Top 10 Unmissable Specialties When Visiting Hải Dương

Undoubtedly the most famous and synonymous with Hải Dương is Thanh Hà guavas. Thanh Hà guavas stand among the few renowned products like Buôn Mê Thuật coffee, Phú Quốc fish sauce, or Mộc Châu green tea. The Thanh Hà region in Hải Dương is naturally blessed with a climate and fertile soil particularly suitable for guava cultivation. As a result, Thanh Hà guavas, although smaller than other varieties, boast thin skin, thick flesh, a white color, tiny seeds, and a sweet and refreshing taste. Thanh Hà guavas are slightly round, with a rough skin, and turn a ripe, juicy red when fully mature. Historically, these guavas were even used as tribute to China because Empress Dương Quý loved them. Thanh Hà guavas are distributed nationwide, making them easily accessible. However, the prime season for Thanh Hà guavas is around June and July each year.

Hải Dương guava specialties emerge at the beginning of summer when the sun starts to intensify. The most renowned guava-growing area is undoubtedly Thanh Hà commune, Hải Dương district. This specialty yields tens of thousands of tons each year, catering to both domestic and international demands. Drifting along the picturesque Hương River, passing through the Hà Bắc region, one feels as if entering an expansive orchard with endless green trees and red fruits. Thanh Hà Guavas, in their abundance, create a captivating landscape with the vibrant red of the fruits blending with the green leaves. This is the beauty crafted by nature and dedicated labor in this region.

Ninh Giang Sticky Rice Cake is a traditional cake from Ninh Giang district, Hai Duong province. The cake dough is made from glutinous rice flour and pandan leaf powder, while the filling is made from green beans, grated coconut, lotus seed jam, and fat. The fresh pandan leaves are sun-dried and boiled several times before being finely ground into powder. Due to the cooling nature of pandan leaves, the sweet green bean filling may be overwhelming for those not accustomed to sweet or glutinous foods. The combination of the dough and the filling creates a harmonious flavor, with a rich and chewy texture from the coconut and green beans, and the refreshing taste of pandan leaf powder. This cake is also a perfect gift if you happen to visit Hai Duong. Ninh Giang Sticky Rice Cake - a gift imbued with the essence of hometown affection. Once you've tasted it, you will never forget its wonderful flavor.

The deliciousness of the cake also depends on how you enjoy it. While Ninh Giang Sticky Rice Cake is already delicious, its flavor can be enhanced exponentially when you know how to appreciate it—a true art. You can pair it with a cup of tea. The flavor of the tea combined with the sweet aroma of the cake will give you an exquisite sensation. You can use this type of cake as a gift for your loved ones. The flavor of the cake will convey your emotions to them. Besides, the cake can also be served as a dessert in every family meal. The softness and sweet aroma of the cake symbolize the close-knit love of each family. If you are looking for a delicious and meaningful gift, come to Hai Duong and choose these excellent sticky rice cakes. Have you eaten sticky rice cakes many times? But have you ever tasted Ninh Giang Sticky Rice Cake in Hai Duong? If you have, the flavor of the cake will surely entice you to this famous land. Sticky rice cakes are a well-known type of cake in the northern part of our country.

Perhaps when mentioning, in general, most Vietnamese immediately think of Hai Duong. Mung Bean Cake is made from green beans and was once used as an offering to King Bao Dai when passing through the town of Hai Duong. If you're not a fan of sweets, you can enjoy mung bean cakes with a cup of tea. The rich sweetness of the cake, along with the slightly bitter taste of the tea, creates a refreshing flavor that is hard to forget. Some famous mung bean cake brands in Hai Duong include Nguyen Huong, Hoa An, and Bao Hien. Hai Duong's mung bean cakes are made from green bean flour, sugar, cooking oil, and pomelo essential oil. These ingredients are carefully selected and processed according to food safety standards, ensuring the authentic flavor of the cakes. Mung bean cakes are often enjoyed with tea, creating a rich, sweet, and relaxing experience for the consumer.

To create delicious mung bean cakes, the maker must choose high-quality green beans with plump, uniform seeds and a yellow color inside the peel. Nowadays, when produced in large quantities, the makers must purchase green beans from Chí Linh, Hai Duong, or from other provinces such as Bac Ninh, and sometimes even from Gia Lai and Kon Tum. In the past, green beans had to be washed at least three times with clean water, boiled thoroughly, and then cooled before being roasted until cooked. Today, these steps are all done by industrial machinery, shortening the production time. The tradition of buying mung bean cakes as gifts whenever visiting Hai Duong has existed for a long time, but exactly when mung bean cakes first appeared is not widely known. Those who have been away from their homeland always remember and find it hard to forget the distinctive flavor of mung bean cakes. Therefore, if you happen to visit Hai Duong, everyone should try a bit of this flavor or buy it as a gift.

Kinh Mon Glutinous Cake is made from simple agricultural products and is a traditional cake of the Kinh Mon people in Hai Duong, primarily made during Tet to offer to ancestors. Although the ingredients for making the cake are simple and familiar, the processing method is intricate, delicate, and time-consuming. The main ingredients include yellow-flowered sticky rice, sugar, peanuts, sesame seeds, finely roasted pork belly, candied fruits, ginger, and spices. The rice must be roasted or popped before being finely ground, not ground into powder. Sugar is made into syrup, pork belly is finely sliced after careful roasting, peanuts are roasted, and sesame seeds are toasted. All these steps take a considerable amount of time and effort. The Kinh Mon Glutinous Cake has a chewy texture, sweet taste from the sugar, a fragrant and nutty flavor from peanuts and sesame seeds, the richness of roasted rice, and the savory taste of carefully roasted pork belly, all balanced by the spicy aroma of ginger.

It is the unique and delicious flavor that has made Kinh Mon Glutinous Cake known to many. Many international tourists, when attending festivals and spring events at the special national monument complex of An Phu - Kinh Chu - Nham Duong (Kinh Mon), often choose to buy glutinous cakes as gifts for their relatives. In recent years, during the spring festival and traditional festivals at the special national monument complex of An Phu - Kinh Chu - Nham Duong, Kinh Mon district has organized contests to make glutinous cakes. The delicious glutinous cakes made by the organizers are offered as a ritual to pray for favorable weather and a bountiful harvest in the coming year. It is also an opportunity to promote the traditional specialties of the homeland to visitors from near and far.

Kẻ Sặt Red Gourd Cake is a specialty of the Kẻ Sặt region, Bình Giang, Hải Dương. This type of rice cake is not a simple mixture of flour and sesame seeds; it's a much more intricate combination of common ingredients, carefully selected and skillfully prepared. The ingredients include sweet rice, sugar, sesame seeds, peanuts, coconut, fresh ginger, and ripe gac fruit. The rice needs to be sweet and ground to a soft, fluffy texture, while the sesame seeds should be flat, and the peanuts firm for easy slicing. Thick coconut, thin coconut slices, and ripe gac fruit contribute to a rich, fatty taste, blending perfectly with the nutty and fragrant flavor of sesame seeds. All these flavors are enhanced by the spicy kick of fresh ginger. Kẻ Sặt Red Gourd Cake is rolled into round shapes, presenting an enticing red color from the gac fruit, especially appealing on cold rainy days.

The profession of making Kẻ Sặt Red Gourd Cake has been passed down through generations and has gradually become a primary source of income for many households in Tráng Liệt commune - Kẻ Sặt town. Although there are many places in Hải Dương that make rice cakes, only Kẻ Sặt can produce the renowned red gourd rice cakes, becoming a unique specialty similar to the green bean cakes of this region. Processed from rice, the seemingly simple preparation requires hard work and meticulousness to achieve the delightful crunchiness of the baked cake. Baked rice cakes are a familiar and simple dish, well-integrated into daily life since ancient times. The fame of Kẻ Sặt Red Gourd Cake has spread throughout the region for its delicious, crispy, and rich qualities, often chosen by locals as a heartfelt gift for friends, embodying the essence of the homeland.

When in Hải Dương city, seek out Bắc Sơn street and indulge in the local specialty - Hải Dương Rice Rolls. Unlike rice rolls from other regions, these ones are plain without minced meat. The rolls here are thin, smooth, white, rich, yet refreshing. Served with crispy, fragrant dried onions, you can also order them with pork sausage or fragrant leaf sausage. The highlight of the rice rolls is the dipping fish sauce. The sauce is perfectly balanced, featuring the sweetness of sugar, the sourness of vinegar, and the spiciness of a few slices of chili. Don't forget to savor this dish when visiting Hải Dương city.

What has defined the brand of Hải Dương Rice Rolls for many years remains unchanged: a bowl of golden, aromatic dipping sauce with a delicate fish sauce fragrance, a sweet, sour vinegar taste, and the subtle heat from fresh red chilies and black pepper. As you lift the delicate rice roll, dip it into the bowl to absorb the salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors, you'll regret that Hải Dương Rice Rolls aren't more widely known. The rice roll vendors on Bắc Sơn street may have disappeared, but the unforgettable flavor lingers. Many visitors from afar, having tasted these rice rolls even once, make the effort to find them every time they return.

Rươi, a rare aquatic creature, only appears in certain rivers and water areas. The rươi sausage is a delicious and easy-to-make dish. The ingredients for making rươi sausage include eggs, minced meat, dill, spices, and, notably, citrus peel. The sausage carries the rich, fatty taste of rươi, the fragrant aroma of dill and citrus peel, and is complemented by a dipping sauce made from a mouth-watering mixture of fish sauce, garlic, and chili. People consider rươi a heavenly gift due to its miraculous appearance. Its annual arrival is distinctly different from other common specialties. Rươi only emerges during a specific period, making it even more special. Moreover, humans cannot cultivate rươi; they can only wait for its natural arrival. Hence, the people of Tứ Kỳ always regard rươi as a stroke of luck, a precious creature that they take pride in.

Rươi, a highly nutritious ingredient, can be processed into various enticing dishes. However, the most famous is still Tứ Kỳ rươi sausage. This dish can satisfy even the most discerning palates. When selecting plump and fresh rươi, they are brought to be processed. The crucial step is cleaning the rươi, washing them in hot water, gently stirring to remove the fur, picking out any remaining debris, and rinsing several times until all mud is removed. In the process of making Tứ Kỳ rươi sausage, the cleaned rươi is mixed with minced meat, finely chopped dill, spices, and especially finely chopped citrus peel. The unique aroma and tanginess of the citrus peel create the distinctive flavor. A perfect piece of rươi sausage has a golden, crispy outer layer and a soft, deeply flavored rươi inside. To fully enjoy the taste of this Tứ Kỳ specialty, it should be eaten hot with fresh herbs, aromatic coriander, and a dipping sauce made from sweet and sour sauce mixed with lime, chili, and northern-style pepper.

The key ingredient that defines the distinctive flavor of Hải Dương noodles is the fresh wild carp. As heavy rains pour, it marks the spawning season for wild carp. They migrate from canals, ponds, lakes, and streams to deeper waters, a time eagerly anticipated by the village children who look forward to catching the fish. Nowadays, you don't have to wait for the specific season; the wild carp is raised in ponds by local households. However, to fully appreciate this dish and its authentic Hải Dương essence, visit during the rainy season. The carefully selected fresh carp is cleaned, deboned, and boiled to extract the essence for a naturally sweet broth.

Additional meticulous steps in the cooking process, along with traditional secrets, result in a bowl of harmonious and visually appealing wild carp noodle soup. The green color of water spinach, banana flowers, and other vegetables blends with the golden hue of fried carp and the vibrant red of tomatoes, creating a rustic dish reminiscent of a simple gift from the countryside market. A steaming bowl, with the naturally sweet and savory flavor of the broth, the aromatic crispiness of fried carp, a hint of spice from black pepper or chili sauce, and the accompaniment of fresh banana blossom, all come together to create an unforgettable dish. Whether in various districts across Hải Dương, you can easily find a wild carp noodle soup stall, but for the full authentic experience, seek out those renowned establishments with a long-standing reputation.

Amidst an array of breakfast options like pho, bun, and porridge, the Gia Lộc Glutinous Delight remains a favored choice for many travelers, embodying a deep sense of local charm. Pausing in the town of Gia Lộc, Hải Dương, to enjoy a piece of glutinous delight, sip a cup of tea, or purchase a few packs as gifts for loved ones is an experience bound to leave a lasting impression. The cakes are crafted entirely from sticky rice with a golden hue, allowing them to retain their softness for up to 48 hours when stored in a tightly tied plastic bag. When the cakes become dry, they can be sliced thinly, fried to a crisp, and dipped in soy sauce for a delightful treat. While the process of making glutinous delights involves few steps, it demands a high level of skill. The rice used must be the golden flower sticky rice to ensure the cake's desired softness, tenderness, and fragrance. The rice is soaked in rainwater or clean water for 6 hours in the summer and 8-10 hours in the winter. Prolonged soaking may lead to sourness. Subsequently, the water is drained, and the rice is cooked using the water absorption method for 50-60 minutes. The chef must be experienced in determining the right amount of water for the pot base, ensuring it complements the quantity of rice.

In the past, glutinous delights were manually pounded, requiring significant effort. Families engaged in this trade had to wake up at 3 AM to cook glutinous rice, pound and squeeze the cakes. Today, although grinding machines are available, the ground sticky rice is still manually pounded to guarantee the cake's desired softness and adhesion. The sticky rice must be ground until no small grains remain. Banana leaves are cleaned and dried for cake storage. Before squeezing the cakes, it is advisable to apply cooking oil to the hands to prevent sticking. With 1 kg of sticky rice, you can make 1.3 kg of glutinous delights. Today, this rustic cake has become one of the culinary specialties of Gia Lộc town. Gia Lộc Glutinous Delight, when paired with Vietnamese pork sausage, compressed sticky rice, and Vietnamese pork hash, forms a distinctive local breakfast. Locals affectionately refer to it as 'Gia Lộc glutinous delight, compressed sticky rice, and Vietnamese pork hash.' The white, smooth cake emits a rich aroma of pork sausage and the faint fragrance of sticky rice and fresh banana leaves. The cake has a naturally sweet taste, a delightful scent of glutinous rice when brought close to the nose, and a chewy texture that captivates the palate.

Together with the lychee tree, lychee is a specialty fruit of the Thanh Hà region in Hải Dương province. Thanks to fertile soil and suitable climate, Thanh Hà lychee has become a rare and economically significant specialty. Thanh Hà is also the region with the largest lychee cultivation area in Vietnam. The main product is the fresh lychee, accounting for nearly 70% of the total fruit yield throughout the year. The popular lychee varieties are Bo xù, Thái lychee, and Bo trắng, extensively grown by local farmers. Thanh Hà lychee is large, uniform in size, firm and crisp, offering a delightful sweetness and a fragrant taste. It provides a wonderful gustatory experience, showcasing the unique flavors of this naturally endowed region. The Bo Thanh Hà lychee has brought economic benefits to the local residents, with a considerable harvest. The average weight of a Bo lychee is 500g/fruit, usually around 2 fruits/kg, with some weighing over 1 kg.

Many areas of Thanh Hà lychee are cultivated using the VietGAP process for superior productivity and quality compared to conventional farming. It meets food safety and hygiene standards right from the harvest and offers various health benefits to consumers. Due to careful care, strict adherence to fertilization and pest control, and the application of correct techniques, Thanh Hà lychee has beautiful appearance, high selling prices, easy market access, and is particularly favored by consumers. The brand 'Thanh Hà Lychee' has become familiar to consumers in recent years, gaining popularity and receiving a Collective Trademark Certificate from the Intellectual Property Office. It is widely consumed across provinces and cities nationwide. Thanh Hà lychee is gaining strong traction in many provinces across the country, and in the near future, it is poised to enter the international market, promising a bright future for the second major fruit brand of Thanh Hà.