Top 18 Must-Try Specialties in Quang Nam You Shouldn't Miss

When you come to Quang Nam, you can easily find Quang-style Noodle stalls along National Highway 1A. Similar to pho, bun... Quang-style noodles are also made from rice flour. Quang-style noodles are made from thin rice flour cakes, then cut horizontally to create thin noodles about 2mm thick. The noodles are made from wheat flour mixed with some additives to achieve the desired crispy and chewy texture.

Next, the noodles are blanched in boiling water, and during blanching, the cook may add peanut oil to prevent the noodles from sticking, which contributes to the characteristic richness of Quang-style noodles. Beneath the noodles are various raw vegetables; Quang-style noodles must be served with 9 types of raw vegetables to create a rich flavor: basil, fresh lettuce, baby mustard greens, blanched or raw bean sprouts, coriander, laksa leaves, finely chopped shallots, and thinly sliced banana flowers.

On top of the noodles are pork, shrimp, chicken, frog, snakehead fish, along with broth stewed from pork bones. Crushed roasted peanuts, finely chopped scallions, aromatic herbs, red chilies are also added. Typically, the broth is called clear broth, but it is also a type of thick and less watery broth. Quang-style noodles must be eaten with large green chili peppers to get the right taste. Additionally, the noodles are served with sesame rice crackers and crispy roasted peanuts, creating a distinctive flavor.

When mentioning Le Pass Chicken, one must immediately think of Que Son district, Quang Nam province. When visiting here, tourists will get to enjoy chicken prepared in various ways such as grilled, steamed with onions, roasted, boiled... but the most enticing and aromatic is still the grilled chicken. The main ingredients used to marinate and grill the chicken are shallots, lime leaves, and Vietnamese coriander, resulting in a fragrant dish that arouses curiosity in everyone to taste it immediately. It's worth noting that this grilled chicken dish must be eaten by hand to fully appreciate its flavor and fun.

Le Pass bamboo chicken is a breed of free-range chicken. From a young age to maturity, the chickens only eat insects dug up in the garden, in the forest, or only eat grains such as rice, corn, so although they are still young, they are firm and delicious. Le Pass chicken soup is famous not only for its delicious chicken meat but also partly because it is cooked with water from the Mát stream, giving it a sweeter taste than elsewhere. With a plate of boiled chicken torn into small pieces, sprinkle with salted lime, add a little wild pepper to create a rich and unforgettable flavor when enjoyed.

The brand 'Cau Mong Beef Special' has been established for a long time, existing and thriving until now because of its unique and distinctive flavor of the Central region. A calf chosen for roasting must be a young calf, weighing about 25kg - 35kg, especially it must be a calf raised in the meadow eating grass. When roasting the calf with charcoal, it must be roasted just right so that the meat inside is tender and sweet, the outer skin is golden, making the meat crispy and delicious.

The beef is thinly sliced ​​and evenly arranged on a large round plate. Cau Mong Beef Special is served with soft rice paper rolls like pork rice paper rolls, and also served with rice paper. The key ingredient that determines the success of Cau Mong Beef Special is the dipping sauce and fresh vegetables. The dipping sauce must be made from premium fish sauce made from anchovies, caught along the coast of the Central region. After pressing the fish sauce, filter to extract the new water, then add crushed garlic, chili, ginger, roasted sesame seeds, lime... to taste. The fresh vegetables for wrapping rice paper with sliced beef are also quite sophisticated, including various types from the countryside along the rivers and streams.

Cao lau is a dish that brings a distinctive flavor to visitors when they come to Hoi An. The cao lau noodles are processed very meticulously. Unlike pho noodles, to make cao lau, the chef must choose pure rice of Quang Nam. Especially, local people do not choose rice that has been stored for a long time, but they do not choose new rice either. When ensuring this standard, the cao lau noodles are soft, chewy, and have the characteristic aroma of Central Vietnam. The rice must be soaked in water with ash from Cu Lao Cham. After soaking, the rice will have a light yellow color like turmeric.

In the process of making cao lau noodles, the key is to knead the dough to make it both soft and dry, which determines the quality of the product. Unlike other types of noodles like pho, banh da, people do not make cao lau noodles by coating the flour. Instead, after kneading, the cao lau dough is rolled out thinly and then steamed. When cooked, the dough is cut into thick strands.

Enjoying cao lau without herbs is indeed a big mistake. There are up to 12 types of herbs that can be used in cao lau, including: Basil, cinnamon basil, watercress, bitter herbs, coriander, bean sprouts, lettuce, fish mint, young mustard greens, banana flowers, cucumber, and sour starfruit. However, there are 3 basic types of herbs that cannot be missed: Watercress, bitter herbs, and cinnamon basil.

Sizzling Rice Crepes are also considered a specialty of the people of Quang. Sizzling Rice Crepes are also made from rice flour, but with a certain softness rather than crispy like Southern-style rice crepes, and the filling is simpler. However, what defines the distinctive flavor of Quang's rice crepes is the fresh herbs and dipping sauce. The name of this type of rice crepe originates from the process of pouring the batter. When the rice batter is poured into the hot pan, it emits a delightful sizzling sound, hence the name 'sizzling rice crepe.'

As a rustic dish, but sizzling rice crepes require some intricacy and skill. To get a delicious, fragrant, crispy crepe, the maker must go through many steps, such as soaking rice, spinning the batter (nowadays done by machine), then pouring the batter, preparing the dipping sauce (fish sauce or soy sauce), and preparing raw vegetables such as bean sprouts, cilantro, lettuce, banana flowers, star fruit, cucumber... for serving. The flavor of the rice crepe is loved by many because the crispy crust is filled with the sweet and sour dipping sauce, creating a wonderful taste.

Aside from Quang-style noodles and cao lau, when visiting Quang Nam, tourists must not miss the intricate and unique dish of pork wrapped rice paper rolls originating right here. To ensure the rice paper is chewy, elastic, and delicious, one must choose authentic Dai Loc rice paper.

Pork wrapped rice paper rolls consist of two types: dry rice paper and wet rice paper. Dry rice paper, also known as edge rice paper, has a moderately chewy texture suitable for rolling, neither as thin as northern-style rice paper nor too thick as in some other regions. Wet rice paper is rice paper used immediately after production, not dried. The pork here is pork belly or fatty pork. Next, we must mention the raw vegetables used for rolling. If the raw vegetables come from the Tra Que vegetable village in Hoi An, it would be truly wonderful.

Selected raw vegetables include mustard greens, lettuce, basil, coriander, fish mint, scallions, fragrant herbs, bitter herbs, bean sprouts, bitter melon... all fresh and indispensable are thinly sliced banana flowers and split water spinach. Finally, an essential element that contributes to the flavor when eating is a bowl of deeply Quang-style dipping sauce. Especially, remember to add green chili to the dipping sauce.