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1. Silk Worm Pupae
Silk Worm Pupae, also known as silk worm root, is a renowned dish of the Thai people in Son La. When the silkworm has shed all its silk and has not yet formed silk worm root, it is cut to extract the silkworm, cleaned, and deep-fried in cooking oil. This is a favorite dish for many people, scientifically proven to be nutritious, containing many vitamins. However, this dish can also cause allergies for those who are not accustomed to or cannot eat insects. To prepare silk worm pupae fried with lime leaves, Thai ethnic people (Son La) often choose fresh silkworms, not crushed or blackened, with shiny yellow outer shells. Then, they are cleaned and blanched in boiling water before being drained. The spices used to fry silk worm pupae include: sliced lime leaves, chopped green onions with finely chopped chili, salt, monosodium glutamate, crushed and minced purple onions. After preparing the spices, Thai people heat the pan and add some cooking oil to sauté the onions until fragrant, then fry until the silk worm pupae turn golden, indicating that the dish is ready.
Silk worm pupae is a dish rich in protein. However, not everyone knows how to cook delicious and flavorful silk worm dishes... When eaten, silk worm pupae have a rich and savory taste, absorbing the fragrant aroma of lime leaves and lemon leaves along with a bit of spiciness from chili, giving you an indescribable and delightful feeling. Silk worm pupae are considered a favorite specialty dish, favored by many tourists when visiting Son La for travel and experiencing the hot summer days.
2. Bamboo Tube Rice
Bamboo Tube Rice has long been a unique dish in the culinary culture of the Northwestern Thai people, a simple dish carrying the distinctive flavor of the mountains. Bamboo tube rice is cooked in a special way, which is to cook rice in bamboo or bamboo tubes, resulting in very fragrant, sticky, and delicious rice... Bamboo tube rice is not just a dish in daily meals, but it is also associated with the traditional culture of the Thai people. When a mother gives birth, she often makes bamboo tube rice for consumption, which stimulates immunity and quickens recovery...
For the Thai ethnic group, to make bamboo tube rice, the first step is to choose fresh bamboo tubes with dark green outer shells, about 30 centimeters long. Next is the step of selecting glutinous rice. The rice used to make bamboo tube rice is glutinous rice with yellow flowers, round grains, sticky, white in color, and fragrant. First, wash the rice and soak it in water for about 6-8 hours, then drain it. Then, the Thai people mix the rice with crushed ginger and salt, then pour the rice into the bamboo tube, adding water to cover the rice. To make delicious bamboo tube rice, the Thai people do not pour too much rice, but leave a gap about a section from the mouth of the tube so that when the rice is cooked, it will expand and fill the mouth of the tube. Then, cover the mouth of the tube with banana leaves and grill over fire. When grilling, constantly rotate the bamboo tube to ensure even cooking of the rice. When you see steam coming out of the mouth of the tube with a fragrant smell, the bamboo tube rice is cooked. Then, peel off the outer layer to leave a thin layer. When eating, peel off the skin and eat with sesame salt for a delicious taste.
The specialty bamboo tube rice of Northwestern Vietnam can be kept for many days. People in the highlands use bamboo, bamboo, and bamboo tubes to make bamboo tube rice. Each type of tube has its own unique aroma due to the silk layer still attached to the surface of the bamboo tube rice. In the past, in daily life, the Thai people often went to work in the fields all day before returning home, so they often carried bamboo tube rice in bamboo tubes. According to them, bamboo tube rice can be kept for a long time without spoiling and its fragrance and stickiness are not lost. Nowadays, during cultural festivals of the Thai people, bamboo tube rice is chosen as a culinary dish to introduce to tourists.
3. Bee Larvae
Bee larvae are considered a delicacy and extremely nutritious food, not only for ethnic groups in the highlands of Vietnam, but also in Laos, where many people also enjoy this dish. Bee larvae are quite difficult to find because they cannot be raised in a hive like other livestock. Bee larvae can be steamed with vegetables or fried until crispy. This is not an easy dish for those who are insect-averse. In the Northwestern region of Vietnam, during late August or early September, you can immerse yourself in the gentle afternoon sunlight shining down on the villages and fields. Feel the coolness of the transitional season and the hospitality of the local people. If you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to enjoy the specialty bee larvae of Northwestern Vietnam, a unique dish that you cannot always enjoy. Unlike silk worm pupae commonly sold nowadays, which can be easily extracted from the cocoon, to obtain natural bee larvae, people in the Northwestern region must use very manual and dangerous methods.
After removing all the bee larvae from the hive, it is necessary to process the food immediately to ensure freshness, because if left in the outside environment, the bee larvae will spoil very quickly. If the silkworm pupae are yellow in color, large, and evenly round, then the bee larvae are white, milky white, or slightly yellowish, and the sizes of the larvae are usually not uniform.
People in the Northwestern region process bee larvae into unique dishes: Bee larvae fried with lime leaves, bee larvae marinated and grilled in bamboo tubes, bee larvae marinated and wrapped in turmeric leaves and grilled, bee larvae wrapped in betel leaves, but the most common is bee larvae stir-fried with sour bamboo shoots and lime leaves or turmeric. The delicious, fatty taste of bee larvae, combined with the sourness and crispiness of the carefully soaked bamboo shoots, along with the fragrant aroma of lime leaves, makes it unforgettable for anyone who has tasted it. If you have the opportunity to visit the Northwestern region from April to September, at the latest in October, do not miss this specialty dish.
