If you’re planning a visit to Thai Binh, be sure to try these amazing dishes. With the delicious Thai Binh dishes listed in the following article, RuudNguyen.com will provide you with a unique perspective on the simple yet unique culinary delights of this region.
Delicious Thai Binh Dishes
Nguyen Village’s Banh Cay
This is a delicious and famous dish in Thai Binh (Photo collected)
The name of the cake originates from the golden sticky rice grains, which are soaked, mixed with red gac fruit to cook sticky rice, then pressed, cut into small pieces and dried (its yellow color resembling frog eggs, hence the name “banh cay”). Many places in Thai Binh make banh cay, but the most famous version comes from Nguyen village, located in Nguyen Xa commune, Dong Hung district. The quality banh cay must ensure a moderate sweetness, aromatic with roasted peanuts and sesame, rich with pumpkin jam, the creaminess of sticky rice, coconut, and a hint of spicy ginger…
Snakehead Fish Salad (Gỏi Nhệch)
Eating “nhệch” with a special kind of fish sauce, accompanied by “lá xung” and “lộc vừng” (Photo collected)
“Nhệch” is neither a fish, a snake, nor an eel. It has a long body, a white belly, and can live in both saltwater and freshwater environments. “Nhệch” can be prepared into many delicious dishes, but for the people of Diem Dien, Thai Thuy, Thai Binh, “nhệch” salad is the number one choice. The salad is served with various leaves such as “cúc tần”, “vọng cách”, “đinh lăng”, “mùi tàu”, “húng quế”, “lá sắn”, “lá sung”, “lá si”, banana blossoms, green banana, star fruit, chili… with sour, spicy, bitter, astringent, fragrant, and rich flavors.
Quynh Coi fish soup
Quynh Coi Fish Soup (Photo Collected)
The main ingredients for this fish soup are Quynh Coi vermicelli, which are small, transparent, and neatly arranged, turning pure white, crispy, and aromatic with a rice fragrance when cooked. The essential ingredient is “cá quả”, “cá rô đồng” (wild carp), or “cá trắm”, especially the black “cá trắm”. A special process that creates the unique flavor of Thai Binh fish soup is the broth and various spices and herbs that accompany it. The broth is made from the fish head and bones simmered until tender, with a bit of seasoning to create a clear, sweet, and rich soup.
Bo Guava
When eating Bo Guava, it’s best not to cut it into slices (Photo Collected)
Along with “Banh Cay” from Nguyen village, Bo Guava has long been a specialty of Thai Binh, known to many for embodying the essence of Thai Binh’s land and people. There are various types of Bo Guava: some look like flattened oranges, others resemble pears, and there are those that look like five-segmented, ridged fruits. However, the quality and taste of the authentic Bo Guava come from the fruit grown on the original soil of Bo village with its fine alluvial soil, harvested only once a year in July.
Dai Dong Thorn Cake
Dai Dong Thorn Cake (Photo Collected)
In the past, Dai Dong Thorn Cake, a specialty of Thai Binh, wasn’t as commercially available as it is now; it was traditionally made only during the Tet festival. Initially prepared as an offering to the ancestors, it was later enjoyed during the spring days or given as gifts to friends living afar. The ingredients for making this cake include readily available rural products like thorn leaves, sticky rice, sesame, peanuts, green beans, winter melon jam, coconut pulp, granulated sugar, pork fat, lotus seeds, banana oil, etc.
Thai Thuy Jellyfish Salad
Thai Thuy Jellyfish Salad is a famous specialty of the Thai Binh sea (Photo Collected)
Thai Thuy Jellyfish Salad is a refreshing, heat-relieving dish. Those who have tried it in the summer will always remember its cool and refreshing taste, a characteristic seafood flavor of this rural area. Jellyfish belong to the soft-bodied, gelatinous animals living in aquatic environments, related to corals. They have transparent, glass-like bodies, soft as leaves, and come in various colors, from blue, pink to purple. Summer is the jellyfish season, with the peak in April and May. A good jellyfish salad is crispy, aromatic, and dry after preparation.
Ben Hiep Rice Flour Dumpling
Here, the rice flour dumpling is made with plain rice flour, making it light and not too filling (Photo Collected)
The rice flour dumplings here are made with plain rice flour, resulting in a dish that is light and not too filling, suitable as a snack or even as a meal replacement, a tradition passed down through generations. The dumplings are made with finely milled rice flour and lean pork shoulder for the filling, along with wood ear mushrooms, dried onions, pepper, fish sauce, salt, etc., and are boiled for 45 to 60 minutes. The dumplings are shaped long and bulging, like a cupped hand with fingers close together, and are wrapped in banana leaves.
Banana Flower Pork Noodle Soup
Banana flower pork noodle soup is served with water spinach, aromatic herbs, and small slices of banana flower marinated in vinegar (Photo Collected)
The bowl of banana flower pork noodle soup exudes the simple essence of the countryside, with its white noodles mingling in a slightly cloudy broth, topped with bright red tomato slices, pale pork trotter meat, firm pig’s knuckle, and fragrant river snail sausage. The dish is a captivating blend of sweet broth, rich but not overpowering pork trotter, and a gentle astringency from the banana flowers, enhanced by the aroma of river snail leaves.
Turmeric Cake
Turmeric Cake is so named because its main ingredients are plain rice and fresh turmeric (Photo Collected)
For an unknown length of time, Turmeric Cake has been a popular local food at village markets in Nam Trung, Nam Thanh, Nam Hong, Nam Thang, Nam Chinh of Tien Hai district. Unlike “banh chung”, “banh nep”, “banh mat”, or “banh ran”, which are made from glutinous rice, Turmeric Cake is made from plain rice, making it lighter and less likely to cause discomfort. The people of Tien Hai believe that eating Turmeric Cake stimulates digestion and is good for physical development, as it does not contain preservatives or artificial colors.
Don Soup, Stir-Fried Don with Betel Leaves
Don is a type of mollusk with a shell similar to clams or mussels (Photo Collected)
Don meat is naturally sweet and tender, and when combined with the aromatic betel leaves and crispy fried prawns, it creates a delicious dish. This is a popular local delicacy in Thai Binh province. The don creature (also known as “con dat”) lives buried in sand, has a thin shell resembling a “tram” fruit but only measures 1-2 cm in length. Don are plentiful in the Tien Hai area of Thai Binh. Having cooling properties, a naturally sweet taste, don is believed to be beneficial for diuresis, improving energy flow, cooling the liver, and providing excellent heat relief.
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