Farming
and livestock production are the main jobs of the Lai Chau people.
Their
daily meals involve home-grown vegetables and domestic animals.
The
small indigenous pig, 10 to 15kg, is a local specialty. The pig is so small
that the locals can carry it with their arms to the market.
That’s
why they call them “carried-under-arm” pigs.
The
pigs eat only tree leaves and roots so the pork is delicious and lean. Steamed-pork,
grilled-pork, and smoked-pork are typical food.
Nguyen
Thanh Trung, a Lai Chau local said “Smoked-pork is a traditional dish of the
mountain region. It is made only in winter because in other seasons, it’s not
easy to dry pork. Pork are cut into pieces and marinated with salt, chilies,
and nuts for several days. After that, the pork is dried on the hangers in the
kitchen until its fat comes out.”
Local
markets are also popular destinations for visitors to Lai Chau, where they can
sample purple sticky rice. To make this dish, the locals soak rice for two to three
days and then dye it with a local leaf called “Khau cam” to give the rice that distinctive purple color. The rice
is cooked in a wooden steamer over charcoal and then is served with pork,
grilled fish, and cinnamon grilled pork paste.
Grilled
freshwater fish is also a popular dish in Lai Chau. Fish is marinated with
local nuts called “mac khen”, herbs,
lotus seeds, chilies and green grasses and then fixed to bamboo sticks before
being grilled over charcoal.
In
the villages of the Thai in Lai Chau, visitors are invited to sample bamboo
shoot and bauhinia flower salads. Local people prefer to make salad from bitter
bamboo shoots. They soak the bamboo shoots for 30 minutes and then boil them
twice.
Bauhinia
flowers, a typical flower of Vietnam’s northwest, are also used to make the
salad. Fresh flowers are selected and mixed with grilled fish, boiled bamboo
shoots and sauce made of lemon juice, garlic, chilies, and herbs.
Nguyen
Phuong Anh, a tourist from Hanoi said “The salad is eye-catching with white and
purple bauhinia flowers.
It has a special taste with the combination of
grilled fish, buttery bauhinia flowers, bitter bamboo shoots, and sweet-sour
sauce. I really like it.”
Lai
Chau also offers tourists other unique food made of moss. Moss soup, and
grilled fried moss are often served at wedding parties.
Corn
wine, known as Mong Ke wine, is indispensable with the meals of Lai Chau
people. The wine is made of corn fermented with leaves and millets and cooked
with water of the Sung Phai stream.
After
distilling, the wine is shared into small jars and kept underground for two years
which gives the wine a natural taste.
After
exploring the magnificent landscape of Lai Chau, sampling local food will
ensure visitors an unforgettable experience.
By VOV5