What to eat in Dong Thap – Top specialty you must try

What to eat in Dong Thap – Top specialty you must try

Lotus Stem Salad 

Thap Muoi land is famous for its vast lotus ponds, so Dong Thap’s delicacies made from lotus are always at the top of the must-try list for any visitor. The most famous of these is the lotus stem salad. This dish is made from the young parts of the lotus stem, mixed with sweet and sour spices, herbs, shredded meat, or boiled shrimp to enhance the flavor. When enjoying lotus stem salad, the people of Dong Thap often sip a bit of Hong Sen wine, a specialty wine with a unique lotus fragrance.

Lotus Seed Rice 

While Hue’s lotus seeds are small and round with an unforgettable flavor, Dong Thap’s lotus seeds are also noteworthy for their rich taste, thanks to the excellent soil of Thap Muoi. After being peeled and having the bitter core removed, the lotus seeds are boiled until just cooked. The seeds are then mixed with white rice and boiled vegetables, creating a visually appealing and nutritious dish perfect for hot summer days.

Grilled Snakehead Fish Wrapped in Young Lotus Leaves 

Grilled snakehead fish is a simple yet iconic dish of the southwestern river region. This dish has become one of Dong Thap’s specialties and is present in most famous restaurants in the Mekong Delta. 

After being cleaned and gutted, the snakehead fish is grilled in straw until cooked. Instead of using bamboo skewers, the people of Dong Thap use lemongrass stalks to hold the fish, allowing the lemongrass aroma to infuse the meat, giving the dish a unique flavor.

Grilled snakehead fish wrapped in young lotus leaves is the best combination. The slightly bitter and astringent taste of the lotus leaves, when dipped in tamarind fish sauce, creates a harmonious and delightful flavor experience that is quintessentially “Dong Thap.”

Famous restaurants serving the specialty dish of grilled snakehead fish wrapped in young lotus leaves include:

Sa Dec Rice Cake with Shredded Pork 

Sa Dec rice cake with shredded pork is considered the most unique dish of Sa Dec due to its seemingly strange combination of sour, spicy, salty sauce with the rich taste of coconut milk. 

The main ingredients include thinly sliced pork skin, lean meat, roasted rice powder, glutinous rice flour, rice flour, herbs, cucumber, coconut milk, and garlic chili fish sauce. Just one bite is enough to get hooked!

Lai Vung Fermented Pork

Lai Vung is a strange land – Fermented pork is sweet, fragrant, and intoxicating,” accurately describes the flavor of this special dish. Similar to the fermented pork of Thanh Hoa, Lai Vung fermented pork is a long-standing specialty of Dong Thap with an extremely attractive flavor.

It is made from pork skin and meat, marinated with garlic, pepper, chili, mixed with roasted rice powder and wrapped tightly in banana leaves for fermentation.

Grilled Field Mouse 

Grilled field mouse is a dish that not everyone may like, but those who do are often addicted. The best season to enjoy this dish is around February, during the Winter-Spring crop, when the mice are plump after feasting on the rice fields. 

For grilling, the mice are simply marinated with lemongrass, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, and a bit of honey, then grilled over a low charcoal fire.

When eating, the mice are wrapped with bitter banana slices and a few sour starfruit pieces, creating a unique and memorable taste.