The traditional cuisine of the local ethnic minorities in Dak Nong province bears the mark of the mountains and forests. Coming here, visitors must definitely enjoy dishes made from bamboo shoots and bep leaves (a type of wild vegetable) - products of the Dak Nong mountains and forests...
Gift from nature
Living close to nature, for generations, the local ethnic minorities M'nong, Ma, Ede on the M'nong Plateau - Dak Nong have accumulated a lot of experience in finding cooking ingredients on the hills or deep forests.
From wild vegetables, people combine them to make many unique, delicious and nutritious dishes. Among them are rattan shoots (the delicious shoots of rattan) and bep-rau bep leaves (leaf of the rattan plant).
Bamboo shoots and betel leaves are precious products of the mountains and forests. These are ingredients used to prepare rustic, flavorful dishes.
People not only use bamboo shoots and betel leaves in their daily meals but also cherish them as offerings and enjoy them during holidays, Tet, and traditional festivals.
The M'nong people in Dak Nong province go to the forest to collect rattan shoots to process into delicious dishes, specialties.
Betel leaves are wild vegetables, which can be considered a gift from nature. Betel leaves are found in many traditional dishes such as thut soup, boi soup, stewed bitter eggplant...
For different dishes, you can choose old or young betel leaves to prepare. The locals believe that picking young betel leaves after a rainy day is the best. At this time, the leaves are very clean, and when used for cooking, they will retain the special flavor of the mountains and forests.
The rattan shoot is the top part of the rattan tree. This is a type of tree that grows naturally in the forest with thorny branches. Rattan is durable, strong, and termite-resistant, so it is a natural material used in weaving and handicraft products of the local people.
Rattan grows on high ground in the mountains. Collecting rattan shoots takes a lot of effort, so people consider this a precious product of the mountains and forests. After cutting them from the forest, the rattan peels off its bark, only the young shoots on top are used as food.
According to the experience of the people, bamboo shoots and leaves have many uses in health care such as treating bloating, flatulence; detoxifying alcohol; helping new mothers produce more milk; very good for the elderly and malnourished children...
Fresh bep leaves (picked from the bep tree, a type of forest tree with young leaves that are good for health, good for people who have just recovered from illness) are picked from the forest by the M'nong people in Dak Nong province for their daily meals.
Many traditional dishes - unique specialties
From the main ingredients of betel leaves and bamboo shoots, with different processing methods, dishes with unique flavors are created such as thut soup, boi soup, forest leaf hotpot, grilled bamboo shoots with chili salt, bamboo shoot salad with pork belly, stir-fried bamboo shoots with betel leaves and beef tripe...
These dishes have become specialties in the traditional cuisine of Dak Nong province. The M'nong, Ma, and Ede people have many ways of preparing and creating their own flavors for their ethnic dishes. The dishes have different names, but in general, the preparation method and main ingredients are the same.
From ancient times until now, almost all M'nong, Ma, Ede people know how to make thut soup. The main ingredients to make this delicious dish are betel leaves, bamboo shoots, bitter eggplant, stream fish (or meat), and wild chili.
After being pre-processed, all the ingredients are put into a bamboo tube longer than 1 meter and cooked over hot coals for about 30 minutes. When the ingredients are soft, use a long, thin bamboo stick to push back and forth many times until they are soft and well mixed. That is why this dish is called "thut soup".
People cook betel leaves, rattan shoots with rice flour, fish or meat to make a unique and nutritious soup.
Soup compensation is cooked all year round. The dish is cool, easy to digest, helps users recover their health after a hard day of work as well as balances and harmonizes a meal with many hot dishes.
Bamboo shoots and betel leaves are the main ingredients in many traditional dishes that are indispensable in the culinary life of the M'nong ethnic group in Dak Nong.
From simple ingredients such as old betel leaves, dried banana peels, and monosodium glutamate leaves (wild wormwood) create a unique ash soup.
Old betel leaves are cut into small pieces, rice flour (rice and betel leaves pounded into powder) is mixed with water from banana peel ash, add dried shrimp and soak overnight before cooking.
When cooking the soup of the leaves of the plant (vegetables), you can add wild chicken or cheo meat if available. The dish is cooked in bamboo tubes, when cooked it has a chewy, delicious taste and is eaten with rice.
Dishes made from bamboo shoots can be prepared in many ways such as boiling, stir-frying, grilling, making soup... Although simple, grilled bamboo shoots served with green chili salt create a rustic yet unique flavor.
When grilling under red charcoal, you must twist the bamboo shoots to create air holes to avoid explosions and damage to the inside. The unique dishes above carry the philosophy of living close to nature, relying on the mountains and forests of the people here.
Special flavor that makes you remember
When processed, bamboo shoots have a bitter taste, then sweet, rich, and fatty, creating a very unique flavor. Visitors from far away who enjoy bamboo shoots for the first time will find them more bitter than bitter melon.
The fragrant inner part of grilled bamboo shoots eaten with chili salt creates an unforgettable feeling. But just eat it a second time, the bitterness will quickly decrease, mixed with sweetness, coolness, crunchiness, and a pleasant aroma.
When cooked, the betel leaves have a chewy, sweet and nutty taste. Therefore, the betel leaf soup has a combination of sweet, nutty, bitter, spicy, etc.
When eaten with rice, just a little taste of the soup is enough to taste delicious, full of flavor in one dish. Especially the spiciness of the chili stimulates the taste buds of the person enjoying it.
Children who live far from home always enjoy eating Canh Thut on family reunion days. Because this dish has entered the consciousness of the M'nong, Ma, and Ede people.
Grilled bamboo shoots with fresh crunchiness served with salt and chili
Also from this uniqueness, with a little change and "innovation", the dish "thut" has gradually become popular in the lives of ethnic people, becoming a dish that causes "memorability", an unforgettable impression for diners near and far when coming to Dak Nong province.
These rustic dishes have become "specialties" available in many restaurants and eateries in Dak Nong, attracting diners to enjoy.
Source: https://danviet.vn/la-bep-la-nhip-loai-rau-rung-dak-nong-an-ngot-nhu-mi-chinh-dinh-ti-nuoc-tot-um-can-cha-kip-20250311162552752.htm
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