Top 12 Specialty Dishes in Bac Lieu

1. Coconut Tapioca Cake

Besides being renowned as a land of heroes with a rich revolutionary tradition, Hong Dan district (Bac Lieu) is also known for its rustic, homegrown dishes. The most famous must be the tapioca cake in Ngan Dua town. The profession of making tapioca cakes here has existed for a very long time. It is the local land and people that make the difference for the Ngan Dua Tapioca Cake compared to other places. The main factor is the making process, which is the most important stage. To get a fragrant, soft, and white cake, meticulousness is required from the maker.

The ingredients for making Ngan Dua Tapioca Cake must be authentic local seasonal rice. People grind the rice, mix it with cold water, and then simmer it over a gentle fire. While waiting for the broth to cool, they sift the flour on a tray and then roll it into long, thick threads resembling silkworm bodies. After rolling, the cakes are steamed in a steamer. Because when fully steamed, the threads of the cake do not stick together thanks to the layer of sifted flour before steaming.

Due to being processed from seasonal rice flour, the cake thread is very fragrant, chewy, and manually sliced, so the cake thread is rough and creates an interesting feeling when chewed. The uniqueness here also lies in the presence of meatballs in the style of Chinese cuisine (Chaozhou). To make delicious meatballs, people use pork belly and liver finely chopped with squeezed turnip. Mix this mixture with sugar, garlic, fried onions, pepper, and a little flour, a little MSG. Steam each large ball in a steamer until cooked. In addition, Ngan Dua Tapioca Cake is even more flavorful with the combination of soft, silky skin, sweetened with sugar and MSG for deliciousness.

2. Bac Lieu Turnip Cake

When you arrive in Bac Lieu, you'll spot vendors carrying trays of turnip cakes along the streets. These cakes resemble Chinese dumplings but are larger in size, with a milky white color revealing a pink filling, which is quite appealing to the eye. To make the outer layer, chefs soak the flour overnight. The process of mixing the flour is crucial as it requires just the right amount of water so that when the cake cools, the outer layer isn't too hard or too soft. Typically, the cake's outer layer is made from a mixture of wheat flour and finely ground turnip flour, rolled out into thin sheets.

Depending on the chef's technique, there are various types of turnip cakes. Some are sliced like wet cakes, while others are rolled up like dumplings... However, the ingredients remain the same, with fillings consisting of shrimp, meat, turnips, and carrots finely sliced and stir-fried to absorb the spices before being placed inside the cake, rolled up, and steamed for about 30 minutes. The steamed cake has a milky white color with a pink-red filling. The dipping sauce is typically sweet and sour. When you dip a piece of turnip cake into the dipping sauce, you'll experience the sweet and sour flavor, enhanced by the small minced garlic, and you'll taste the fragrant sweetness of the shrimp and meat blending with the chewy, velvety texture of the cake and the crispiness and freshness of the turnip, creating a distinctive taste that keeps you coming back for more.

When tourists visit the Mekong Delta, they have the opportunity to savor various types of savory pancakes with unique flavors. However, in each locality, the taste of pancakes varies, and the Bac Lieu savory pancake is no exception. Its deliciousness is attributed to the quality of ingredients and the skillful tradition of pancake making by local artisans. Like pancakes from many other places, the Bac Lieu savory pancake benefits from the special taste of local shrimp.

To make the pancake, locals first prepare the pancake batter. The pancake batter is made entirely from rice flour, finely ground and mixed with a little turmeric to give it a bright yellow color, but not too much to avoid making the pancake too tough. Their meticulousness in making the batter pays off when they spread the fragrant mixture into the pan, resulting in a crispy outer layer and a chewy interior. Next, let's talk about the unique and delicious filling of the Bac Lieu savory pancake. The filling consists of finely chopped lean meat, local shrimp, mung beans, turnips, onions, scallions, and bean sprouts. All ingredients are seasoned just right, with a perfect balance of savory and sweet, creating a rich flavor profile.

Once the batter and filling are ready, it's time to make the pancake. The pancakes of the Mekong Delta are cooked in large pans, so they are much larger than the pancakes we are familiar with in central Vietnam. Because of their size, pouring the batter requires skill to avoid burning the pancake. First, a thin layer of pancake batter is spread around the hot pan, covered with a lid, and left for a moment before the filling is added to the center. When the pancake crust turns golden, a spatula is used to fold one side of the crust over the filling. Since the pancake cooks quickly, it is best enjoyed hot.

People in the Mekong Delta often joke with each other about 'eating deeply fermented fish,' referring to the salty flavor of the water from the vast Dong Bang Song Cuu Long river system and the deep bond among the people of the orchards and fields contained in each salty and savory bite. The flavor of the fermented fish, carefully crafted from the scent of the vast river and the skilled hands of the locals, has created uniquely flavored jars of fish sauce, genuine and deeply rooted. And the specialty dish Bac Lieu Fermented Fish Hotpot originates from the town of Ngan Dua in Bac Lieu province, featuring ingredients such as fermented fish, fish, shrimp, crab claws, coconut shoots, green vegetables, Chinese chives, bitter vegetables, pennywort, loofah, water spinach, Bon Bon, gourds, water morning glory, basil, celery, water spinach, bean sprouts, banana flowers, gun cotton flowers, and water mimosa leaves.

With a variety of colorful ingredients, it creates an enticing hotpot, rich in the rustic flavors of the countryside, with the salty taste of fish sauce, the delicious aroma of fish, and the sourness and spiciness of tomatoes along with various other spices... it has produced a specialty dish that few places can replicate with such a unique flavor. Travelers here will have the opportunity to enjoy many delicious dishes, bearing the distinctive flavors of the land of Bac Lieu's young lords. Fermented fish hotpot is a typical dish that embodies the fusion of the Cham - Khmer - Vietnamese civilizations.

Despite bearing the distinctive flavor of the Central region, spicy beef noodle soup is a dish that carries the rustic taste of the land of Bac Lieu's wealthy men. It may sound simple, but when tasted, one discovers its unique characteristics, an aroma of home. With extremely simple ingredients: Fresh beef, tendon, rice vermicelli, carrots, satay, onions, fresh coconut water, lime, and essential spices...

With these flavors, a simple and special dish of spicy beef noodle soup can be made, with the delicious aroma of fresh coconut water mixed with satay, the chewy texture of beef, the fragrant scent of cinnamon, herbs, along with the spicy flavor of satay mixed with rice noodles creating a characteristic dish of Bac Lieu. In each region, there will be different cooking methods, creating unique flavors, and Bac Lieu's spicy beef noodle soup is no exception, simple yet leaving a lasting impression on diners near and far. Visit the town of Ngan Dua, Bac Lieu province to enjoy it together.

River Soup Noodle is an indispensable dish on the specialty list in Bac Lieu. River Soup Noodle is suitable for both dinner and breakfast, suitable for both adults and children, and can be called a national dish in Bac Lieu.

This River Soup Noodle from Bac Lieu is cooked with fish sauce to make the soup, so when eating River Soup Noodle, we will see clearer soup, smell better, and taste more special than regular fish noodle soup. Therefore, for the River Soup Noodle to be delicious, the soup must be fragrant and the taste must be special. The cook uses the best and finest fish, combined with harmonious ingredients to create a pot of soup that you can't resist. The cooks in Bac Lieu often jokingly say, 'If I cook, even the end of the street can smell the aroma.'

The accompanying ingredients of this River Soup Noodle are also extremely special, including: snakehead fish, fresh shrimp, raw vegetables, roasted pork... . When enjoying, simply put a portion of noodles in a bowl, pour in the soup, add the accompanying dishes along with a little lime and a bit of chili to create an excellent bowl of River Soup Noodle.

If you travel to Bac Lieu, you cannot miss this amazing specialty, River Soup Noodle is waiting for you to enjoy.

The Mekong Delta is known as the land of various types of fish sauce. However, that's not all. When it comes to the Mekong Delta, you must think of the characteristic tropical fruits in this region. One of them is the cowhide label, a specialty of the culturally diverse land of Bac Lieu.

Cowhide label is a type of longan originating from China, brought to Vietnam by the Chinese for cultivation and has been present in Bac Lieu until now. Hiep Thanh Commune, Bac Lieu is the area with the most cowhide label cultivation. What's special is that this area also has ancient cowhide label orchards that are hundreds of years old. This is a place that many tourists visit when they come to Bac Lieu. You will immediately feel the difference when eating cowhide label. Their taste is sweet and not too strong, the skin is thin but extremely thick. You will fall in love with this type of longan after the first try, so don't forget to bring them back as precious gifts for your relatives and friends when visiting Bac Lieu.