Must-try dishes when traveling to Ha Giang during buckwheat flower season

BHG - Ha Giang Province is in its peak season for tourism, when buckwheat flowers are blooming everywhere and many festivals are being held amidst the mild weather. Coming to Ha Giang at this time, visitors should not miss the following dishes.

Buckwheat cake

Named after a typical flower of Ha Giang Province, buckwheat cake evokes curiosityamong many people. The cake is made from buckwheat seeds. After being moulded, the cake is steamed and grilled on a charcoal stove. With a slightly sweet taste, buckwheat cake is best eaten hot.

‘Au tau’ porridge

Although ‘Au tau’ (monkshood aconite) is a poisonous plant, it has been used by the Mong ethnic people as an ingredient to make porridge and treat colds. This traditional dish has become a familiar flavour for diners to Ha Giang. In addition to ‘au tau’, the ingredients in this porridge also include indigenous rice and pig's feet.

Trang Kim noodles

Trang Kim is an area in Quan Ba ​​District. On the way from Ha GiangCity to the karst plateau, visitors will have the opportunity to stop in this place and enjoy the location’s unique ‘pho’. The most unique feature of Trang Kim ‘pho’ is that the noodles are made completely by hand. After being cooked, they will be dried, and they will be taken down and sliced ​​into noodles after the order is made. Although Trang Kim ‘pho’ noodles are not equal in size to other normal ‘pho’ noodles, they are delicious.

‘Thang den’ (glutinous rice balls)

Among the snacks of Ha Giang, we cannot miss ‘thang den’. Available in Dong Van old town or markets, ‘thang den’ is just a snack with a very special attraction. A bowl of ‘thang den’ includes boiled round glutinous rice balls and ginger-cooked sugar water. It is often served with black sesame or crushed roasted peanuts.

Streamed rice rolls

Streamed rice rolls are a popular dish of Ha Giang. Rice rolls are made from rice flour, filled with wood ear mushrooms, meat, or eggs. Ha Giang’s steamed rice rolls are served with broth and pork sausage. The broth is cooked from bones with quite a bland taste. It is often seasoned with spices according to the diners’ taste.

‘Thang co’ (horse meat hotpot)

Thang Co is a traditional dish of Ha Giang, and a popular dish during Tet holidays. The dish is also sold at local markets. Nowadays, many restaurants have served ‘thang co’ with different flavours from the traditional version to meet the taste of tourists.

‘Men men’ (steamed minced corn)

‘Men men’ is a rustic dish closely associated with the lives of the local people. Rice cannot be grown in the Ha Giangkarst plateau, so corn (or ‘men men’) is the main food of the local Mong ethnic people.

Five-colour sticky rice

Ha Giang’s five-colour sticky rice usually includes white, red, green, purple, and yellow varieties of rice. The five colours represent the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The sticky rice is cooked from soaked glutinous rice. The colours of the sticky rice are created from authentic natural ingredients such as leaves and tubers, without the use of additives. When exploring the local markets, visitors can easily find pots of colourful, hot sticky rice sold at cheap prices.