Top 10 Famous Specialty Dishes in Nghệ An

From ancient times to the present, Nghệ An has always been famous for dishes made from eels. People in Nghệ An have their own unique way of processing eel meat and various dishes such as eel porridge, eel vermicelli, eel soup, braised eel with banana blossom, eel wrapped in wild betel leaf, eel served with rice paper... Whatever dish you try, you can feel the rich and fragrant taste of eel meat.

Eel porridge is a must-try dish when visiting Vinh city. The bowl of porridge has a special fragrant and rich taste. To have a delicious bowl of eel porridge, the eel must be selected from small freshwater eels, then carefully processed by shredding the eel meat, stir-frying it carefully, and adding some laksa leaves to make the porridge more attractive, which is characteristic of this dish. Come and taste this wonderful dish, guaranteed to be unforgettable. Vermicelli with eel is a dish that most tourists choose when visiting Vinh city. The attraction of Nghệ An vermicelli with eel lies in its very characteristic spicy taste and the fragrance of the Central Vietnamese herbs, so the fishy taste of the eel is masked. Eel soup Nghệ An is easy to eat and suitable for the taste of many diners. The hot soup, golden eel meat, and smooth texture will make you ecstatic. Eel soup is also a dish that contains many nutrients, helping to cool the body, nourish the stomach, soothe the mind, strengthen bones and joints, and regulate blood circulation. Braised eel with banana blossom is a dish with the rich flavor of Nghệ An promised to make you 'addicted' right from the first taste. The tender and sweet eel meat, slightly bitter green banana, mixed with the aroma of basil leaves and wild betel leaves, all blended in the thick and creamy sauce are extremely attractive. Eel served with rice paper is the most rustic dish. Eating a piece of spicy eel mixed with crispy rice paper and some fresh herbs is absolutely wonderful.

Through the skillful hands of chefs, the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of eel dishes become diverse and carry a rich, delicious flavor that attracts many tourists. Some of the oldest and most famous eel dish addresses in Nghệ An are:

• Xuân Leo eel restaurant - Gate No. 13, Vinh football field, Vinh city, Nghệ An province
• Hồng Sơn eel restaurant - No. 154 Mai Hắc Đế, Hà Huy Tập, Vinh city, Nghệ An province
• Bà Lan eel restaurant - No. 2 Trần Hưng Đạo street, Vinh city, Nghệ An province
• Bà Ngọ eel porridge restaurant - No. 1, Alley 4 Đốc Thiết, Hưng Bình, Vinh city, Nghệ An province
• Sỹ Bính restaurant (Spicy eel porridge at the city gate) - No. 11 Alley 5 Đào Tấn, Vinh city, Nghệ An province

In Nghệ An, steamed rice cakes are a common dish that everyone loves. It's unclear when steamed rice cakes originated, but this extraordinary dish has always been loved by people from childhood to adulthood or old age. Steamed rice cakes may look like rolled cakes from the North or steamed rice cakes from the South, but they have a very distinct and unforgettable flavor of Nghệ An. Steamed rice cakes in Nghệ An may look similar to those in the North, but when you taste them, you will feel a very unique and refreshing softness. Among them, Diễn Châu steamed rice cakes are even more special.

The first step in making Nghệ An steamed rice cakes is to soak the rice for 3 hours so that each grain of rice is fully hydrated. The rice expands evenly and becomes soft before being ground into flour. Let the flour settle in water for at least 6 hours so that the cakes will expand evenly and beautifully when steamed. Add seasoning to the rice flour to make the cakes flavorful and delicious. Add scallions to create a fragrant aroma and eye-catching color. The steaming process is the most important step. The person making the cakes must be skillful and nimble. The steaming process between two steaming pots must be regular and rhythmic to ensure that the cakes are not too thin or too thick. After 2 minutes, the rice flour will be cooked into cakes. Steamed rice cakes are very easy to eat, just add a bowl of fish sauce with squeezed lime and fresh chili to make them delicious. Steamed rice cakes have become a familiar dish that locals cannot do without. Those born in this land or tourists who have the opportunity to visit and taste Nghệ An steamed rice cakes will never forget the attractive and rich flavor of this dish, made from the love, dedication, early rising, and skillful hands of the people of Nghệ An.

Some famous long-standing steamed rice cake stores in Nghệ An:

• Hướng Liễu Specialty Steamed Rice Cake Restaurant - Diễn Kỷ, Diễn Châu, Nghệ An
• Nguyên Nga Steamed Rice Cake - Diễn Trường, Diễn Châu, Nghệ An
• Hương Diên Steamed Rice Cake Shop - Xuân Khánh, Diễn Châu, Nghệ An
• Thanh Phong Steamed Rice Cake Restaurant - No. 05, Hải Thượng Lãn Ông, Vinh city, Nghệ An
• Lan Thanh Steamed Rice Cake - No. 07, Phan Chu Trinh, Đội Cung, Vinh city, Nghệ An

Although they are both water fern cakes, due to the distinctive culinary characteristics of each region, Hai Phong, Hue, Quang Nam, and Nghệ An have different flavors. In Hai Phong, water fern cakes are made from rice flour, mixed meat filling wrapped in banana leaves, and eaten with broth made from bone broth, accompanied by a few pieces of cinnamon pork roll. Meanwhile, in Hue, they are called cup-shaped water fern cakes. People in Hue pour the batter into small cups, add minced meat, shrimp, and steam them. The cakes are soft, with a bit of fat, fried onions, and served with spicy fish sauce. On the other hand, in Quang Binh, the round water fern cakes are placed in a large plate, looking simple and rustic but flavorful and appealing.

Nghệ An water fern cakes impress with their unique preparation method and flavor. The crust of Nghệ An water fern cakes is always chewier because it is made from a combination of rice flour and tapioca flour in a ratio of 4:1. The dough is divided into small portions and rolled out thinly. The filling usually consists of ground pork and whole shrimp, pre-cooked and wrapped into small cakes. Instead of steaming, Nghệ An water fern cakes are boiled and served with sour and spicy fish sauce. Moreover, Nghệ An also has leaf water fern cakes and fried water fern cakes. This dish has a distinctive aroma and taste when enjoyed with dipping sauce, herbs, etc. When visiting Nghệ An, you can easily find water fern cake stalls in every alley and street. Water fern cakes are also a famous specialty of Nghệ An, which you must try if you have the opportunity to visit this place. Some famous long-standing water fern cake stalls are:

• 35 Water Fern Cake - No. 35 Ngo Duc Ke, Hong Son, Vinh City, Nghệ An
• 27 Water Fern Cake - No. 27 Ngo Duc Ke, Hong Son, Vinh City, Nghệ An
• Ms. Châu's Water Fern Cake - No. 50 Le Van Huu, Vinh City, Nghệ An
• Nhàn Huế Water Fern Cake - No. 179 Nguyen Van Cu, Vinh City, Nghệ An
• Aunt Mai's Leaf Water Fern Cake - No. 54 Phong Dinh Cang, Vinh City, Nghệ An

Coconut Slope Gai Cake is a famous specialty that has been around for generations in Tuong Son commune, Anh Son district, Nghe An province. Making gai cakes is a traditional profession passed down from generation to generation, and today's generation has further developed this dish to make it more delicious and characteristic of Nghe An. Gai leaves are the main ingredient for making cakes. Gai trees are small, perennial trees, about one to two meters tall. The leaves are dark green with soft hair, and this is a characteristic type of plant that grows in clusters, in areas, most abundantly in the western regions of Nghe An.

A delicious gai cake requires meticulous and elaborate preparation. After being freshly picked, gai leaves are washed thoroughly with clean water and soaked for about 2 hours, then cooled and the leaf veins are removed, leaving only the fibers. The leaves are then ground in a mortar or a small grinder and mixed with glutinous rice flour, finely ground sugar, kneaded into small portions. The cake filling is made from mung beans, which are crushed in half, separated from the outer shell, boiled until soft, ground, and mixed with dried coconut. The filling is then wrapped in cakes with dried banana leaves. The cakes are steamed and left to cool for the best taste and can be preserved for a week.

Coconut Slope Gai Cake has a natural black color from gai leaves, both safe and characteristic of the region. Once you have tasted this specialty dish, you will never forget its flavor. The cake is chewy, sweet, fragrant, and can be eaten in large quantities without getting tired, truly a precious gift for tourists near and far. Gai cakes are sold in any market in Nghe An, even on sidewalks and street vendors. For those in other regions, it is easy to find them in specialty stores in Nghe An or the Central region.

Fish Soup Congee is a rustic dish, but it's also similar to some famous specialties of Nghe An. If you didn't know, many people would think this specialty is a type of rice porridge. However, the appearance of the dish looks quite similar to rice noodle soup. In Nghe An, especially in Vinh city, tourists can easily find places selling this dish. Nghe An locals eat fish soup congee at any time of the day. According to the owner of a long-standing restaurant in Vinh, the dish is called 'fish soup congee' because the broth must be cooked to achieve a consistency similar to porridge. The noodles are boiled for a few minutes and then removed from the boiling water, rather than being submerged in boiling water like how noodles or pho are cooked in the North.

The main ingredient that makes up the dish is wheat flour. The flour is kneaded until smooth, put through a noodle press or cut into strands, then put into boiling water to cook the noodles. Fresh noodles and carefully prepared broth, rich and delicious, are essential for adding the noodles. The deliciousness of the dish depends on the broth, which is simmered with pork bones and additional spices. Depending on the restaurant, there may be additional ingredients such as sausage, thinly sliced pork, quail eggs, snakehead fish, shrimp... The bowl of fish soup congee is served with smooth noodles, garnished with a few sprigs of fragrant coriander, slices of lime, and chili sauce or chili paste.

Fish Soup Congee is a culinary dish that once you've tasted, you'll never forget its unique flavor. One can choose fish soup congee for breakfast, lunch, or late afternoon. Mytour suggests the top 5 fish soup congee restaurants in Nghe An:

• ANNa.Food Ghẹ Fish Noodle Soup O Ba - 135-137 Phạm Đình Toái, Vinh City, Nghe An
• Quang Snakehead Fish Noodle Soup - 27 Nguyễn Thị Định, Vinh City, Nghe An
• Vân Snakehead Fish Noodle Soup - 2A, Yên Phúc Street, Vinh City, Nghe An
• Hạnh Uyển Fish Soup Congee - Alley 60, Đào Tấn Street, Vinh City, Nghe An
• Bà Di Snakehead Fish Noodle Soup - 39 Hermann Street, Vinh City, Nghe An

When it comes to delicious dishes from Nghe An, one cannot forget Thanh Chương bamboo shoot salad. This rustic dish has become a 'brand' that every tourist visiting here wants to taste. Bamboo shoots are a traditional dish of every family in Nghe An. Thanh Chương bamboo shoot salad is considered the 'kimchi' of Nghe An.

Bamboo shoot salad is made from two types of ingredients: tender green jackfruit and ripe jackfruit fibers available year-round. Whether living in the homeland or far away, people from Thanh Chương cannot forget this rustic dish. The salad is not complicated, so anyone can make it. The ingredients include bamboo shoots, lime leaves, sesame seeds, roasted peanuts, sugar, seasoning powder, minced garlic, and chili. It can also be served with rice crackers and boiled pork. Despite its simplicity, when you taste it, you will feel the sourness and crunchiness, which are very interesting. Perhaps you are very curious to taste this very rustic and special bamboo shoot dish. The crispy bamboo shoots, salty taste of salt, spicy chili, and the fragrant aroma of jackfruit, along with the sweetness of sugar, create a very special flavor. When you come to Nghe An, having a rustic meal with bamboo shoot salad, you will understand more about the people and the rich flavor of Nghe An.

'Whoever goes to taste Thanh Chương bamboo shoot salad

Should stop by to try the flavor of Nam Đàn shrimp paste.'

Similar to Thanh Chương bamboo shoot salad, Nam Đàn shrimp paste is a famous specialty not only in Nghe An but also throughout the country. It is a condiment used as a dipping sauce, broth with rice, very popular in the meals of families here. Nam Đàn shrimp paste or Nam Đàn shrimp sauce is a delicious specialty of Nghe An.

To make a batch of delicious Nam Đàn shrimp paste, the shrimp paste maker must go through many stages. The first and most difficult stage is fermenting the mold. Steamed glutinous rice wrapped tightly in lotus leaves. Whether the shrimp paste is sweet or not depends on this stage. After the moldy rice becomes fluffy and white, it is sun-dried thoroughly and ground into powder, then fermented for a year. The soybeans must be locally grown soybeans planted along the Lam River. The beans are roasted and ground, cooked for about 12 hours. When the beans emit a strong, fragrant aroma, it is time to mix the shrimp paste. Mix the rice flour and salt into the paste along with the soybeans, blending them together. It needs to ferment for over a month before it can be used. Although there are now many modern ways and machines to make it, the traditional way of making shrimp paste by the people of Nam Đàn is still the best.

The shrimp paste can be used for stewing fish, dipping boiled water spinach, and boiled lang vegetables. When you take out a batch and put it in a bowl, you will not be able to resist the shiny, golden shrimp paste. It has a salty taste, a sweet taste, and if the paste sticks to the beans, it has a nutty taste. If you ever visit Nam Đàn district, be sure to visit the shrimp paste-making village here to see the rustic process of making shrimp paste by the people of Nghe An.

Mytour suggests some addresses to buy the specialty Nam Đàn Shrimp Paste - Nam Đàn, Nghe An:

• Gia Market Area, Tan Tien, Nam Dan District, Nghe An Province
• Nghệ Tĩnh Specialty Supermarket - 1st Floor, Tan Phat Apartment, Le Mao Extended Street, Vinh Tan, Vinh City
• Thuy Lieu Nghe Homeland Specialty Store - 14 Thang Long Street, Vinh City, Nghe An Province
• OCCOP Nghe An - 68 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Hung Binh, Vinh City, Nghe An

One of the fascinating dishes of Cửa Lò at night for tourists is the hot and fragrant clam porridge. The gentle aroma of rice blends with the natural sweetness of clams to create a sophisticated dish. The seasoning for clam soup here is also very different. Typically, the sour taste in clam soup in Hanoi is from tamarind, while in Cửa Lò, the sourness comes from dried starfruit. People here do not use spring onions to cook soup, instead, they use betel leaves and fish mint leaves. All of this creates a delicious Nghệ An specialty that cannot be denied.

The most enjoyable way to taste the bowl of porridge is to simultaneously sip the soup and pick up the clams with your hands, slowly enjoying the fresh, sweet, and chewy clam meat still retaining the taste of the sea. First, the clams are washed with water to clean the sand and then stir-fried until they open. The clams are boiled, the broth is used to cook the porridge, and the clam guts are fried with various spices. When the porridge is cooked, mix the clams with the porridge and pour into a bowl with prepared herbs. The aroma of rice, combined with the flavor of clams and aromatic herbs, creates an elegant dish.

Some famous places selling clam porridge:

• Seafood restaurants in Cửa Lò Beach Tourism Area
  
• Hồng Lộc Clam Porridge Restaurant - Nghi Thu, Cửa Lò Town, Nghe An
  
• Bà Lý Clam Porridge - 203 Phan Chu Trinh, Quang Trung, Vinh City, Nghe An
  
• Rural Cuisine (Garden Beer) - 4 Le Mao, Vinh Tan, Vinh City, Nghe An

Crunchy clam rice cracker is a typical delicacy of the people in the Central region. This dish is very easy to make and is loved by many people. Crunchy clam rice cracker is a familiar dish of the people of Nghệ An. It's rustic yet rich just like the warmth of the people in the Central region. Clams are sourced from the Lam River, after being shelled, they are stir-fried with fragrant and fatty lard. Combined with clams are crispy Đô Lương rice crackers used instead of spoons, a perfect combination that creates a charming specialty of Nghệ An. The condiments to eat with rice crackers include crushed roasted peanuts, fresh herbs, and chili to add flavor.

Once you've tried crunchy clam rice cracker, why not buy another specialty of Nghệ An as a gift? That is Đô Lương rice crackers. Making rice crackers is also very meticulous, unlike rice crackers made from cassava or corn, Đô Lương rice crackers are made from new rice and black sesame seeds. Somehow, Đô Lương rice crackers have become inseparable from the memories of the people of this land. Despite many delicious and enticing dishes, the people of Nghệ An still cannot forget the rustic, familiar dish.

Mytour suggests some places to enjoy crunchy clam rice cracker in Nghệ An:

• Bà Lý Clam Cracker - 203 Phan Chu Trinh, Quang Trung, Vinh City, Nghe An
• My Village (Rural Cuisine) - 777 Luc Nien, Vinh Tan, Vinh City, Nghe An

When visiting the sunny coastal area of Nghệ An, don't forget to indulge in this Cửa Lò Flash Squid. The best Cửa Lò Flash Squid is from March to July in the lunar calendar. This dish is made from fresh squid just caught by fishermen and prepared on the spot. The aroma of grilled squid dipped in sour-sweet seasoning or just with chili sauce alone is absolutely amazing. Just looking at it is enticing enough.

'Flash Squid' in Cửa Lò or jumping squid, both terms are used to refer to squid that is just caught from the sea while still fresh and is immediately prepared and enjoyed on the spot while still fresh. This is a specialty of Nghệ An. Many people often call it jumping squid, but the correct term is 'flash squid' because the squid just caught is still alive, transparent, and its skin always flickers with shining spots. Both names describe different states of the squid but both indicate the freshness and deliciousness of the squid.

There are many ways to prepare Cửa Lò Flash Squid:

• Cửa Lò Steamed Squid: Gourmets will choose steamed squid over boiled squid. Fresh steamed squid retains its sweet and fatty taste, enhanced by ginger or lemongrass, or even adding a can of beer for extra appeal.
• Cửa Lò Grilled Flash Squid: Fresh squid freshly caught, quickly rinsed under clean water, then grilled right on a glowing red charcoal stove. The best squid is about the size of two fingers. A bit of soy sauce or chili paste is stimulating to the taste buds. Grilled squid turns golden brown, crispy on the outside, while the inside is juicy and sweet, especially when dipped in salt and pepper with lemon.

In addition, stuffed squid, squid hotpot, or squid hot pot are also must-try dishes when visiting the Cửa Lò coastal area. When visiting Cửa Lò tourist area, be sure to bring back dried squid as a specialty gift. Squid caught right at the sea, dried under the intense sun and wind of the Central region, so it is moderately chewy while still retaining its softness. Buy to cook or sometimes enjoy with family and friends.