Exploring Yen Bai Through Its Cuisine: What to Eat

Yen Bai is a mountainous province located at the junction of the Northwest and Northeast regions of our country. Besides the famous Mu Cang Chai terraced rice fields, Yen Bai also offers many specialties that surely many have yet to taste. Yen Bai is also known for the ripe rice terraced fields of Mu Cang Chai, attracting countless travelers each autumn. But did you know there’s another side to Yen Bai – one with delectable local dishes that delight foodies from near and far? RuudNguyen.com will help you explore Yen Bai’s specialty dishes to buy as gifts, rich with the flavors of the Northwest forests, in the article below!

Delicious dishes in Yen Bai

Tu Le Sticky Rice

Tu Le sticky rice ranks among the best sticky rice varieties in our country, yielding a fragrant, sweet, and chewy sticky rice that separates into individual grains rather than sticking together like most other types. Also known as Tan La sticky rice (in the Thai language), it is a specialty sticky rice found only in the Tu Le valley, Van Chan, Yen Bai.

Five-Colored Sticky Rice

For generations, Muong Lo – Yen Bai has been dubbed the “pan” of the Northwest provinces. Each time visitors come here for sightseeing and travel, they not only get to admire the pristine, poetic scenery of the mountains and forests but also have the opportunity to taste famous rustic dishes such as bamboo-cooked rice, thang co, grilled ribs… Especially, a dish with a sweet flavor and eye-catching appearance that makes it impossible for visitors to overlook is the five-colored sticky rice.

Mac Khen

Mac Khen from Yen Bai, also known as wild pepper, makes anyone seeing it for the first time think of wild pepper trees abundant in the forest. However, it is a very large woody plant growing in the forest. “Mắc” in the name of this spice means fruit, and “Khén” means a large tree.

Mac khen is an important spice in many dishes in the Northwest (Photo collected)

This plant grows abundantly in the forest, it is large-sized, belongs to the magnolia family, and has essential oils and a very fragrant aroma. It can be said that Mac khen Yen Bai becomes a legendary plant providing a delicious and rich spice indispensable in the daily meals of the people here.

Roasted Muom Muom of Muong Lo

Every rice harvest season is also the season for muom muom. At first glance, muom muom looks like a cricket, but upon closer inspection, its body is slender, and its wings are much smaller and neater. It is said that muom muom often eat various types of larvae, mosquitoes… in the rice fields, so they are considered a “natural enemy”, a friend of the farmer.

Crispy roasted muom muom, fragrant and richly fatty (Photo collected)

The preparation of muom muom is not simple. “Plucking the wings, breaking the legs, cutting off the head, and removing the intestines” are the four basic steps to prepare a muom muom for a feast. After these steps, the muom muom are washed, drained, and then placed in a pan. Initially, muom muom are simmered with pickled bamboo shoots on a gentle flame.

Once the water evaporates, fat (or cooking oil) is added, and stirred continuously over high heat. When a popping sound is heard, it means the muom muom are crispy. Season with just enough spices along with MSG, a bit of fresh chili, and stir quickly; finally, add thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves, stir until the leaves are cooked, and then remove the pan from the heat.

Crispy Fried Crickets

In the 7th lunar month when the Longan of Muong Lo ripens, crickets become plump, glossy, fatty, and the cricket dish becomes the main course in eateries. People catch crickets in many ways and without much difficulty such as digging holes, pouring water; at night, children roam around the streets catching crickets near high-pressure lamps.

Here, catching crickets is not difficult, and in the Muong Lo area, there are many crickets, so the price of crickets in the Muong Lo market is not expensive, about a few thousand dongs for a hundred grams; and a hundred grams of crickets is just enough for a dish for two people to enjoy.

Every time Nghia Lo enters the ripe rice season, this dish is invariably present (Photo collected)

In the western region of Yen Bai during the ghost month, tasting the rich aroma of sticky rice wine and enjoying the crispy fried crickets that melt in your mouth leaves a lingering sense and memory:

When will we return to the old days

To hear the swinging hammock’s sound by grandma

To bask in the sun in the flower marsh

Watching for the cricket peeking in and out…

Biting into each crispy piece and savoring the aromatic, sweet, and rich flavor might make diners forget their initial hesitation about the name of this dish. If you have a chance to visit Yen Bai, don’t forget to stop by Muong Lo to enjoy the delicious and nutritious fried crickets, deeply imbued with the ethnic culture of the area.

Muong Lo’s Black Sticky Rice Cake

The black sticky rice cake of Muong Lo, made by the Thai people, is not only captivating due to its unique color but also for its wonderful flavor. Those who have tasted it will never forget the chewy texture, sweet taste, and rich flavor blended together to create an irresistibly delicious dish.

Black Sticky Rice Cake in Muong Lo (Photo collected)

Similar to the green sticky rice cake of the Kinh people, the black sticky rice cake of Muong Lo by the Thai people has also been passed down through generations. Every Lunar New Year, savoring a piece of black sticky rice cake, with its aroma blending the scent of burnt rice husk and black sesame flowers, feels like enjoying the essence of grass, fields, earth, sky, and the nature of Western Yen Bai.

This cake symbolizes the gratitude of descendants towards their ancestors and nature. This special cake is an indispensable part of the ancestral offerings during the Lunar New Year.

In the past, this type of cake was only available during festivals, Tet (Lunar New Year), and death anniversaries… but now it has become a common delicacy that everyone wants to buy as a gift for relatives and friends or to enjoy on the spot when they visit here.

Muong Lo’s Wild Bitter Greens

The Thai ethnic group calls wild bitter greens “phac put”. Wild bitter greens are not found in the plains but only in mountainous areas – beside streams, creeks, under low-lying forest canopies where the humidity is high.

For many ethnic groups, wild bitter greens are considered the “king” of vegetables, not only improving the quality of daily meals but also serving as a special dish for guests during festivals. Whenever there is a family or community festival, people rush to the forest to pick wild bitter greens for cooking. Because this vegetable quickly becomes crushed and bruised, it is used fresh off the stem, ensuring it always remains green and of high quality.

Wild Bitter Greens are a delicacy found only in the northern mountainous provinces (Photo collected)

Wild Bitter Greens can be prepared in various dishes. For stir-fried wild bitter greens, an indispensable spice is garlic. Crushed garlic is browned in oil, then the greens are added and stir-fried for five minutes before being seasoned with sugar, MSG, chili sauce, pepper, fresh lime juice, and crushed roasted peanuts…

The Wild Bitter Greens salad always satisfies even the pickiest of eaters. Making the salad is not difficult; young shoots and soft leaves are picked, thoroughly washed, and then blanched by boiling water vigorously before putting the greens in, turning them over once the water reboils, and then draining them in a colander.

Muong Lo Shrimp Paste

Made from small shrimp, pork loin, vegetable oil, and various spices from the local ethnic people, and not to forget the traditional experience of the Northwest ethnic groups, the distinctive flavor of the Shrimp Paste is created.

Shrimp Paste, the renowned delicacy of Muong Lo, Nghia Lo (Photo collected)

Shrimp Paste may seem like a simple and easy dish to make, but not everyone can follow the recipe and achieve delicious results. Each person, each region, has their own secrets that create a difference in the flavor of each dish. Visiting Western Yen Bai, where skillful hands have prepared this dish from very familiar ingredients, brings a full flavor to those who taste it.

To make delicious Shrimp Paste, selecting the right ingredients is very important. From small shrimp, pork, vegetable oil, and various spices from the Muong Lo area, along with the traditional experience of the Northwest ethnic groups, the distinctive flavor of the Shrimp Paste is created. Ingredients for making Shrimp Paste include: peeled small shrimp (stream shrimp), pork (shoulder meat), vegetable oil, spices.

Muong Lo Stream Algae

Muong Lo Stream Algae is long, soft, and very green, making it a dish of the Thai people here for a long time. To fully appreciate the delicious taste of the algae, one must go to the stream to scoop or pick the algae and experience the process of preparing this unique culinary dish.

Stream Algae is a specialty dish of the Thai people across the Northwest (Photo collected)

According to the locals, Muong Lo stream algae appears very mysteriously, as if it originated from the legend of the Thia river. From September, October to May according to the lunar calendar, it is the algae season in Muong Lo. Algae grow on all the rocks in the stream, only dark green and never flowering. Thus, annually, algae grow as a natural law; when they reach a certain length, they will naturally fall off and be carried away by the water flow.

Spring is the best time for Muong Lo stream algae. To choose clean and young algae, it is necessary to pick algae in places where the stream flows strongly and has many large rocks. However, collecting stream algae is not simple because the algae often lie deep underwater, so one must wade down to pick the algae.

Bamboo Shoots

Yen Bai bamboo shoots, a type of bamboo belonging to the bamboo family, with straight buds as big as the handle of a sickle, grow naturally in the hilly regions of Yen Bai such as Van Chan, Tram Tau, especially in Nghia Lo town.

In spring, when the weather is moist, from February to April in the Gregorian calendar, bamboo shoots grow very quickly, the buds poke above the ground, and the Thai, Kho Mu, and Dao ethnic groups often use hoes and diggers to skillfully excavate the shoots buried deep in the ground. The fresh shoots, still covered in soil when peeled, will be plump, white, fresh, and delicious.

Bamboo shoots are widely available for sale in Nghia Lo (Photo collected)

Additionally, a dish made from Yen Bai bamboo shoots that many tourists love is grilled bamboo shoots, a very strange and attractive dish to many. Fresh bamboo shoots, when just dug up and placed on a charcoal stove, grilled evenly, peeling off each outer layer and dipping with chili sauce will taste very fragrant and sweet, an interesting and strange dish.

Also, boiled bamboo shoots, fried until golden, then stewed with duck meat and garlic, eaten hot with pepper, green onions, and cilantro, taste very unique. Bamboo shoots peeled, crushed, and stewed with pork ribs, garlic, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro have a rich flavor. Bamboo shoots stir-fried with chicken giblets, bamboo shoots stir-fried with duck giblets are also very fragrant and delicious. Small split bamboo shoots soaked in chili vinegar and jarred for gradual consumption are also favored by many.

Bamboo Shoots Wrapped in Meat

Bamboo shoots, belonging to the bamboo family, have small, thornless stems. They commonly grow in forests or on mountains. Annually, by December, from beneath the layer of decomposed leaves, the shoots start to emerge, revealing two tiny, dark green ears. The bamboo shoots are at their best from December to about mid-March. Almost every corner of the mountain markets features this specialty.

Bamboo Shoots Wrapped in Meat (Photo collected)

Besides the stuffed bamboo shoots recipe, we can also enjoy bamboo shoots stir-fried with garlic or Vietnamese coriander. Fresh shoots are finely chopped, then garlic is fried until fragrant with plenty of fat before adding the bamboo shoots, making them sweet and crispy. On a dinner table, in the cool weather, amidst drifting fog and the clear sounds of the mountains, this type of cuisine truly shines. If you ever visit one of the northern mountainous provinces, don’t miss out on trying this bamboo shoot dish.

Sun-Dried Sour Bamboo Shoots

Around September to October each year, if tourists have the opportunity to visit Yen Bai, you will surely get to taste a dish considered a unique and enticing specialty of the area, which is Yen Bai’s Sun-Dried Sour Bamboo Shoots.

Sticky Rice with Ant Eggs Mu Cang Chai

Traditionally, during the second and third lunar months each year, it’s the season for ant eggs. Then, people go into the forests together. But to get quality ant eggs, they must be collected on sunny days. If the eggs are wet from the rain, they won’t taste as good. Typically, this task is undertaken by the men, while the cooking is often skillfully done by women.

Sticky rice made from hillside glutinous rice and black ant eggs (Photo collected)

Not every type of ant can be used for collecting eggs to prepare this dish. The locals’ experience dictates that the ants to look for are the “ngat” ants, which are black in color. In the forest, people look for large ant nests in trees and cut them down to collect the eggs. However, the highlanders never take all the eggs from a nest. They always leave a part for the ants to reproduce for the next season.

Preparing sticky rice with ant eggs is quite meticulous and careful. The glutinous rice is soaked and cleaned, soaked for 3-4 hours before being drained and cooked. When the rice grains swell and turn translucent white, exuding a fragrant aroma. Meanwhile, after the ant eggs are collected, they are sieved to remove impurities, then soaked in clean warm water to gently stir, and the eggs are rinsed and drained. The ant eggs are then marinated and sauteed with pickled shallots that have been fried in chicken fat until fragrant, just cooked, and emitting an enticing aroma.

The ant eggs are placed in banana leaves and put into the cooked sticky rice pot, the aroma of the ant eggs combined with the smell of sticky rice, and the rich taste of the ant eggs along with the fragrant scallion oil will be very attractive to tourists. People in the highlands of Yen Bai often eat sticky rice with ant eggs along with dried grilled stream fish dipped in chili salt mixed with lemon…

Luc Yen Ducks

Lam Thuong’s Luc Yen ducks are easily recognizable by their striped feathers, round bodies, short legs, and short necks. The male ducks have a bright blue head and weigh between 2 – 2.5 kg, while the females weigh from 1.8 – 2kg. The duck skin is thin and yellow like chicken skin, and the meat is firm, fragrant, sweet, and richly flavored.

Lam Thuong’s Luc Yen ducks, known for their firm and delicious meat (Photo collected)

Perhaps due to their free-range life among the cool streams flowing from the beautiful and pristine limestone mountains, rarely treaded by humans, along with the lush green fields, the Lam Thuong ducks have the advantage of being fragrant, sweet, with thin skin; they are considered a delicacy by the locals to treat esteemed guests, and visitors from afar always seek to enjoy whenever they visit Luc Yen, becoming one of the top ten famous specialty products of the province.

Luc Yen Capon

Speaking of the cuisine of the gem land Luc Yen, besides pomelos, purple yams, crispy eggplants, seedless persimmons, and Lam Thuong ducks… one cannot forget the Luc Yen capon. With its rich flavor, golden color, crispy and tender meat texture, and sweet taste, the Luc Yen capon becomes an indispensable dish in the New Year’s feast. Each bird weighs from 3 – 3.5kg, with a beautiful appearance, bright red combs, smooth maroon feathers, and long tails… After boiling, the meat turns a shiny yellow and is very aromatic, rich, tender yet firm, sweet, with thick and crispy skin.

Mooc Dish

Just as the Kinh people have the dish “moc” made from raw pork and shiitake mushrooms, served in broth with noodles or rice noodles, the Tay people of Luc Yen also have a similarly named dish “mooc” (pronounced by the Tay with a long, drawn-out sound) but with different ingredients. This dish is not only present in daily meals but also becomes a special dish that cannot be missed in big feasts: on Tet holidays, death anniversaries, weddings… of the Tay people.

Banana flowers are thinly sliced, then soaked in rice wash water or saltwater, then boiled to reduce sap before being pounded finely with other ingredients. Pork, fish, shrimp along with various spices are finely ground. An interesting little note in the Tay’s cooking method is that fish caught from streams are not gutted but left whole because, according to the Tay belief, fish and shrimp raised in streams eat moss, grass, and river deities’ offerings, so they are highly valued.

Then, all the prepared ingredients are mixed well, seasoned with a bit of salt, and sticky rice flour for binding to create raw “mooc” in small clumps, wrapped in dong leaves, and placed in a steaming basket. The steaming takes about 45 minutes, during which the fire must be kept steady. Once cooked, “mooc” is placed on a tray to cool before being served.

In a meal, “mooc” is served on a plate and placed at the center of the table. By this time, it has turned a purplish color, sticky and clumping together like a paste. Dipped in fish sauce with sichuan pepper, eaten with raw vegetables. Experiencing the nutty flavor of banana flowers, the rich sweetness of pork, and shrimp with the spicy taste of seasonings slowly permeates the taste buds, offering us an intriguing experience of the unique culinary culture of the Tay people in Luc Yen.

Red Rice Fermented Pork of the Tay

The red rice fermented pork of the Tay people in Luc Yen is not as elaborate as many other dishes, simply made from ingredients deeply rooted in the countryside of the mountainous people, red rice fermented pork introduces a unique flavor of ethnic cuisine to the diners.

The ingredients for this dish include pork, red rice leaves, galangal, salt, wine… To make delicious fermented pork, the pork must be fresh, half lean half fat or choosing the pork belly is best. On significant occasions, or when Tet comes and a pig is slaughtered, whether big or small, the Tay people in Luc Yen usually set aside the pork belly specifically for making red rice fermented pork.

The most important ingredient for this dish is the indispensable red rice leaves (Photo collected)

Then, the meat is washed, drained, and thinly sliced, marinated with salt and wine (note that it must be sticky rice wine for the best taste). Galangal is thinly sliced, red rice leaves are washed and crushed… All mixed well and put into a jar, sealed and stored in a cool place away from sunlight, after 30 days, a jar of red rice fermented pork will be ready.

To preserve the red rice fermented pork jar for a longer period, after taking some out to eat, it should be tightly sealed again. If the jar is opened frequently, the pork will become spicy and lose its sweet taste. If properly stored, the red rice fermented pork can last about 5 to 6 months.

Nam Thia Stream Fish

The Northwest Thai people consider fish a delicacy in their daily life or during festivals. Pa Khinh Nam Thia (Nam Thia stream fish) is a proud specialty of the Muong Lo people. The fish prefers fast-flowing waters, with a slender body, small head, white scales that shimmer like silver, and sides that gleam green. The largest fish are only about four fingers wide, with firm, sweet, and fragrant meat, few and soft bones.

Sinh fish caught from the Nam Thia river (Photo Collected)

Sinh fish caught in the Nam Thia river can be turned into many fragrant, unique, and delicious dishes by the skillful hands of Thai girls. The dish “pa chen” involves washing the Sinh fish, frying it once, letting it cool, then frying it again. When eaten, guests can easily split the fish into four longitudinal pieces, dipping it in a sauce mixed with lemon, ginger, chili, and Sen seeds (a type of pepper seed), which is incredibly delicious. The meat of the fish is chewy, rich, fragrant, and harmoniously fatty.

The dish “pa pinh top” is prepared by marinating the Sinh fish with ginger, lemongrass, onion, chili, and Sen seeds… folding it in half, sandwiching various aromatic herbs in the middle, then clamping it with bamboo clips and grilling over charcoal. This dish, when eaten hot with fresh rice or Tu Le sticky rice, is satisfying yet not overwhelming.

The dish “pa mo” involves marinating the Sinh fish with sẻn seeds, chili, lemongrass, ginger. Banana flowers from the forest are thinly sliced, soaked in water to remove sap, then mixed evenly with spices, placing the fish in the middle, sprinkled with banana flower salad around, then wrapped in old banana leaves, tied tightly and cooked in a steaming pot. When cooked, sprinkle with crushed sesame and peanuts, and eat hot. The rich flavor of banana flowers combined with the scent of fish and spices stimulates the taste buds and is very unique. Sinh fish can also be made into many other delicious dishes.

Pa Mam

“Pa mam,” as called by the Thai ethnic group, means fish sauce. There are many types of Pa mam, but the most esteemed and delicious one is the Pa mam made from carp. Although the dish is not elaborate, it requires adherence to specific cooking principles.

Grilled fish, a specialty of Thac Ba (Photo collected)

Bong fish has a body similar to black carp, with a belly and fins like carp, a slender mouth, feeding on both plant and animal prey. Bong fish meat is especially delicious when grilled or fried golden. It can also be cooked with sour tai leaves to eat hot, the fish flavor is rich without any fishy smell.

Submerged feeders include nheo fish, trach fish, catfish, bo fish, and nganh fish. Trach fish fried, catfish stewed with ginger leaves. Nheo fish, bo fish cooked in a pot or stewed with green bananas, eating a piece of banana feels mushy like fish meat. Nganh fish cooked with sour vegetables, the best part of the pot is the broth, the sweetness of the fish meat seems to melt and permeate into the body of the consumer.

Floating near the water surface are muong fish, thau dau fish. In Thac Ba Lake when the water level rises for a few years, thau dau fish gather in large schools, scooping a te (a fishing tool) might catch up to a kilo of fish. Fish as small as a finger, cleaned and dried or cooked into banana flower soup with fermented rice. The soup will have a milky white color, the fish tastes slightly bitter, eating is strange but delicious. Thieu Gu fish, head, fins, tail removed, cleaned then ground in a mortar mixed with fragrant leaves turns into a highly favored fish paste dish.

The fish is marinated with spices such as annatto oil, honey, ginger galangal lemongrass chili, pepper, garlic then grilled over charcoal.

Shrimp paste of Thac Ba Lake

Thac Ba is known as a reservoir of shrimps and the shrimp paste of Thac Ba Lake has become famous in the region. With this shrimp paste, it can be eaten with green bananas and boiled pork, sour starfruit along with ginseng leaves, or it can be steamed with rice and chicken eggs to make a delicious and unique dish comparable to a specialty.

Shrimp paste of Thac Ba Lake (Photo collected)

The shrimp paste is incredibly appealing due to its blend of salty, sweet, mildly sour flavors, and its unique aroma. Besides, shrimp can also be stewed with sour starfruit or can be steamed with rice along with chicken eggs, offering a deliciously unique dish that competes with any specialty. Shrimp stew served with sticky white rice can even tempt picky eaters to finish their meal. When the shrimp paste is fully prepared, it turns a deep red color, fried with minced pork and served with Tu Le sticky rice, it becomes an irresistible dish, with the only concern being overindulgence.

Crispy fried stink bugs

Every year, around April during the summer when longan flowers are in full bloom, numerous stink bugs appear densely on the flower clusters covered in white pollen. At this time, the people in Van Chan, Nghia Lo start preparing for the new fruitful season and also enjoy an additional delicious dish – crispy fried stink bugs.

Crispy Fried Stink Bugs (Photo collected)

According to local beliefs, longan stink bugs are considered harmless and beneficial for health because they are parasites that live off the essence of longan trees, and longans are fruits with high nutritional content.

There are many effective ways to catch stink bugs. When the stink bugs are young, simply spraying sour bamboo shoot water onto the longan trees will cause them to fall to the ground. People use bamboo clips to pick each one into a bag. For adult stink bugs that have grown wings, fine and thick nets are used to protect the flowers and fruits of the longan trees.

After setting up the nets, people often use long poles to gently shake each flower cluster, causing the stink bugs to fly away from the cluster and fall to the ground. Those that fall must be quickly picked up to prevent them from flying away.

The preparation of stink bugs here is quite simple. To eliminate their peculiar smell, stink bugs are soaked in water for several hours until they die, and air bubbles from the stink bugs cover the surface of the water. Then, they are taken out, rinsed clean, drained, and then lightly toasted.

Once the stink bugs have been toasted and no longer have their characteristic pungent smell, they emit a very pleasant aroma. Interestingly, there is no need to season the stink bugs with any spices, including fish sauce, salt, or MSG. When ready to eat, pour oil into the pan, then scoop the stink bugs into a metal sieve, dip into the hot oil for a moment, then lift onto a plate for a delicious treat.

Mong People’s Round Cakes in Tram Tau

For the Kinh people, Chung cake is a symbol of Tet, representing the roundness and fullness of the Earth, while for the Mong people, the round cake symbolizes the enduring love and loyalty of Mong men and women. It also represents the Moon and the Sun – the sources of human life and all creatures on Earth.

Round Cake in Mong Language (Photo collected)

As recounted by the Mong elders: Once upon a time, there was a Mong boy named Nu Plai whose lover was captured by the Tiger God to their village. Plai was deeply saddened, suffering to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep, and decided to confront the Tiger God to reclaim his lover. The journey was long and fraught with perilous mountains and valleys to reach the place where his love was held captive. Plai devised a plan to cook sticky rice and mold it into cakes (now called round cakes) as sustenance for his quest.

After enduring many hardships, Plai found the dwelling of the Tiger God. Touched by the Mong boy’s true love, the Tiger God returned his lover to him. Since then, the round cake has become a symbol of enduring love among Mong couples. The legend of the round cake symbolizing the love of Mong couples has become a part of life, a beautiful cultural aspect of the people’s lives.

Luc Yen Banana Cake

Bananas have long been a familiar and integral part of life for the Tay people in Luc Yen, due to the many benefits that banana plants offer. From ripe, golden bananas, the Tay people in Luc Yen district, Yen Bai province, have skillfully created incredibly appealing banana cakes. The allure of banana cake comes not just from its filling of beans, peanuts, and sugar but also from the use of bananas for the rest of the ingredients.

Luc Yen Banana Cake (Photo collected)

The banana cake of Luc Yen is not just a dish; it embodies the spiritual values of the community. It represents the spirit of thriftiness and the close, harmonious relationship with nature of the locals. Therefore, the preparation of banana cake is always elaborate, meticulous, and labor-intensive. It is particularly prevalent during significant occasions like festivals or ancestral worship among the Tay ethnic group. On such important events, banana cake is an indispensable item on the ancestral offering table.

Yen Bai Purple Sweet Potato

Luc Yen Purple Sweet Potato (Photo collected)

In the region of Luc Yen, Yen Bai province, the taro root (also known as purple sweet potato, taro, or mountain yam) is highly regarded in the culinary culture of the local community. Although grown in many rural areas, the taro cultivated on Luc Yen land is especially prized for its richness, fragrance, and distinct flavor. Alongside the common yam variety, Luc Yen’s purple sweet potato is uniquely colored, from its skin to its flesh, displaying a striking purple hue or white flesh dotted with tiny purple spots that are visually appealing.

Luc Yen purple sweet potato is a prominent crop in the highlands of Yen Bai. Simple and humble, it leaves a lasting impression on visitors with its subtly sweet and creamy taste, making this dish famous far and wide. Anyone passing through this region would want to try it.

Yen Bai Specialty

Mu Cang Chai Late-ripening Plums

In Mu Cang Chai, late-ripening plums are cultivated in Kim Noi commune. While not as extensively planted as in other areas, each Hmong family here still tends to about a dozen trees. Unlike the Tam Hoa plum and other varieties, these plums ripen late, usually in June of the Gregorian calendar, and the ripe fruits are either green or slightly yellow.

Late-ripening Plums (Photo collected)

Visitors to Mu Cang Chai during this season are not only treated to the majestic and vast landscapes of terraced fields, the peaceful Hmong villages perched precariously on the side of rocky mountains, but also to the sight of heavy branches of late-ripening plums in the orchards of the Hmong people in Kim Noi commune.

Even more interestingly, visitors can capture memorable photos right in the orchard beside the plum trees with their bright green fruits, experience picking plums directly from the trees, and enjoy the fresh, sweet taste of ripe plums still on the branch, appreciating the natural purity, freshness, and sweetness.

Van Chan Longan Honey

By the end of April, from Yen Bai city, the sky heavy with moisture from after Tet makes the region damp and humid, but crossing the Ach Pass, the sun bursts out making everyone’s spirits rise. Longan honey harvested in highland districts like Song Ma (Son La) and Van Chan (Yen Bai), where crops are not treated with chemical fertilizers or pesticides, is especially aromatic and does not ferment.

Dai Minh Pomelo

Yen Binh is famous for its delicious Dai Minh pomelo variety. Dai Minh pomelo has been recognized by scientists as one of the seven rare and famously delicious pomelo varieties, comparable to other prestigious types such as Nam Roi, Phuc Trach, Dien pomelo, and Thanh Tra…

Specialty Pomelo from Dai Minh Commune, Yen Binh (Photo collected)

Dai Minh pomelo is famously delicious, long becoming a specialty of this rural area and a pride of Yen Bai residents. The Dai Minh Pomelo Festival and the exploration of the national scenic site Thac Ba Lake are held annually.

Mu Cang Chai Son Tra Fruit

Taste of the fruit: When consuming Son Tra from Mu Cang Chai, one will notice a slightly astringent, sweet, and sour taste, not overly sweet or sharply astringent like other Son Tra varieties. The fruit is quite crunchy, not soft or mushy. Eating it gives a slightly gritty feeling on the teeth. This is also the noticeable teeth whitening effect of Son Tra when used regularly.

Mu Cang Chai’s “Son Tra” fruit, when soaked in wine, emits a delightful aroma (Photo collected)

Mu Cang Chai Son Tra fruit purchased for soaking in wine is very fragrant. Its shape is round, slightly flat, with a white to pink hue when ripe, and a pleasant aroma. To choose a delicious fruit, do not opt for the largest but rather a medium-sized one; a fruit being worm-eaten can also indicate a tasty Son Tra fruit. When held, Mu Cang Chai Son Tra fruit feels quite firm; even when the fruit dries out, it remains firm rather than becoming soft or mushy like other types of fruit.

Van Yen Cinnamon

Thanks to its high mountainous terrain and climate conducive to the growth of cinnamon trees, the Van Yen cinnamon region has been established for a long time and is closely associated with the lives of the Dao people. The Dao people in Van Yen are hardworking and devoted to cinnamon cultivation, so their unique experiences in cinnamon cultivation, such as selecting varieties, planting, caring, harvesting, and preserving, also bear the cultural identity of the Dao ethnic group.

Smoked buffalo meat is a specialty of the Northwest mountainous region (Photo collected)

Buffalo meat is marinated with various spices (including the indispensable mac khen) according to a unique recipe depending on the chef before being dried. If dried with smoke over a wood fire, the buffalo meat will have a slightly smoky scent, but it’s very delicious. This dish is not always readily available and often requires pre-ordering.

Yen Bai Sausage

Making Yen Bai sausage (lap xuong) involves a secret recipe not known everywhere. With a basic formula including finely chopped pork belly, MSG, pepper, honey, sugar, and white wine, creating the famously delicious sausage requires unique expertise.

Sausage is often produced and processed in the northern mountainous provinces (Photo collected)

Making sausage (lap xuong) requires careful attention to marination time, firewood management, not allowing high heat, and not letting the fire go out during the meat fermentation stage… otherwise, the sausage (lap xuong) can sour and spoil over time. The fuel for drying meat and sausage (lap xuong) is not simple; it must be charcoal, sugarcane bagasse, rice husk, fresh cinnamon leaves, and if wood, it should be fresh cinnamon tree trunks.

According to those in the sausage (lap xuong) trade, many people wrongly use honeycomb charcoal, which is very harmful; wood can contain various toxic substances, and the toxic smoke can adhere to the meat causing harm, especially abdominal pain. Therefore, it must specifically be charcoal or cinnamon wood. If you ever visit the highlands of Yen Bai, remember not to miss this sausage to experience the difference from sausages elsewhere!

La Pan Tan Sticky Rice Wine

La Pan Tan Rice Wine (Photo collected)

According to the elders of the Mong people in La Pan Tan village, the Mong have been making this precious rice wine for a very long time. Every household has plenty of wine, but only special guests are invited to drink it. And when you drink, you must drink from a bowl, finishing all the wine in the house.

The host “welcomes” guests with two bowls of wine, and the guests must reciprocate with two bowls. After drinking, faces bright with smiles, shaking hands, and then drinking more. Drinking until completely unaware of anything, then both the host and guest fall asleep together on the straw-covered earth floor. That’s how it is with the Mong’s honored guests.

The good thing about Mong wine is that it never causes headaches like vodka or other chemically treated liquors from the lowlands. After a night of heavy drinking, one wakes up clear-headed as if after a good sleep. La Pan Tan rice wine is so famous that every New Year, people from Hanoi would drive up to buy tens of liters to drink and to give as gifts. A liter costs about 30,000 VND, not much, but it’s an additional income source for the people of La Pan Tan.

Suoi Giang Snow Shan Tea

If you have ever visited Suoi Giang commune, Van Chan district, Yen Bai province, you would be amazed at the vast expanse of ancient Snow Shan tea trees with their large, mold-white trunks twisting into many branches, requiring pickers to climb up to harvest. The ancient Snow Shan tea trees have trunks as thick as several people hugging, mold-white in color, with a canopy spreading over 20m², and dark green leaves.

Suoi Giang Snow Shan Tea (Photo collected)

The ancient tea trees are so numerous that K. M. Djemmukhatze, a member of the A-Ba-Cu Institute of Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, exclaimed during his research visit to Suoi Giang in the 1960s, “I have traveled through 120 tea-growing countries around the world, but I have never seen such ancient tea trees as in Suoi Giang. Could this be the origin of the tea tree? The tea here is unique; in a cup of green tea, it contains all 18 top flavors of tea in the world” (as noted in the Suoi Giang commune’s guestbook).

Benefiting from the cool, year-round high mountain climate, often shrouded in clouds and fog, the tea here has large buds covered in a fine, velvet-like, snow-white down. The Snow Shan Tea is a naturally growing plant in the high mountains, nourished by the essence of earth and sky, resulting in large, dark green buds and leaves covered in a thin layer of snow-like down. Hence, the tea is named Snow Shan (tea that absorbs the snow on the high mountains).

Suoi Giang Snow Shan Tea has always been ranked at the top of the tea category. It is often referred to as the “five extremes” tea: “Extreme hardship” in cultivation and harvesting; “extremely clean” due to the climatic conditions, environment, and care by the farmers; “extremely rare” due to its low production (to date, even with an increase in cultivation area, the annual harvest is only about 200 tons of tea buds); “extremely delicious” with all the top qualities that every cup of tea must have, such as aroma, rich flavor, and green color. And due to the four “extremes” mentioned, it is naturally “extremely expensive.”

Van Chan Oranges

In the early 1980s, Van Chan district began to transform its agricultural structure, gradually replacing less efficient crops with fruit trees.

Van Chan Oranges (Photo: hachi8)

Visiting the land of Van Chan – Yen Bai, we will have the opportunity to behold endless orange orchards, spreading across the hillsides. Van Chan oranges are juicy, have few seeds, and possess a distinctive aroma, making them a wonderful gift for the health of loved ones.

If you find our content helpful, please consider buying us a coffee by clicking the donate button. Your contributions help us continue delivering even better quality content. Thank you!

[paypal-donation]