300 kilometres in Northwest far from Hanoi, Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai is favourite place for adventurers who love natural beauty and love enjoying highland atmosphere.
In Mu Cang Chai, you can enjoy typical dishes of ethnic groups as Hmong, Thai… like: Green rice, Five colors sticky rice, black Chung Cake, Pa Pinh Top grilled fish, grilled chicken with leaves of Mac Mat, dried buffalo meat…These are all traditional dishes of local ethnic minorities.
Green Rice (Cốm)
Tu Le commune, Van Chan district (Yen Bai) has been well-known for a big round and white of special sticky rice. This rice has a special taste aromatic when cook sticky rice, and so sweet and cool when make Com (Green Rice)
Com (Green Rice), that is young rice grains are harvested . Rice is not to beat or crumple up, it must be pluck off , leave rice straw, give through water and roast dry in pan. Roasting pan is made by cast iron, so every grain cereal will not be burned but it is still delicious. They are then poured into the rice mortar and slightly pounded with a wooden pestle until the husk is removed from the young sticky grains.
To enjoy Com, it is advisable to chew it slowly so that one can feel the stickiness of the young rice and at the same time enjoy its sweet, fragrant taste.
Five colors sticky rice
This is a common dish for party of the populations in northwest of Vietnam, especially Thais people in Mu Cang Chai of the Yen Bai province. The name of the dish comes from the fact that it has 5 colors. According to different requirements, they can use more or less colors but often there are white, black, purple, yellow colors which are the most used.
Black Chung Cake
This is a typical dish of Thai ethnic group in Nghia Lo valley in the province of Yen Bai. Normally, the black Banh Chung is made on the occasion of Tet festival like Kinh people, but if you’re lucky, you always see it at the fair in Mu Cang Chai.
Pa pinh Top grilled fish
If visiting to Mu Cang Chai, but not yet enjoy grilled fish, then your journey really incomplete. Pa Pinh Top grilled fish is an indispensable dish in the cuisine of the Thai ethnic people in Vietnam.
Depending on the language of this people, this name means “folded and grilled fish.” Pa Pinh Top they usually only used for baking carp stream or can be made from any kind of fish. Spring fish usually eat algae, leaves and crustaceans should be very clean, the operation did not find the smell. The cook takes typical spices in the gastronomy of Thai people in Mu Cang Chai to marinate: Seeds of Mac Khen, ginger, garlic, aromatic herbs of different kinds…
The fish is placed directly on the coals or in a grid. The fish has a mild flavor, firm but not dry. Thanks to spices mixed in fish, this dish remains always and especially in the minds of guests.
Chicken grilled with honey leaf and bias sauce
Grilled chicken with honey is suffering the bitter, the sweet leaves. Besides, people often put the chicken with “occipital cross” information and chicken liver mixture, lemon pepper, garlic, fruits getting compliments. Occipital map dotted diagonal is a special kind of ethnic, steam and special match. When served with grilled chicken, diners can feel the sweet and sour taste of bile infected leaves, the sound of suffering mild and slightly spicy chili compliment.
Honey forest in Mu Cang Chai
Not only famous for the scenic National terraces, with the unique culture of the Mong ethnic people but it also has a four-season flowers blooming forests, rich flavor race, made kind tingle forest known for its honey folk name “Mu Cang Chai honey forest.”
Mu Cang Chai Honey is one of the specialties of Yen Bai province, this is the type of honey that bees nest in the cave, hollow tree, bees themselves in search of flower nectar and forests should be completely pure, color yellow, matching characteristics, pure sweet taste, not crystallized, but also work to foster health and healing is very good.
Mận tam hoa(plum three flowers) in Mu Cang Chai
In our country is already very popular with plum flowers Bac Ha, Lao Cai, but perhaps more people away from the Yen Bai though still hard to forget the strong-tasting, sour but not bitter, slightly crunchy and very tasty Mu Cang Chai plum three flowers.
Guests to Mu Cang Chai plum season, not only watch and admire the magnificent space, immense, identical messages of terraced fields, the peaceful Hmong village nestled inside cliffs protruding, but also enjoy the sweet tart crisp, cool the triangle plum blossom to forget thirst and fatigue after the long journey across the mountains winding, rolling. We can say Mu Cang Chai plum three flowers is not only delicious but also a specialty that many people have loved and used as a courtesy gift each time going farther.