Top 7 Lao Cai specialties “don't eat and don't return”

Lao Cai is known as a land full of products of the mountains and forests, from many different ethnic groups. This place has become land rich in cultural identity, historical tradition, and cultural heritage. Today, let Easygo introduce you to Lao Cai specialties that you should not miss when visiting this land with majestic and lyrical scenery!

Bac Ha Horse Thang Co

When talking about Lao Cai specialties, it is impossible not to mention the Bac Ha horse Thang Co that captivates many diners. Thang Co is a typical traditional dish of the Hmong people, cooked from horse meat, later with beef, buffalo, and pork.

To make Thang Co, the Bac Ha chef has to use a lot of special spices of the highlands, sometimes people also add fried chili to increase the spiciness.

When eaten, the soft sweetness of horse meat combined with the spiciness of Bac Ha chili, and the strong aroma of Thang Co spice will create a very unique flavor that no other dish has.

Carried underarm pork

Carried underarm pork is a famous Lao Cai specialty that every tourist wants to enjoy when visiting this land. The carried underarm pigs are raised in a natural environment, so the meat is very sweet, firm, and especially low in fat.

This is considered the quintessence of Northwest mountainous cuisine.

The carried underarm has an average weight from 10kg to 20kg. Pigs with armpits are mainly sold in highland markets, where ethnic people often gather and exchange goods on weekends.

Lao Cai people often process pig armpits into very special dishes such as whole grilled meat, charcoal-grilled tongs, etc. 

Silver Waterfall Salmon

Tourists cannot just visit Lao Cai without enjoying the taste of dishes made from salmon. Thac Bac salmon has bright red-pink color, firm flesh, firm texture, no fat, soft and greasy taste.

The chefs here can prepare salmon in many different ways such as sashimi, deep-fried, steamed, cooked with curry, etc. But the most outstanding dishes are still dishes such as salmon hotpot, salmon salad, grilled salmon, salted salmon roe, or grilled salmon loin with mustard sauce.

Nung Din ginger meat

Nung Din ginger meat is a typical dish for the rich and diverse culinary culture of Lao Cai. This dish attracts a lot of tourists, especially international tourists who love Vietnamese cuisine.

Ginger meat dish with extremely simple processing but very own flavor has long become a familiar dish of the people here.

To make ginger meat, Lao Cai people often pound ginger, mix it with salt and some chopped bones such as ribs, backbone, and fresh capital.

Then use your hands to squeeze and add a little wine to keep the freshness of the dish. Ginger meat is usually preserved in an enameled jar, which is fastened and removed with each meal. There are two ways to eat this ginger meat dish: cooked or steamed.

Bac Ha plum

Tourists often like to visit Lao Cai in June or July. Because around this time, when everywhere is subject to the scorching sun of summer, in Lao Cai, the weather is still very cool and comfortable.

In addition, this is also the time when Bac Ha plums are in full bloom. Covering the space are luxuriant plum orchards, which look very pleasing to the eye.

Unlike other plums, Bac Ha plum, when ripe, hardly changes the color of the outer skin. When harvesting, you must observe carefully to see that the ripe plums often turn pale yellow.

When added, the new plum's intestines are nice, sweet, and especially extremely pithy. Not only a delicious fresh fruit, but plums also have very good effects on health.

Plums contain a lot of vitamins B1, B2, PP, and C, as well as nutrients such as calcium, iron, and iron.

Nung Din seven-color sticky rice

Seven-color sticky rice is a delicious dish bearing the spiritual meaning of the Nung Din people. This is an ethnic specialty dish that tourists must taste when visiting Lao Cai.

Sticky rice has seven colors: pink, magenta, crimson, Cuu Long green, banana green, yellow-green, and yellow extracted from plants and flowers found in the Northwest mountains such as lily, yellow flower tree, or  Carnations tree.…

When enjoying, the taste of sweet, fragrant sticky rice blends with the sweetness of the vegetables of the Northwest, an extremely rich, rustic, and unforgettable taste. Nung Din's seven-color sticky rice recipe has been passed down through generations and kept until today.

Bird's foot mushroom

Bird's foot mushroom is one of the rare specialties of Lao Cai. According to many surveys, the Bac Ha area (Lao Cai) is the place where the most crow's feet appear in Vietnam.

The crow's foot mushroom has no stalk, is shaped like a fan or a mussel shell, has a diameter of 1-3cm, covered with fine gray-white hairs, the edge of the cap is slightly rolled inward.

Mushroom flesh is white, the underside is the mushroom plate, white when young, pink when old. With a natural sweetness ready to captivate all diners when enjoying this mushroom dish.

In addition, crow's foot mushroom has high nutritional quality, in medicine mushrooms are also a rare medicinal herb used to support the treatment of diseases.

HmongAbove are some Lao Cai specialties that Easygo would like to introduce to you. If you have time to visit this land, don't forget to take a moment to try the unique dishes imbued with the quintessence of the Northwest mountains!