Specialties 'black gold, mountain snails' on the feast tray in a special village in Thai Nguyen

Located about 70km from Hanoi, Thai Hai village in Thai Nguyen attracts domestic and foreign tourists with its unique culture and cuisine. The village's feasts include many delicious and unique specialties, prepared from ingredients grown and raised by the locals.

200 people living like a family

Thai Hai ethnic ecological stilt house village conservation area is a famous destination in Thai Nguyen, located in the sightseeing axis of Nui Coc Lake tourist area, Tan Cuong tea cultural space... The village was once honored by the United Nations Tourism Organization as "The best tourist village in the world in 2022".

The village has many special things, making tourists curious to come and explore .

More than 200 people here live together like one big family: eating together, sharing things, and the income of each household is contributed to the village's common fund. There is no comparison or distinction between rich and poor, but instead there is a spirit of solidarity, love, and willingness to help each other every day.

The villagers have preserved more than 100 attractive traditional dishes such as braised buffalo meat, grilled buffalo meat, braised carp with wine, sticky rice with canarium fruit, steamed mountain snails with ginger and lemongrass, fern salad, stir-fried water spinach, five-color sticky rice...

In addition, they also create many dishes combined with Thai Nguyen tea trees such as: green tea grilled hill chicken, green tea wrapped tofu to serve tourists. Thai Hai village has been honored many times as the most attractive culinary destination in Vietnam.

Cuisine in Thai Hai village attracts tourists. Photo: Linh Trang

Visitors to the village can go into the traditional kitchen and watch the Tay people prepare a feast with many elaborate specialties. "From August to October, the feast usually includes mountain snails, sticky rice with canarium fruit, and braised carp with wine," said Ms. Le Thi Nga - Deputy Head of Thai Hai Community Cultural Tourism Village.

Cuisine attracts tourists

Mountain snails often appear after the rain, clinging to rocky shores, tree holes, and cave mouths, not living in the mud, so many diners also call them "mountain climbing snails".

According to local experience, snails in clean, airy places with many medicinal plants will have thick intestines and fragrant meat due to eating moss, tree roots and herbs. When caught, people soak them in water with chili or lemon leaves to release the slime, then wash them many times before processing.

The most delicious and easy to make dish is boiled mountain snails, dipped in ginger, garlic, chili fish sauce or lemon pepper salt. Boil the snails in just enough water, add lemongrass and lemon leaves to enhance the aroma. The bowl of snails is served to guests while still steaming hot.

Mountain snails are a popular rustic specialty that attracts customers because they are chewy, crunchy, and have a distinctive aroma. Photo: Linh Trang

Sticky rice is an indispensable dish in Thai Hai village. From the 7th to the 9th lunar month, instead of five-color sticky rice or purple sticky rice, people often treat guests with canarium sticky rice.

Black plum - a familiar tree in the Northern mountainous region, especially in Thai Nguyen - has 2 varieties: regular plum with firm, crispy flesh; and sticky rice plum with sweet, soft flesh, suitable for cooking sticky rice, stewing meat or braised fish.

This fruit is called “black gold” because of its high price, which can reach several hundred thousand VND/kg. Harvesting is also difficult because the tree is dozens of meters high and has a wide canopy. The picker must be strong, flexible and skillful to avoid crushing the fruit.

Fresh canarium fruit after picking is washed and then 'om' - boiled in hot water at about 70–80°C - to soften the fruit, reduce the astringency and make it easier to peel. If the water boils too much, the canarium fruit will become hard.

When the sticky rice is cooked, mix it with the fatty and fragrant canarium. Photo: Linh Trang

When the plums are soft, separate the seeds, take the pulp, mash it, and stir-fry it with chicken fat and spices for flavor.

The Tay people in Thai Hai choose ATK Dinh Hoa sticky rice to cook sticky rice, so it is very sticky and fragrant. The cooked sticky rice is mixed with the fatty and fragrant canarium pulp, creating a fragrant and fragrant sticky rice dish with a beautiful purple color. When enjoying, diners can clearly feel the rich flavor of canarium mixed in each sticky rice grain, full of the aroma of the mountains and forests.

Sticky rice with canarium fruit is a specialty served to guests in Thai Hai during the 7th and 9th lunar months. Photo: Linh Trang

Thai Hai people's feast also has a very special braised carp with fermented rice wine. The carp is raised in the village pond. When combined with fermented rice wine, the fish loses its fishy taste but retains its natural fatty and sweet taste.

According to Ms. Nga, Thai Hai people traditionally brew rice wine with yeast leaves, which takes 13-14 days to make yeast. The yeast is cooked with rice vinegar, turmeric, mac khen, salt and herbs, then covered with lard for preservation, and can now be frozen for 3 months. When stewing fish, the yeast creates a sour taste, blending with tomatoes, pepper, chili, dill and green onions, creating a unique and unforgettable flavor.

Braised carp with wine is a specialty in Thai Hai. Photo: Thai Hai Cuisine

Fried green tea tofu is a unique creation in Thai Hai's tray of offerings, introducing the specialty of Thai Nguyen green tea leaves and bringing a unique flavor with a crispy crust and a soft, fatty and fragrant inside.

Fried green tea bean dish attracts diners. Photo: Linh Trang

Participating in the survey program introducing “Thai Nguyen Culinary Tour 2025” organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thai Nguyen, many travel agencies evaluated Thai Hai village as an impressive destination. The cuisine here is not only delicious but also “infused” with unique cultural stories, giving visitors a complete experience.

After merging the administrative boundaries between Thai Nguyen and Bac Kan provinces, the new Thai Nguyen province is hoping to make cuisine a highlight to attract tourists.

Ten years ago, when they bought a small island in the middle of Nui Coc Lake, the young couple from Thanh Hoa could not have imagined that their decision would open up a special journey.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/dac-san-vang-den-oc-leo-nui-trong-mam-co-o-ngoi-lang-dac-biet-tai-thai-nguyen-2443406.html