We
were amazed at the landscape of the area and had a chance to enjoy many
traditional foods of the Thai ethnic people, including the most famous dish -
purple steamed glutinous rice and chicken grilled with Sichuan pepper.
The
dish requires some special ingredients, including the variety of glutinous rice
which is only grown in terraced-fieldsin Mai Chau and magenta leaves which are
available in forests in Hoa Binh. To prepare the dish, the magenta leaves need
to be cleaned before being boiled with water and a dash of salt to make the
purple water. Soak sticky rice into the prepared water until they have a purple
colour and then steam them until well-done. This dish is more delicious when it
is served with grilled chicken which is also prepared in a different way.
The ingredients consist of chicken, Sichuan pepper, glutinous rice of Mai Chau and magenta leaves.
Chicken is mixed with Sichuan pepper before being grilled over a charcoal fire until it turns brown.
Soak glutinous rice in the purple water made from magenta leaves and then steam until well done.
The eye-catching and delicious dish of the Thai ethnic people in Lac Hamlet, Mai Chau township in the Northern province of Hoa Binh.
The
Thai people use a special Sichuan pepper, called “Mac khen” to mix with the
chicken for a few hours before grilling it over a low charcoal fire. When the
chicken is well-done, it has a specific flavor of smoked Sichuan peppers and
its meat is tender and succulent.
According
to Ha Van Minh, the owner of a stilt house in Lac Hamlet, it is a traditional
dish of the Thai ethnic people to offer to the Kitchen Gods. Since the locals
have participated in developing community tourism, the dish is introduced to
tourists as a delicacy of the region.
By Tran Thanh Giang/ VNP