Top 15 Unmissable Specialties of Tra Vinh

For food enthusiasts, exploring the unique and delicious dishes in this water region of the Western region is a must.

When in Tra Vinh, you cannot miss the peculiar specialty known as 'Lemongrass Chili Skewers', which leaves diners enchanted. The lemongrass chili skewers feature a round-bodied creature resembling a shrimp found in brackish and freshwater areas. To prepare them, locals clean and salt the shrimp, then sun-dry them until they are slightly dehydrated. The dish is then either fried or briefly grilled over charcoal. When cooked, each bite offers a chewy texture from the shrimp, the rich flavor of its fat, and the aromatic lemongrass and chili. One taste is unforgettable.

This dish is a delicacy at Duyen Hai, Tra Vinh. Locals often treat esteemed guests to this dish, as it is not readily available year-round and is scarce due to its limited quantity.

While exotic fruits are abundant everywhere, here is a specialty that looks peculiar but emits a fragrant aroma when ripe, tantalizing the taste buds. When fully ripe, the outer shell cracks open easily. Although it contains many seeds inside, eating it can be a bit tricky, as one needs to remove the seeds. However, this fruit is miraculously delicious, and one bite will leave you craving for more.

Quach Fruit is also a specialty of Tra Vinh. This fruit resembles a small round ball with a gray-white, rough outer shell. The flesh of the quach fruit is pleasantly sour, sweet, and refreshing, with a dense black color. People in Tra Vinh use quach fruit to make various dishes such as quach fruit salad with dipping sauce, refreshing quach fruit smoothies, and quach fruit wine, which is believed to strengthen the bones, nourish the kidneys, promote digestion, and aid in digestion.

If you have the chance to visit this place, be sure to try this unusual yet delicious fruit. You can buy it along the way to Tra Vinh. Price ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 VND per fruit (depending on size). Despite the low price, the quality is excellent!

Spices are an indispensable ingredient in refined cuisine. Southerners love strong flavors and often enjoy dishes accompanied by dipping sauces. Sweet and sour chili fish sauce is a perfect match for stir-fries and boiled dishes, adding a delightful kick to the meal.

When visiting the Mekong Delta, one cannot overlook shrimp paste sauce, especially the specialty known as shrimp paste sauce unique to Tra Vinh. Legend has it that when King Gia Long sought refuge here, he consumed shrimp paste sauce daily. The king was so fond of the flavor that upon ascending the throne in Hue, he sent boats to Tra Vinh annually to purchase shrimp paste sauce, earning it the name 'Royal Fish Sauce.' In Tra Vinh, the process of making shrimp paste sauce always ensures food safety and hygiene, making it an indispensable gift for friends and family.

Buy shrimp paste sauce at Long Vinh enterprise: Hamlet 3, Duyen Hai town, Duyen Hai district, Tra Vinh

Price:

• Ultra-violet ray irradiated 30,000 VND/liter
• Traditional type 20,000 VND/liter.

Perhaps when mentioning this place, everyone recalls fish sauce, noodle soup, and so on. However, very few know about another specialty here called clear noodle soup. If you come here, you must try the specialties, so that every mention of it brings back memories of the flavors of this place.

Clear noodle soup in Tra Vinh is only sold in the evening along Dien Bien Phu Street or at shops on Hung Vuong Street. Noodles, shrimp, and pork belly are the main ingredients of clear noodle soup that keep diners coming back for more. Long pieces of shrimp are made from fresh, plump shrimp, and slices of pork belly are boiled with crunchy bean sprouts, lettuce, and shredded cabbage. Ground sauce and chili sauce are the perfect dipping condiments for clear noodle soup.

You can visit Dien Bien Phu Street or shops on Hung Vuong Street, Tra Vinh. Price is around 30,000 VND/bowl.

Around and around, porridge is the dish that most people prefer, easy to eat and easy to cook. However, to cook a delicious porridge, leaving a lingering taste, requires high skills and understanding of cooking techniques.

In Tra Vinh, when it comes to black fish porridge, everyone praises it. This specialty has a history of 30 years in Tra Vinh with the brand of Mrs. Nam Biet. Black fish porridge is actually snakehead fish porridge, but it is elaborately processed with the main ingredient being: live snakehead fish, cleaned, then cut into pieces, boiled until cooked, then the meat is taken out and stir-fried with lard and onions. To enhance the sweetness of the porridge, rice is added to the fish broth for cooking. People eat black fish porridge with many types of finely chopped raw vegetables, along with shredded lettuce, onions, and cilantro, served with crispy sesame rice paper. Try black fish porridge once, and you'll never forget it.

You can eat this dish at fish porridge shops in Tra Vinh. A pot of porridge ranges from 200,000 to 300,000 VND depending on the number of people.

Not only enjoying specialties here, but there are also items that can be bought as gifts, kept for personal use, to remember the memories of the places you've been through.

In the Mekong Delta, you'll hear the phrase 'first Vinh Kim, second Hau Boi.' 'First Kim' refers to dried shrimp from Vĩnh Kim in Vinh Kim commune, Cầu Ngang district, Tra Vinh province. The earthy-colored shrimp living in the brackish water is the main ingredient that makes Vĩnh Kim dried shrimp have a characteristic light red color, very firm flesh... loved by people from all regions. Vĩnh Kim dried shrimp has been recognized by the Intellectual Property Office, Ministry of Science and Technology as a unique brand in the market.

Contact: Mrs. Trần Thị Khâm, owner of Hai Khâm Dried Shrimp Facility in Cha Va hamlet, Vinh Kim commune, Cầu Ngang district.

Price: Type 1 shrimp costs 3 million VND/kg, type 2 costs 1 million VND/kg, and type 3 costs 800,000 VND/kg

Since we've already mentioned noodle soup earlier, let's introduce it right away. This dish is very famous here, almost every family knows how to cook it. Occasionally, families use this dish to treat everyone for breakfast. Noodle soup is made from 'mắm bò hóc,' if you've tasted 'mắm' before, you definitely can't miss this dish, but if you haven't tried it, don't try it, you might get addicted!

When in Tra Vinh, don't miss out on noodle soup with special broth - this dish is available in both luxurious and budget-friendly eateries in Tra Vinh. People in Tra Vinh combine ingredients such as 'mắm bò hóc,' roasted pork, and various fresh vegetables to create a special flavor for the noodles. The sweetness of the broth comes from natural shrimp and fish, diluting the intense flavor of 'mắm bò hóc' so even picky eaters who are not used to the smell of 'mắm' have to nod in agreement that it's delicious.

You can enjoy this noodle soup dish at various eateries in Tra Vinh. Price is around 20,000 VND/bowl.

The Mekong Delta - a paradise of various fermented fish sauces, widely used and considered a delicacy, a must-try dish when visiting the Mekong Delta. Noodle soup made from 'mắm bò hóc,' this type of fermented fish sauce is extremely common, and when cooked, it has a very fragrant aroma.

'Mắm bò hóc' is mainly made from fish and is a special treat for esteemed guests of the Khmer people. With 'mắm bò hóc,' locals in Tra Vinh create many delicious dishes such as raw fish sauce mixed with lime, chili, garlic, and a little sugar to balance the saltiness... 'Mắm bò hóc' is served with various vegetables and fruits such as starfruit, bitter bananas, aromatic herbs, young mango leaves, and coconut sprouts... Its rich and salty taste, unique aroma, symbolize the essence of this land, simple yet profound. People from Tra Vinh, no matter how far they go, cannot forget the taste of 'mắm bò hóc.'

You can buy it at any eatery when you visit Tra Vinh. Price: 99,000 VND/bottle (500g).

'Bánh tét' is surely a familiar name to every Vietnamese. Every Tet holiday, families eagerly wrap 'bánh tét' and gather around the fire to steam it together. Nowadays, you don't have to wait for Tet to enjoy 'bánh tét'; people have creatively invented many new types of cakes to suit the taste of Vietnamese people in recent years.

Flattened 'Bánh tét cốm' is a specialty in Tra Vinh. To make this dish, people in Tra Vinh mix flattened sticky rice with coconut juice before wrapping it with a filling of green beans mixed with sugar and vanilla to create a fragrance. The cakes are wrapped in banana or lồng leaves and steamed. When cooked, the cake has a soft, fragrant outer layer, with the wonderful aroma of coconut, fresh rice, and flattened sticky rice... Flattened 'Bánh tét cốm' can be eaten to satisfaction without getting tired because of its delicious and unique flavor.

You can buy it in Cau Ke, Tra Vinh. Price is around 60,000 VND per cake.

A dish closely associated with the childhood of many Trà Vinh natives, a dish that has grown up with the people here, enduring many ups and downs, although people may change, the delicious taste of Flattened Sticky Rice 'Cốm dẹp' never changes. The sweet delicacy on cool summer days inevitably warms people's hearts.

Speaking of which, Flattened Sticky Rice 'Cốm dẹp' Trà Vinh is the next dish you should try when visiting Trà Vinh. 'Cốm dẹp' is made from hand-mashed glutinous rice, removing all the husks before pressing it into thin pieces. To make delicious flattened sticky rice, in addition to glutinous rice, people also use slightly red-tailed rice, with soft grains, to pound in a mortar to get the best glutinous rice for making 'cốm dẹp'.

When enjoying 'cốm dẹp', it is often mixed with shredded coconut, sugar, and coconut water. When eating flattened sticky rice, you will feel the softness of the rice, the crispy texture of the coconut, and the delicate sweetness of the coconut water and flattened sticky rice. For just 50,000 VND, you can buy 500g of Flattened Sticky Rice 'Cốm dẹp' Trà Vinh to enjoy.

Known for ages, the noodle soup at Bến Có Bridge, named Bến Có Noodle Soup. Anyone passing by here will surely stop and indulge in this dish. Though just a simple noodle soup, it's crafted meticulously, from the type of noodle to every piece of meat and bone. A sophisticated dish that will undoubtedly be delicious.

Bến Có Noodle Soup, a specialty of Trà Vinh, is packed with various meats, with the ratio of meat to noodle almost equal. Besides pork, there's also liver, kidneys, spleen, heart, intestines, tongue, hooves, pig ears... each in small amounts blending into the dish. The broth for Bến Có Noodle Soup is simmered from pork meat and bones, and you can clearly see each strand of noodle, green onions, finely ground pepper, and a few slices of chili... Scooping up the noodle, sipping the broth, there's nothing more wonderful.

Address: Bến Có Hamlet, Nguyệt Hóa Commune, Châu Thành District, Trà Vinh Province.

Price: ranges from 25,000 to 30,000 VND per bowl.

Preserving fish to stay both delicious and long-lasting is achieved by making fish sauce or drying them. Making fish sauce may be a bit challenging, but drying fish is quite easy. With careful preparation and skillful marination, you can create exquisite dried fish dishes.

Trà Vinh, being a coastal province, boasts a rich source of seafood, and to preserve them for longer, locals have created various delicious dried seafood options. Trà Vinh's dried fish dishes are well-known, such as dried anchovies, dried snakehead fish, dried gourami, dried mackerel, and more. These are dishes you should try when visiting Trà Vinh, or you can also choose them as gifts for friends and family, or simply enjoy them gradually if you appreciate the flavors that dried seafood brings.

Mentioning bánh tét, one cannot overlook bánh ú. This type of cake is meticulously wrapped and tied in every step, from wrapping to tying the string.

Đa Lộc Savory Cake is the next must-try on the list of Trà Vinh specialties. Đa Lộc Savory Cake impresses with its strong flavor profile; when you taste it, you'll feel the softness of the cake's outer layer made from moderately thick glutinous rice, followed by the sweet and crispy mung bean filling that brings a refreshing sensation to the palate.

Đa Lộc Savory Cake has a relatively long shelf life, so you can buy it as a gift for friends and family who haven't had the chance to visit Trà Vinh yet. You can purchase this dish at Hương Phụ Hamlet, Đa Lộc Commune, Châu Thành District, Trà Vinh Province.

Năm Thụy Flower Sausage is the last dish on the list of Trà Vinh specialties that you should try. With simple ingredients such as pork, pate, salted eggs, fried eggs, vegetables, and mushrooms... but with skillful hands, the locals here have transformed them into a delicious dish, imbued with the unique flavor of Trà Vinh.

When you slice Năm Thụy Flower Sausage, you can see each layer of filling clearly, resembling flowers. The inner layer is fragrant and fatty salted eggs, followed by a layer of nutritious mushrooms and sausage, and the outermost layer is a roll of chicken eggs, adding an impressive decorative touch to the dish. You can also bring Năm Thụy Flower Sausage as a gift for your friends and family.

Chù ụ is known as a special ingredient of Tra Vinh province, and when you come to Tra Vinh, you can't miss the opportunity to enjoy dishes made from Chù ụ. Dishes made from Chù ụ are loved by many locals and food enthusiasts alike.

Chù ụ belongs to the crab family, so its meat is as tender and sweet as crab meat. Without many spices, you can enjoy grilled Chù ụ over charcoal. Grilling Chù ụ will release the aroma of seafood. When cooked, mix it with some Vietnamese coriander, dip in chili salt or lemon salt, bringing simplicity yet deliciousness. Additionally, you can steam with beer, stir-fry with tamarind, or stew with turmeric due to its versatile nature.