enhance the rich and greasy sensation of the pancake. An equally crucial part that determines the deliciousness of Phủ Lý steamed rolled rice pancake is the dipping sauce. The sauce needs to have the right balance of sour, spicy, salty, and sweet flavors, providing a crisp and flavorful taste when dipping the pancake. Creating delicious dipping sauce requires both cleverness and a secret technique. After grilling, the meat is added to the dipping sauce, including pickled radishes and green papaya. The crisp pickles and the hot water combine with the pancake, creating a distinct and indescribable dish.

Phủ Lý steamed rolled rice pancake is rustic, with fragrant grilled meat, crunchy pickles, and added slices of chili, a bit of carrot salad; diners can enjoy it endlessly without getting tired. All these elements create a unique characteristic for Phủ Lý steamed rolled rice pancake, full of the soul of the homeland.

In the past, Vũ Đại village was known for Nam Cao - the 'father' of the series 'Làng Vũ đại ngày ấy' or the hometown of Chí Phèo by Lão Hạc. Today, this land is famous far and wide for the speciality of sun-dried fish. In the old days, the people here were extremely poor, doing business under a cooperative model. During Tet, each household received a few kilograms of fish, so the locals often sun-dried fish using their own method, which could be preserved for a long time, remaining fragrant throughout the entire first lunar month. Bá Kiến Braised Fish - a name closely associated with Vũ Đại village in Hà Nam.

Bá Kiến Braised Fish is a special braised fish dish that is unique to this region. It is processed according to traditional secrets, meticulously passed down through generations by the people of Vũ Đại village. Therefore, the product delivered to consumers always retains the right, superior, and distinctive taste. The Bá Kiến Braised Fish product is certified for food safety by the Hà Nam Provincial Department of Health.

Bá Kiến Braised Fish is made from black carp raised with snails having thick and firm flesh, sweet taste, and fragrance. The black carp is cleaned with lime peel, then prepared with clean ingredients such as giềng, ginger, lime, chili, fish sauce, pork belly, and other spices. The cleaned fish is arranged in an earthen pot, with giềng spread at the bottom of the pot to make the fish fragrant and prevent it from sticking. Then come the large pieces of fish arranged one after another with the traditional formula-prepared spices. The fish is braised carefully and continuously for 16 hours, using long-burning, smoky firewood.

Bá Kiến Braised Fish has tender flesh, retaining a fresh sweetness and a strong, delightful aroma. Each piece of pork belly is braised in fat, creating a sensation of melting in the mouth. The fragrance of the fish, meat, and traditional spices blend elegantly to create a delicious, rich-flavored specialty.

Lý Nhân, Hà Nam is a district situated along the Red River, blessed with fertile alluvial soil. This region is renowned for various specialties, from seafood to fruits such as pomelos, oranges, longans, and especially the sweet taste of Lý Nhân lychees (also known as fragrant lychees or Văn Lý lychees). Unlike lychee varieties from other regions, Lý Nhân lychees have flat, thin, and crisp peels. When ripe, the peel turns a ripe yellow color with many tiny oil glands on the surface. Peeling a lychee releases a distinct and delightful aroma.

Lý Nhân lychees are a highly nutritious fruit rich in vitamin C, aiding in quick wound healing, preventing premature aging of the skin. The lychee peel is also used for medicinal purposes (known as trần bì - Citrus reticulata, thanh bì,...) and enhances the flavor of rove beetle sausage. When consumed, lychees have a sweet, fragrant, and delicious taste. Perhaps due to its special flavor and superior quality, Lý Nhân lychees are highly favored.

Văn Lý lychees were once famous not only domestically but also exported to the world market. In the 1960s - 1970s, Văn Lý lychees were exported to the Soviet Union and some Eastern European countries. Lý Nhân lychees, a specialty of Ha Nam province, is a unique fruit tree in Văn Lý commune that has existed for hundreds of years. It used to be an item offered to the king under the ancient feudal regime, so it is also called advancing lychees, along with the Ngự banana variety from Đại Hoàng village (Hoà Hậu commune, Lý Nhân district, Hà Nam province).

Nowadays, the Lý Nhân lychee is being conserved and developed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ha Nam in collaboration with some scientific institutes. The lychee orchard area is gradually being restored to its golden age. When consumed, lychees have a sweet, fragrant, and delicious taste. Perhaps due to its special flavor and superior quality, Lý Nhân lychees are highly favored.

The land of Hà Nam, situated in the Chiêm Trũng region, still boasts a plentiful supply of wild carp. During the rice season from June to September, when the carp have eggs and are at their fattest, travelers passing through Phủ Lý City, Hà Nam, can stop to enjoy a bowl of soup or fish noodle soup at roadside eateries. This is a simple yet indispensable dish when talking about Hà Nam specialties. Fish noodle soup from Hà Nam captivates diners with its golden, succulent meat mingled with the green color of Chinese cabbage and the sweet fragrance of the broth…

Fish noodle soup might not be as widely known as other dishes, but it ranks among the best here. The sophistication of Fish noodle soup from Hà Nam is demonstrated when chefs choose genuine wild carp from the Chiêm Trũng countryside rather than common carp or hybrid carp found in the markets. Before serving, the chef will dip the rice cracker in boiling water. The carp meat is filtered, seasoned, and pan-fried to a golden brown. To avoid overcooking the fish, the chef heats the oil to a high temperature and quickly fries the carp until the inside is fully cooked, then removes it.

Aside from the rice cracker and carp, Chinese cabbage is an essential component of the fish noodle soup. The Chinese cabbage used for the dish must be sweet or soup cabbage, perfectly balancing the tenderness and richness from the carp meat. The broth for the fish noodle soup is simmered from hundreds of carp bones, resulting in a sweet and mild flavor…

If you ever find yourself passing through this land, take a moment to savor a bowl of this fish noodle soup – it will captivate you from the very first bite.

The fertile land of Hà Nam is known for a unique and delicious type of fruit, the seedless persimmon, commonly known as Nhân Hậu seedless persimmons. This variety boasts large, well-proportioned fruits that transition from bright red to deep red when ripe. The skin is thin, smooth, and taut, without a single wrinkle or blemish, making the fruit visually appealing.

Distinct from all other persimmons in the region, these Nhân Hậu persimmons are not only large, well-proportioned, and beautifully shaped but also, notably, seedless. The fruit is round and symmetrical. As it ripens, it transitions from bright red to deep red. The outer skin is not only taut but also extremely smooth. You won't find a single black spot on the skin. Unlike other persimmon varieties in the area, this fruit is completely seedless. The seeds have atrophied during growth, resulting in a jelly-like texture.

Peel off the thin outer skin, put it in your mouth, and feel the melting of the pulp. Take a bite until your teeth touch without any obstruction. In general, if you have the opportunity to enjoy this type of fruit, its flavor will undoubtedly captivate you from the very first bite. In addition to the soft 'flesh' of the fruit, there are the seed 'nuclei,' which have atrophied into a jelly-like consistency, evenly distributed throughout the fruit's pulp.

When eating, you only need to gently peel off the thin, nylon-like outer skin while maintaining the original shape of the fruit. As you put it in your mouth, the soft fruit layer melts into a sweet sensation, leaving behind 'nuclei' with a jelly-like consistency, creating a unique and delightful experience.

Unlike rice papers from many regions nationwide, Kiện Khê Rice Paper from the people of Kiện Khê creates a distinctive flavor by combining it with available ingredients such as peppered bananas and coconut shreds. The sweet and tender taste of ripe bananas softens the dry crispness of rice paper, while enhancing the sweetness. To produce these rice papers, the makers have to wake up at 3 AM to grind and coat the rice paper; not to mention soaking rice, preparing the filling, a process that must be done the night before.

Kiện Khê Rice Paper is perfected primarily through the choice of ingredients and the rice paper coating process. The selected ingredients are locally-sourced agricultural products that are clean and free from mold or pests. Specifically, the rice used for making the paper must be high-quality, purchased from reputable and familiar sources. The selected rice, a quality variety, is sifted to remove all dust and dirt, then ground into a smooth, white powder. Other additives like sesame seeds and peanuts, used for sprinkling on the surface, are also carefully selected.

Another important step is coating the rice paper, requiring skilled artisans to do it lightly, making the paper flat and evenly spreading the additives. With skillful and rhythmic hands, one person can produce hundreds of uniformly sized and thick rice papers every day, carefully taking them out of the steamer and spreading them out. When the sunlight of a new day is still mild, the rice papers, having just been coated, are taken out of the oven, still emitting lingering smoke. People carry them, some on their shoulders, others on vehicles, to whiten on the neighborhood's streets.

Rice, sesame seeds, and peanuts used to make Kiện Khê Rice Paper are the best ingredients, meticulously chosen, and are factors that contribute to the fame of this type of rice paper. Kiện Khê Rice Paper is not only rich in crispy sesame seeds but also has delicious and chewy peanuts. Chewing in the mouth for a long time, the rice paper leaves a simple sweet taste of natural rice flour.

Vọc Village Liquor has been easily a few hundred years old. It is said that since the 13th century, on the Ninh Giang River, merchant ships frequently sailed to Vọc Village to transport rice and liquor for trade. Vọc Village liquor also followed these traders to Thanh land, Nghệ land, up to Lạng land, Lào Cai, and was presented as an offering to the king.

Vọc Village Liquor is brewed with a specialty rice fermented with our yeast consisting of 36 types of Chinese herbs boiled with sticky rice. Vọc Village Liquor has a fragrant aroma, a rich taste, sweet and gentle, similar to the affection of the people here. To have a good batch of liquor, the rice used for brewing must be glutinous rice or the type of rice with intact husk and bran layer, about 3 months old after harvest. The yeast used to make the liquor is chosen from 16 to 36 types of Chinese herbs with many spicy and hot characteristics. The standard yeast, when opened, has a fragrant aroma, white yeast color, after a day it will turn yellowish, with smooth, light, and fluffy veins.

To extract the delicious drops of aromatic sticky rice liquor, the artisan must strictly follow the production process. When the rice is cooked, spread it out while hot and evenly so that it does not clump. Wait for a while until the rice is warm to the touch, then sprinkle the yeast on. Because if the yeast is sprinkled when the rice is still hot, it will kill the yeast, and if sprinkled when the rice is too cold, the yeast will not eat and will spoil the rice.

After sprinkling the yeast, put the rice in a pot or in a jar made of clay or glass to ferment, but only fill about 2/3 of the jar capacity, close it tightly. When fermenting rice, it must ensure warmth for the rice jar in winter. Depending on the weather, the hotter the weather, the faster the rice liquor will be. Therefore, Vọc Village Liquor is only good when brewed in Vọc Village. In fact, some people have brought the traditional brewing profession from their hometown to other places for business, but the brewed liquor cannot have the same flavor as the distilled liquor in Vọc Village.

Hà Nam is not only famous as the homeland of fertile alluvial fields but also renowned for a unique kind of fermented anchovy sauce with a bold, spicy, and fragrant flavor – the Bình Lục Fermented Anchovy Sauce. In the province of Hà Nam, anchovies are abundant in watery regions like Thanh Liêm, Bình Lục, Kim Bảng…, but the craft of making fermented anchovy sauce thrives most in Bình Lục district.

Although making fermented anchovy sauce is simple, achieving a rich, aromatic, and delicious flavor requires great skill. Despite experiencing various exotic and familiar dishes in urban areas, the locals cannot escape the longing for the salty taste of river alluvium, the distinctive pungent aroma of hometown fermented anchovy sauce, and the unique flavor of Bình Lục Fermented Anchovy Sauce. Once you taste it, you will remember it forever…

To create this special fermented anchovy sauce, the sauce makers must select the freshest anchovies. After being caught from the fields, the anchovies are thoroughly cleaned and then crushed in a stone mortar. During the crushing and seasoning process, salt is added to achieve the perfect saltiness. Everything is then placed in an earthen jar along with fermented rice bran or pounded ginger. The jar is tightly covered with a cloth and left in the sun for a day before being buried underground. The longer the sauce stays buried, the more it develops a delightful aroma and becomes enticing.

Bình Lục Fermented Anchovy Sauce has a captivating and vibrant color, combining the salty taste of salt, the richness of fermented rice bran, the pungency of ginger, and the warm spiciness. This unique product has become a local specialty, and many tourists passing through Hà Nam never forget to buy Bình Lục Fermented Anchovy Sauce as a souvenir. It's perfect for dipping boiled meat, boiled vegetables, stir-fries, and various other dishes...

When inquiring about the craft of making Tái Kênh Village Noodles, locals in the area can't pinpoint when the profession started. They only know that they've been involved in noodle-making since childhood, learning the ropes within the family. As they grow older, the steps in noodle-making seem to become second nature. The tradition of passing down the craft doesn't discriminate between sons and daughters; anyone with a passion for the profession receives guidance from the elders in the village.

To create delicious batches of Tái Kênh Noodles, the first crucial step is the secret of selecting rice. The rice used for noodles must be Khang Dân rice, Ai rice – a type of rice that becomes dry when cooked. The soaked rice, depending on the weather, is soaked for different periods; half a day if it's summer, and a full day if it's winter. After soaking, the rice is lifted out and drained. Then, the rice is ground into a smooth, elastic mixture with water.

Next is shaping the dough into round pieces and boiling them in boiling water. The dough is kneaded into a liquid solution and then passed through a sieve to filter out dust and impurities mixed into the dough. When the water is boiling, the dough is put into a mold and cooked in a pot for a few minutes. When the noodles float to the surface, they are scooped out with a basket, washed clean with filtered water to prevent sticking. The finished noodles, when brought to the market, are placed in bamboo baskets lined with dried banana leaves.

Not just ordinary strands of noodles, Tái Kênh Noodles are white, clear, with elastic and evenly rounded strands. Providing a delightful sensation of tenderness and fragrance with each strand for the consumer. Tái Kênh Noodles carry the rustic flavor of rural cuisine, making it a dish worth considering when you set foot in this peaceful and meaningful land of Hà Nam. Enjoying these freshly-made white noodles, elastic and delicious, accompanied by a rich and flavorful broth. You'll undoubtedly be surprised by its simple yet mouthwatering taste.

According to the people of Đại Hoàng village, during the Tran dynasty, every year, King Tran, along with scholars and military officers, sailed from Thang Long to visit the Thái Thượng Hoàng palace. Once, at the Tuần Vường crossroads, the fleet stopped. Villagers poured out to welcome them, each person bringing something delicious or unusual to offer to the king. A poor farming couple from Đại Hoàng village, having nothing valuable to present, were in great distress.

Fortunately, they found a small, beautifully ripened bunch of bananas in their garden emitting a fragrant aroma. They cut it down and presented it to the king with reverence, hoping for understanding. Though the bunch was small, the bananas were beautiful, round, and shiny. The king called for a taste, found them sweet and fragrant, and the more he ate, the more delicious they seemed. The king rewarded them and spread the word about this banana variety, naming it Royal Bananas or also known as 'the King's Advancing Bananas'.

Perhaps because of this, for many years now, the specialty product Đại Hoàng Royal Bananas has been chosen by many as a gift or offering for traditional Tet celebrations. Every Tet season, these bananas are eagerly sought by traders who buy and transport them to serve people nationwide for ancestral altar offerings during the traditional Tet holiday. The income from Royal Bananas helps many farmers in the village escape poverty and thrive right on their homeland, along the fertile Châu Giang River.

Bananas in Đại Hoàng village are famous in the region not only for their delicious taste but also for the safe method of banana vinegar production. The villagers do not use chemicals but only rice husks and ash to 'warm up' the ripe bananas. In recent years, banana cultivation in Đại Hoàng has flourished. The average price for each bunch of bananas is around 100 - 300 thousand VND, equivalent to 30 - 50 thousand VND/banana. During festivals and Tet, prices are higher, sometimes double or triple the usual days.