Top 10 delicious dishes when traveling to Ha Giang

CGTĐT - Ha Giang - Asia's leading regional cultural destination not only has majestic natural scenery but Ha Giang's cuisine also makes any tourist who comes to Ha Giang remember it.

1. Thang Co

This is one of the famous delicacies at the highland markets and restaurants of Ha Giang. Thang co in the Mong language is called Khau Tha, which means meat soup, including all the organs of cows, buffaloes or goats; but beef thang co is the best. To cook a pot of thang co, people will take the organs and four lower limbs of the cow, wash them, then cut them into squares the size of two knuckles, marinate them with fish sauce, salt, pepper, doi seeds, lemongrass, and ginger; when the water boils, put the meat in and simmer until cooked, pour in the blood that has been coagulated into small square pieces, stir well when the blood is cooked. Thang co should be eaten with men men and drunk with a bowl of corn wine for the best taste. The dish of thang co and armpit pork was recognized by the Vietnam Record Organization as one of the Top 100 specialty dishes and Top 100 outstanding specialty gifts of 63 provinces and cities of Vietnam (5th time, 2021 - 2022).

The price of a bowl of thang co is from 50,000 to 60,000 VND at highland markets; from 800,000 to 1,500,000 VND/pot at restaurants.

2. Thang Den

The main ingredient of Thang Den is glutinous rice flour, when cooked, it is sprinkled with roasted peanuts, sesame seeds, a little fresh coconut meat and served with spicy ginger syrup which is very effective in warming the body. This dish is best eaten hot, suitable for eating in the cold winter.

Thang Den dish in Dong Van Old Quarter, Ha Giang.

The price of a bowl of Thang Den is about 15,000-25,000 VND.

3. Buffalo jerky

Smoked buffalo meat is the traditional dish that makes up the brand of Ha Giang specialties. Smoked buffalo meat has a strong culinary style of Ha Giang people.

Fresh buffalo meat is marinated with spicy mac khen seeds and traditional spices, then hung over the kitchen to get the characteristic smoky flavor, creating the finished product of buffalo meat hung on the kitchen of the mountainous region. The meat on the outside is dark brown but the inside is an eye-catching red color and rich in flavor.

Selling price ranges from 800,000 - 1,100,000 VND/1 kg.

4. Moss dish

Moss dishes are considered a natural specialty that does not require spending money to buy ingredients to process. Moss grows naturally on rocky outcrops, clinging to the rock edges under the stream bed and is collected and processed until all sand and dirt are gone. After processing, it can be processed into dishes such as: steamed moss, moss soup, stir-fried moss, moss salad, grilled moss depending on each person's preference. Moss dishes are mainly found in the western districts of Ha Giang, where many Tay ethnic people live.

Moss is wrapped in leaves and grilled.

Prices range from 120,000-150,000 VND/plate at restaurants and homestays.

5. Humpback Chung Cake

Humpback Chung Cake is a typical and popular cake made from sticky rice of the Tay ethnic group in Ha Giang. The filling is made from peeled green beans and thinly sliced black pork. The cake is shaped like a woman carrying a basket on her back, bending down. This is an indispensable cake during the holidays of the Tay people. The cake is wrapped very carefully and displayed on the altar to worship ancestors and used in traditional meals. Up to now, to meet the needs of the tourism development market, many reputable establishments have wrapped thousands of humpback Chung Cakes every day to sell to the market.

Humpback Chung Cake usually has two types: Black Chung Cake and Green Chung Cake. For Black Chung Cake, the Tay people will color it in many different ways such as using sticky rice, núc nác tree, sesame tree, salted xoan tree... washed, dried, burned into charcoal and then pounded very finely and mixed with rice when boiled to produce black cakes.

As for the green banh chung, the Tay people will grind the leaves of the galangal tree, mix the water with the rice, and when boiled, the cake will have an attractive green color, eye-catching while still retaining the sweet aroma of the rice.

Price ranges from 10,000 - 35,000 VND/piece depending on the size of the cake.

6. Yellow Beef

Yellow beef is a product from the Yellow Cow (Mong cow, or Cat cow), a native breed of Ha Giang province, raised mainly in 4 districts of the Dong Van stone plateau. This is a breed of cow that can withstand harsh natural conditions quite well; has high meat yield, delicious and nutritious meat quality; became a typical OCOP product of Ha Giang in 2018. With special meat quality, delicious flavor and high nutritional value. This is not only a prominent agricultural product but also an important source of income for thousands of ethnic minority households here.

High quality Hmong beef products are packaged and preserved for consumption.

The price of fresh beef ranges from 400,000 - 450,000 VND/kg depending on the type of meat.

7. Pickled mustard greens

Cay mustard greens are a familiar vegetable in the highlands of Ha Giang, often grown by the Mong and Lo Lo people along with other plants. You can easily find this vegetable sold in abundance and at very low prices at highland markets. Just seeing the scene of people crowding the stalls selling Cay mustard greens is enough to know how special its flavor is.

Pickled mustard greens.

After removing the old, hard outer skin, the cabbage stems will be cut short and put in salt without spices. After blanching the cabbage in hot boiling water, people will put the whole cabbage in a pot with a lid or tie it tightly in a plastic bag overnight, or leave it for about 10 hours. At that time, the green cabbage stems will turn to the color of withered grass, and the essential oil of the cabbage will be released. Usually, people often salt and then take out the salted cabbage to process, season it with spices and make stir-fried cabbage.

Price ranges from 60,000-80,000 VND/1 plate of stir-fried pickled cabbage.

8. Buckwheat cake specialty

Ha Giang is famous for its fields and plots of buckwheat flowers. The cake is made from the seeds of the buckwheat plant. The buckwheat seeds, which are smaller than beans, are ground into a very fine powder by the locals, then mixed with water to form a soft dough, then put into traditional molds to form round cakes. Buckwheat cakes are grilled over charcoal, stacked in stacks that look very appealing to the eye. The cake has a special flavor, soft, spongy, slightly sweet, the more you chew, the more delicious it is, and occasionally there is a distinct aroma of forest trees. Because the process of making the cake is very complicated, not many people make the cake for sale. Tourists who want to enjoy it must go to the market or to the shops on Dong Van Ancient Street and some tourist attractions in the mountainous districts.

Buckwheat cake is baked in Dong Van Old Quarter.

The price is 10,000 VND/cake.

9. Quan Ba seedless persimmon

Unlike seedless persimmons in other localities, seedless persimmons in Quan Ba district, Ha Giang province are a type of persimmon, a native variety, grown by ethnic people here for a long time. The persimmons are small, not large, when ripe they are yellow, with a lot of sand, but rich in flavor, crunchy and delicious, very different from persimmons in other places. Persimmons usually ripen around August to November every year. Seedless persimmons in Quan Ba district were granted a certificate of protection for Geographical Indications by the Department of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2017. At the end of the year, if you go to the highlands of Ha Giang, passing through Quan Ba district, you can buy persimmons sold along the national highway, on both sides of the road, and in all the markets.

Price ranges from 40,000-6,000 thousand VND/1kg.

10. Ha Giang rice rolls

Banh cuon is a dish used for breakfast and lunch not only by the local people of Ha Giang but also by tourists. The cake shell is made from steamed white rice flour, thin, soft and very fragrant. Inside the cake is pork and wood ear. Unlike the lowlands, Ha Giang rice rolls are served with a dipping sauce made from stewed pork bones. Rice rolls are served with pork leg, fried onions and herbs, adding a little chili or pickled bamboo shoots will increase the delicious flavor of Ha Giang rice rolls. This is a dish you should enjoy when coming to any place in Ha Giang province.