Mai Chau 's specialties

Have you ever joined Mai Chau valley tours? Do you know what is Mai Chau’s specialties? Mai Chau has many things to offer you once you get there, let’s check it out!

Mai Chau - Hoa Binh not only is famous for its natural landscape which is both poetic and majestic, but also marks a score in tourist’s eyes by the delicious and regional dishes. Below is the list of outstanding dishes in Mai Chau that you should not miss to try out.

Com lam (Bamboo rice)

Speaking of bamboo rice, people immediately think of the delicious gift of northwest land of Vietnam including Mai Chau, Hoa Binh. Hence, bamboo rice in Mai Chau has its own recipe that makes a different flavor from other places, it is cooked from the smooth and fragrant Mai-Chau-rice-terrace sticky rice.

In order to make a bowl of attractive bamboo rice, people here are absolutely careful in each processing steps. Sticky rice is the type of rice from Mai Chau rice terrace which is put a night in water, then mixed with salt and sliced copra. All of these ingredients will be put into a bamboo tube and cooked on a small fire. The bamboo tube must also be fresh tubes about 30cm long to keep the characteristic aroma.

People use sugar cane or banana leaves to stuck the pipes, then bake for about 2 hours on the wood stove. When separating each layer of shells, the sweet and aromatic smell of rice and coconut blending with the passionate taste of the fresh bamboo create a delicate specialty of this mountainous region.

Bamboo rice

Buffalo meat cooked with “lom” leaves

This is a very popular dish of Muong people in Hoa Binh. In order to make this unique dish, people smoke buffalo meat, then cook it until softness. When the meat is cooked, cut it into smaller pieces, mix with the "lom" leaves and the shattering rice, and place it into the casserole. Buffalo meat soaked in "lom" leaves and rice is really fragrant and easy to eat. Tourists traveling to Mai Chau should enjoy this special dish.

Boiled pork (Lon man thui luoc)

Lon man is pigs that are raised naturally, so their meat is very firm and fresh. In Mai Chau, the pigs are raised to process the boiled pork for the family's meal and for the tourists to fully feel the mountain and forest flavor.

People cut pork into pieces and boiled it until it is ripe, thinly slice and place the pork on a banana leaf. A plate of boiled pork meat that rises smokingly with the delicious smell of roasted salt and nuts will make you ecstatic by the sweetness of the meat and the crisp of fatty skin. This specialty of Mai Chau is very popular with tourists.

Lon man thui luoc

Bitter bamboo shoots

This is considered a specialty of the northern mountainous region. People can make bamboo shoots into a variety of attractive dishes depending on the taste of each person,  it can be fried, boiled, stewed, or especially grilled. In order to have a delicious bitter bamboo dish, people choose new sprouts. When eating, people often combine it with a sauce mixture of salt, chili, crushed garlic, and garlic leaves, it will give diners an unforgettable experience of taste.

Mai Ha alcohol

Mai Ha alcohol, famous aromatic alcohol of Mai Chau with sweet, sour, spicy and bitter taste creates the attractiveness and impression for anywho who drink it for the first time.

To have a delicious cup of Mai Ha alcohol, Mai Ha people have to find many ingredients on the mountains and bring them to processing to create delicious and fragrant alcohol jars that captivate people.

Mai Ha alcohol

Wild bees roasted with bamboo shoots

This is a unique dish that is very popular with Muong people in Mai Chau. In the season of wild bees (usually at the end of the summer season), people in the village often go in the forest to seek for the big bee nest.

Local people will pick the old bees to put into the wine jars, and select the young fat bees to process the tasty dishes. After taking all the bees out of the nest, wash them with cold water and then drain it. In many regions, people often roast forest bees with lemon leaves, but here people roast with sour bamboo shoots.

Putting onion and bees on the oil pan for bees, when the bee turns slightly yellow, pour it into the plate, then put the bamboo shoots into the pan. Processing wild bees with sour bamboo shoots are very simple, do not need to put in any herbs but just add a little spicy of chili, you will have a delicious dish of wild bees with bamboo shoots.

When enjoying this dish, you should eat it with pickles. The greasy, fragrant taste of wild bees mixed with the bitterness of sour bamboo shoots and the pungent taste of pickles will captivate your taste.

You can refer to Mai Chau tour 2 days 1 night to admire the beautiful landscape of Mai Chau as well as explore the tasty Mai Chau specialties. If you have any questions about Mai Chau tour, don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you!