Northwestern
Vietnam is a special land. Scarcely populated, rugged and a heavily divided
terrain. A few quick words to describe the region give one a sense of life
here. The food here comes mostly from what the surroundings have to offer,
rather than extravagant fusion experiments and delicate gourmet cooking.
Forests, mountains, rivers and streams are the pantry here, and render the
cuisine desirably seasonal to ensure every time of year offers a distinct
experience.
Bamboo worm
Found
only in bamboo, the worms are among the cleanest food ever known. The ethnic
minority people here will look for bamboos with flat heads and a
bigger-than-normal lower stem, an indicator a worms' nest is inside, each of
which can offer up kilograms of worms. Steamed or quick fried, the protein-rich
and fatty worms can’t go an inch without sour bamboo shoot sauce as a side
dish.
Grilled fish
The
Thai ethnic minority group in the northwest live off the waters, both still and
running, given their mastery of all things fishy. Regarding preparation,
grilling trumps them all. Gutted fish are seasoned with local spices, stuffed
with meat, folded and put on the fire. Superlatives escape the finished dish.
Bamboo rice
There
is a way of cooking specifically developed for foresters who trek through the
forest for days and can’t afford the luxury of utensils: bamboo rice (called
‘com lam’ in Vietnamese). The bamboo, with their thick and shiny shells, become
the ideal rice cookers. Filled with rice and water, they return an aromatic
rice wrapped in a quirky inner layer of bamboo.
Raw fish salad
Vietnamese
people don’t eat raw fish as much as the Japanese, but we still do. Fresh fish,
scaled, skinned and boned, are mixed with herbs and topped up with sour bamboo
shoot sauce. Sour with the sauce, spicy with peppers and dry with the forest
banana flowers are what this dish is.
Buffalo skin salad
Available
only on anniversaries due to the difficult preparation process, the dish
instantly charms first-timers. Buffalo skin, usually not considered food, is
cleaned, sliced and seasoned with spices, keeping its crunchy and crispy
texture found almost nowhere else.
Dried fish
Different
from dried fish found everywhere in Vietnam, the fish here are small ones
caught in streams, seasoned with salt, pepper and chili, dried for a day and
ready to eat off a charcoal grill.
Grilled minced meat
Any
meat can be used for the dish, be it beef, pork or buffalo meat. Minced meat is
seasoned with herbs and spices then wrapped in ‘dong’ leaves, the same leaves
used to wrap the famous ‘banh chung’. When grilled, the outer leaves burn,
leaving a desirable aroma absorbed by the meat inside.
Rock moss
One
of the most complicated dishes on the region's menu, the dish is available only
from the ninth month to the third month of the lunar calendar. The moss stays
fresh for only two hours after harvesting. Found where the water flows the
fastest, the moss of choice is found on stream rocks. Only young moss is
harvested and then pounded to get rid of the dirt. Moss comes in soups, salads
and grilled, but it's at its best with ginger and pepper.
Bamboo shoot
A
most familiar sight for the people of the plains, bamboo shoots appears in two
variations: bitter and sweet. The former is preferred by those who drink due to
its mildly sweet aftertaste.
Purple sticky rice
Just
a play of rice with colors achieved through leaves found in the forest.
Cured sausages
Aged
with smoke, the sausages dry with an unforgettable smoky taste that will bring
you to tears.
By Ngoc Thanh, Van Pham/VnExpress