What to Eat When You Visit Dong Thap

Visiting the Thap Muoi region, you will not only enjoy the natural beauty this land of lotuses has been blessed with, but you also must taste its rustic local dishes. Country cooking made by the skilled hands of its hospitable people will make your trip all the more complete.

Here are the specialties of Dong Thap province. Let's take a look!

1. Linh fish hot pot with sesbania flowers

River linh fish (a small Mekong carp) can only be had at the right time of year: the linh fish season usually runs from September to November. When the river rises, locals head out onto the water with their nets to catch linh fish, and this is when the fish are at their biggest and tastiest.

Linh fish is considered a specialty of the floating-water (flood) season. Alongside the linh fish, the sesbania trees burst into bloom all along the riverbanks. Linh fish cooked in a hot pot and served with bright yellow sesbania flowers gives you a real taste of the countryside. This hot pot is a humble dish, yet it is the pride of people in the Mekong Delta when the flood season arrives.

People in the Mekong Delta usually eat linh fish hot pot with rice vermicelli or steamed white rice and rustic greens such as water spinach, water mimosa and bean sprouts, all dipped in traditional fish sauce.

2. Sa Dec hu tieu (rice noodle soup)

Sa Dec (Dong Thap) is renowned across southern Vietnam for its cuisine. Cultural traditions formed long ago have left a unique mark that is still preserved today for future generations.

Sa Dec has many dishes that leave visitors from all over in awe, such as beef hot pot, cha lua (Vietnamese pork roll) and nem chua (fermented pork), but at the top of the list is still Sa Dec hu tieu. The chewy noodles hold together well and carry the fragrance of rice, served in a broth simmered from pork bones and seasoned according to the locals' family secrets.

A good bowl of hu tieu includes lean pork, minced pork, liver and so on, and every ingredient must be fresh. Alongside the hot bowl of noodles comes a plate of fresh greens: bean sprouts, garlic chives, celery and long red chilies to eat with it.

3. Dong Thap field rat fried with fish sauce

If you come to Dong Thap, you have to try this field rat fried with fish sauce. Field rat season runs from about the 10th lunar month to the 3rd lunar month each year, and locals keep watch late into the night to catch the biggest, firmest and cleanest rats in the rice fields.

4. Sa Giang shrimp crackers

This humble snack holds a special place in the hearts of visitors from near and far. Dong Thap shrimp crackers owe their fame to the abundant fish and shrimp of the Tien River, skillfully turned by local hands into a specialty unique to the province.

At Tet, celebrations and parties, locals serve a plate of shrimp crackers on every table as an appetizer while guests wait for the main dishes. They are also served with chicken or duck salad, adding to the flavor of the salad itself.

5. Snakehead fish grilled in straw, wrapped in lotus leaves

Grilled snakehead fish is very familiar to Vietnamese people, but in Dong Thap it is a very different experience. The province is known for its fragrant lotus ponds, so locals prepare this grilled fish more elaborately by wrapping it in fresh lotus leaves, and the flavor of the fish is greatly enhanced by the fragrance of the lotus.

This dish is served with a sour tamarind and fish sauce dip. The snakehead fish is caught live from ponds; its flesh is sweet with few bones, and it is grilled over a wood fire, which keeps the fish's flavor more intact than charcoal. The tamarind sauce is mixed with a little garlic and chili into a thick dip, so each bite combines the sweetness of the fish with the sourness of the tamarind.

6. Dong Thap snake sausage

Every snake season, Dong Thap comes alive as locals bustle about with their gear to catch fresh snakes. Snake sausage is not always available; you can only enjoy it when the season comes.

The flood season is when the snakes come. Water snakes commonly found in Dong Thap include rice paddy water snakes and water lily snakes. The tastiest snake sausage is made from water snakes and water lily snakes. Whether steamed, grilled or fried, it is delicious.

7. Rice steamed in lotus leaves

This elaborate rice dish takes a lot of time to prepare. Locals usually buy small, long-grain rice, mix it with a little salt and MSG and lightly toast it before cooking.

The dish includes shrimp, carrots, Chinese sausage and lotus seeds, all blended together into a warm, comforting flavor. The rice is wrapped in fragrant lotus leaves, letting diners taste the countryside in every hot grain.

Source: compiled