Ca Mau has woven a simple yet attractive culinary culture, demonstrating cultural exchange with interesting mixed dishes such as vermicelli soup, spicy rice noodles, crab vermicelli soup...
Located in the southernmost part of the country, Ca Mau is a fertile land with old forests, seas and rivers. The diverse ecosystem along with the ingenuity and creativity of the local people have created a unique culinary culture, making visitors who have enjoyed it always remember it.
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| Nam Can crab, famous specialty of Ca Mau. |
The most diverse ecosystem
There are few places where the natural picture is as full of colors as Ca Mau Cape. When visiting Ca Mau, you will take a boat through the mangrove forest in U Minh Ha, watch fishing on Thi Tuong lagoon, known as the "sea lake in the middle of the plain", or watch the flocks of storks flying.
Exploring the vast mangrove forests of Ca Mau is to explore the second most diverse ecosystem in the world after the Amazon rainforest in South America. This place is home to hundreds of species of trees, hundreds of species of fish, shrimp and dozens of species of animals, and visitors will feel the pristine, pure air and breathtaking beauty.
Thanks to the richness of nature and the temperate equatorial climate with two distinct rainy and dry seasons, the diversity of culture as it is home to many ethnic groups such as Kinh, Khmer, Hoa... Ca Mau has woven a simple yet attractive culinary culture, showing cultural exchange with interesting mixed dishes such as vermicelli soup, spicy rice noodles, and crab vermicelli soup.
Ca Mau cuisine - the quintessence of the land
The "delicacies and strange things" in Ca Mau seem endless, thanks to the parallel existence of two freshwater and mangrove ecosystems, giving tourists extremely rich travel experiences.
If you have the opportunity to visit U Minh Ha National Park, the first dish that tourists should try is grilled snakehead fish. Ca Mau people especially love grilled dishes, to the point that there is a saying: "first grilled, second fried, third stir-fried, fourth boiled", in which grilled is a way of preparing dishes that was born during the time of reclamation of Ca Mau, a way of preparing dishes that is not too sophisticated or delicate, but still retains the fresh flavor of the ingredients.
To fully enjoy the deliciousness of grilled snakehead fish with wild vegetables, visitors should find a space close to nature, where the sky and earth are open and enjoy the open-minded spirit of the people of the land.
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| U Minh fish sauce hotpot. |
Another famous dish of U Minh Ha is fish sauce hotpot. With the characteristic flavor of the hotpot broth cooked with fish sauce, mixed with the aroma of minced lemongrass and herbs, the taste becomes more intense and attractive. The deliciousness of fish sauce hotpot not only comes from the ingredients with strong Ca Mau flavor, but also from the hospitality of the people here.
Insects are an interesting element in the culinary culture of U Minh Ha. Dishes made from bees, palm grubs, crickets or ginseng may make visitors hesitate to try them at first, but once they try them, they will immediately be fascinated.
Deep in the U Minh Ha forest, there is a famous beekeeping profession for collecting honey. In addition to collecting sweet and fragrant honey, bee pupae are also an ingredient for processing the Ca Mau specialty, young bee salad. Young bee pupae are mixed with herbs, basil, Vietnamese coriander and sweet and sour fish sauce. Mixing the salad will preserve the essence of young bees and create a delicious dish with the bold flavor of the U Minh Ha forest. Enjoying young bee pupae has become an indispensable part for tourists on their journey to explore the land.
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| Mudskippers can be prepared in many different ways, typically grilled fish with salt and chili. |
The mangrove ecosystem also brings Ca Mau specialties from the river such as mantis shrimp, mudskipper, three-striped crab sauce, milk oysters, and blood cockles. Mudskipper is also a rare specialty that is hard to find, because this fish can both swim underwater and climb trees. Above all, mudskipper has high nutritional value, firm, soft, succulent, and delicious meat. You can enjoy mudskipper grilled with salt and chili, hot and sour hot pot, or braised with pepper...
Dried mudskippers are also a popular gift for tourists to give to friends and relatives after each trip. The most famous specialty of the southernmost region of the country is definitely crab. People call Ca Mau the "kingdom of crabs" with two main types: sweet and fragrant crab meat and fatty crab roe.
The best crab is from Nam Can, a coastal district with two sides facing the sea with the Cua Lon River flowing through carrying salty alluvium. This crab has firm meat, fresh water, fatty roe, high nutritional content and is in the top 100 Vietnamese specialties.
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| Three-crab fish sauce, a typical specialty of Ca Mau. |
Ca Mau people have a variety of ways to prepare crabs that you can eat forever without getting bored. You can eat steamed crabs to enjoy the rich, sweet taste of crabs, or try crabs fried with perilla sauce and crabs fried with tamarind, which are rich in flavor. Without elaborate ways of preparation, Ca Mau people like to enjoy and honor the rustic, simple flavors of the dish and take advantage of available ingredients, spices, and vegetables from homegrown plants. Your journey to explore the land will be truly interesting and complete when you enjoy the above specialties because they are the quintessence of heaven and earth that nature has bestowed upon this land.
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