Fried field mouse with lemongrass and chili, fried perch, grilled snakehead fish, and hotpot are delicious dishes on the culinary map that tourists should explore when visiting Ca Mau.
Ca Mau cuisine is rich, typical of the river region, with dishes that always captivate visitors. Below is a list of specialties of Ca Mau that you should try at least one when coming here.
Fried field mouse with lemongrass and chili
Dishes made from field mice are a typical specialty of the rice fields in the Mekong Delta. This rustic dish is processed into many different dishes, and one of the most delicious ways to prepare it is fried with lemongrass and chili.
The field mouse is cleaned, drained, seasoned, and fried evenly in a pan. The mouse meat is golden brown, eye-catching, with an aroma that even the most discerning diners appreciate.
Fried perch
The perch is cleaned and fried whole in a hot pan. When the fish is cooked, take it out to drain the oil and place it on a plate with green vegetables.
The fried perch dish costs around 90,000, and visitors can try it at the U Minh Ha forest canteen.
Grilled mudskipper with salt and chili
The mudskipper is a typical fish of the mangrove area; people also call them tree-climbing fish. This fish has a strange shape, but the meat is sweet, fragrant, and soft.
The meat of the mudskipper is not fatty, so when grilling the fish, it is often brushed with a little bit of fat to prevent it from burning. Grilled over hot coals, the fish is very fragrant. One dish costs around 150,000 VND per kg.
Ca Mau crab
When mentioning the top specialties of Ca Mau, we cannot ignore the famous, delicious Ca Mau crab. With 2 typical types of crab: meat crab with firm, sweet, and fragrant meat; roe crab with full, bright red, fatty, and delicious roe.
Just looking at it makes you crave it; you can enjoy the delicious taste of crab in dishes such as steamed crab, tamarind crab, crab hotpot, …
Bee pupae salad
When you come to U Minh, you must definitely try the bee pupae salad. U Minh wild bees suck nectar without human intervention, so not only is the honey delicious, but the bee pupae are also fatty. Therefore, people often use bee pupae from Ca Mau to cook porridge and stir-fry, but the most authentic taste is to make salad.
After the pupae are mixed with herbs, basil, and Vietnamese coriander, they are sprinkled with sweet-and-sour fish sauce. Mixing the salad will preserve the essence of the bee pupae and create a delicious dish with the bold flavor of the U Minh Ha forest.
Grilled snakehead fish
Grilled snakehead fish is a familiar dish to many people in the Mekong Delta. In particular, if you have the opportunity to visit Ca Mau, remember to enjoy this dish to experience its delicious, rich, and appealing flavors. When the fish is just caught from the river, wash it, use a bamboo stick to skewer the fish from head to tail, then bury the fish in a pile of dry straw, light it on fire or stick the stick into the ground, cover it with straw, and light the fire until it is ashes.
When the fish is cooked, scrape off the burnt scales, and you will have a whole delicious grilled snakehead fish. When enjoying, remove the meat and dip it in salt and chili, you will feel the delicious taste, both spicy and salty, sweet and fragrant.
Mam hotpot
Mam hotpot is a famous dish of the Mekong Delta; you should not miss this specialty. The dish is a combination of Cham, Khmer, and Hoa cuisines. Therefore, the flavor is very unique and extremely attractive.
The hotpot has a delicious taste; the broth is sweet and has a characteristic fish sauce aroma. Served with fresh, sweet seafood such as basa fish, shrimp, and squid, and fresh vegetables such as water spinach, lotus, and sesban flowers, it is “perfect”.
Ngan Dua Tam cake
Next among the specialties of Ca Mau, Ngan Dua Tam cake is a well-known dish, especially in the Mekong Delta, where everyone knows it. The Tam cake is made from delicious rice flour, so it has a moderate stickiness and a unique natural sweetness. When eaten, the cake is served with pork skin, tomato sauce, or garlic fish sauce.
This dish brings a unique sense of simplicity to the lives of local people, but makes it difficult for tourists to resist its distinctive flavor. To find delicious and cheap Ngan Dua Tam cake for about 10,000 VND/ portion.
Bun Nuoc Leo
If you wonder what Bac Lieu’s specialty is, Bun Nuoc Leo (vermicelli with a special broth made with a special fish sauce called bo hoc) is an indispensable dish on the list of culinary delights to enjoy when coming to Bac Lieu, bringing a distinctive aroma and a sweet, rich taste.
When eating, in addition to delicious noodles, visitors will also enjoy freshwater fish, shrimp, and raw vegetables, creating an attractive dish that no other province can offer like this one.
Radish cake
Among the most delicious specialties of Ca Mau, radish cake is a must-try for tourists visiting here. This is a familiar, rustic dish of the Ca Mau people, often eaten for breakfast by families.
Radish cake is simple but brings harmony among the sweet taste of shrimp, the fatty taste of meat, and the moderate, attractive aroma of radish. With a price of about 10,000 VND/cake, you can fill your hungry stomach on a hurried afternoon.
Bac Lieu spicy beef noodle soup
Bac Lieu’s version of the specialty beef noodle soup will differ from that of other localities. Spicy beef noodle soup has a rich broth and is served with white noodles and soft beef cartilage, making it very attractive.
To enhance the flavor and avoid greasiness, you can add shredded water spinach, bean sprouts, banana blossom, and basil to serve with spicy beef noodle soup.
What to buy as gifts?
Ba Khia Sauce
Ba Khia is a crustacean, belonging to the crab family. In Rach Goc, Ca Mau, they live in mangrove areas, which makes their meat more fragrant and firmer than in Ba Khia elsewhere. Ba Khia can be used in many dishes, but Ba Khia sauce remains an indispensable flavor of Ca Mau land.
To make Ba Khia sauce, first separate the body from the shell, then use your hands to tear it into small pieces. Add star fruit, lemon, garlic, chili, and sugar to make the dish more eye-catching and flavorful.
U Minh forest honey
U Minh forest honey is the essence of the mangrove forest, with a characteristic flavor of cajuput flowers and a special sweetness that is very good for health.
This is a specialty from the land of the Ca Mau Cape that you should buy as a meaningful gift for relatives and friends. However, this specialty is also easily imitated by poor-quality honey.
Bon Bon
Bon bon is a wild plant that grows quite commonly in Bac Lieu. After being picked and washed, people will process it into dishes with very unique flavors. Commonly, bon bon vegetables are used to make soup with coconut milk or to stir-fry with meat.
No matter how it is prepared, eating boon bon always brings a fresh and pleasant feeling to diners. Tourists can buy bon bon at the markets (especially in Bac Lieu market) to bring back as gifts, or to prepare dishes with the rich flavor of Bac Lieu. The price when buying bon bon ranges from 20,000 – 22,000 VND/kg, not too expensive, but you need to determine the level of “consumption” to avoid buying too much and having difficulty preserving it.
Source: collected by An
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