Having The Treat of the Nature from Northwest Highlands

The protein sources here, besides preys from the forests and fish from streams, are from poultry and cattle. Unlike industrial farms, minority households have raised their fowls, mostly chickens and pigs, in their natural habitats; they let their fowls to feed and live themselves. Therefore, the quality of meat is significantly better then industrial products.

If you travel up here, you don’t need to go to luxurious restaurants to find fine food. Just stopping by any family inn or a stop-n-rest, you can enjoy a very typical, affordable, and, most importantly, delicious dishes.

Grilled fish from Da river

Along the highway 6, especially in Ky Son ward (Hoa Binh province), we can easily see “instant” stoves, where local vendors grill and sell fresh fish. Ky Son is located at the bottom of the Da River’s flow, before it massively floods into the hydroelectric dam in Hoa Binh City so all big fish tend gather here. Due to the rapid flow of water, fishermen here prefer fishing rods for big fish. Small fish are for family use; only big fish about 1 kiogram and up are for selling. This is the most polular specialty in Ky Son: grilled whole luce fish. People just clean their guts then clip the whole fish by bamboo sticks, grilling on burning charcoal and let them slowly get cooked.

Grilled whole luce fish from Da river.

This type of fish is like grilling by a slow cook; it performs an excellent fish with crispy skin and tender flesh, and also the fish is good for a couple days in room temperature. The side dish which is sold together, is homemade sour bamboo shoot. If you can just sit there, right next to the instant charcoal stove, to have a piece of grilled fish together with sour bamboo and some tiny herbal leaves, truly it worths the whole trip.

Local pork

Pigs in the Northwestern highlands are the black pig type, hybridized from wild boar and local Muong pig. They are quite small compared with regular types; average is about 25 kilograms but the best size is about 10 – 15 kilograms. Due to being raised on highlands, the local pigs have to relentless runs for food and life so the pork is extremely firm, low fat and very delicious.

Among Hoa Binh province, one of the most common dishes is sautéed pork with móc-mật leaves. Fresh hot pork should not be wash with water; locals here just wipe them by clean towels before refrigerate them. When diners come in, the cook will open the sealed package and chop a piece enough for each order. He now washes the pork, marinates it with pinch of salt and fish sauce then sauté with móc-mật leaves, grated lemongrass, and white sesame until the whole pan gets brown and scented. The pork is served with pure fish sauce garnished by some slices of fresh chili, and of course, a quarter of pink limes.

Sautéed local pork with sesame and móc-mật leaves.

In the middle of down of Thung Khe pass, Thai minority people have built lodges to sell their specialties and they are absolutely loyal to their traditional cook, which marinates local pork with smashed dổi seeds, clips it by bamboo sticks and grill on burning charcoals. This type of grilled pork must be served with rice-in-bamboo tubes. Rice are from their terraces, rounded and aromatic. They stuff rice into big bamboo tubes with spring water and hang them on burning charcoals until cooked. The rice come out so tender yet a bit chewy and scented with bamboo. Finally, a small dish of smashed salted sesame should perfectly complete the lunch.

Sautéed veal and deep-fried spring fish

Sautéed veal and deep-fried srping fish are a very typical and unique “combo” of Moc Chau, Son La province. From Thung Khe pass, Hoa Binh province ends right behind Mai Chau villages and Son La province starts. Moc Chau is already well known with tea and milk products, thanks for the Japanese. However, it’s a big miss if its fine rustic food won’t be mentioned.

The veal for food is mostly from male calves due to the fact that female calves are kept to raise up. The veal itself is tender and umami so that we just need to heat up oil with chopped garlic before place the veal into the big sallow pan and quickly stir on high heat until the outer layer of veal pieces is well-done while inner flesh is still rare-cooked. Sautéed veal is served with buttery and sweet peanut sauce, mints, and seasonal wild leaves.

Fried spring fish.

Sautéed veal usually goes with fried spring fish as a “very-Moc Chau” combo. Crossing a hill in Son La province, there are at least several flowing streams. Locals just spread their nets at the end of the flows and wait; after awhile they would have some fish for daily meals without any hard work. Springs are quite shallow so fish is also small, about one or two fingers, including goby fish, eels, and sometimes, small shrimps. No need to clean or prepare the fish; they mostly eat mold in the water so their flesh has special scented flavor. After slightly cleaned, they just shake fish with a pinch of salt then deep fry the whole thing until the fish bends their bodies as a beautiful C and shrimps are totally red. This dish has to be served with wild produce, which is abundant among northwest highlands. Simplest is banana flower taken randomly from the forest, slicing and seasoning to make a perfect salad. It is the absolutely healthy yet delicious dish that Vietnamese cuisine has wished for, isn’t it?

Banana flower salad.

Highland chicken

As local pigs, highland chicken lives in their natural environment; they find food themselves and sometimes they sleep on trees as their wild ancestors. Their eggs are small, about 1/3 – 1/2 industrial chicken eggs but the yolk is about 4/5 the whole egg. Highland chicken flesh is firm and umami; the skin is crunchy and almost no fat. Once you come to the northwest highlands, you must try its chicken.

The majority of minorities in northwest highlands believes that the simple the better when they cook chicken. The most common way is to grill. They grill them directly on burning charcoals and have a dried crunchy dish or they can grill them inside a big clay container to preserve the moisture. No knife is needed because they prefer to tear the whole grilled chicken apart by hand then place all on a bamboo salver, lined by fresh banana leaves and garnished with minced kaffir lime leaves. Do not hesitate using your hands! Just grab a piece, sop a pinch of chẳm-chéo (*) with a squeeze of pink lime, and have it hot to the last bite.

Grilled highland chickens.

In brief,

City people, despite how sophisticated their cuisine is, can’t compare their appetite to highlanders since the Mother Nature always partible loves those who protect and preserve her properties.

The highlanders have purely and fairly lived in their territory together with their gifts from the Earth. Probably because of their nature, the northwest highlanders’ cuisine is such that abundant and lavish.

(*) Chẳm-chéo: a mixed condiment of special spices and herbs from northwest highlands, can be in both wet and dried forms.

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