For visitors coming to the nation’s northwestern provinces this time of year, savoring delicious grilled dishes by a coal stove in cold weather would definitely be a great experience.
BBQ food is a nice treat for visitors to the nation’s northwestern region
BBQ dishes are quite diverse in the northwest. Different minority groups in different areas have their own specialties. Thai people have BBQ fish and com lam (rice cooked in bamboo tubes), Tay people are known for their BBQ stream fish and dishes processed from “cap nach” pigs, which are small enough to carry under one’s armpit, and from buffalos.
In order to make tasty BBQ dishes, local people choose fresh ingredients which are all home-grown. They follow the specific steps from preliminarily processing food and embalming it with spices to attaching it to bamboo sticks and grilling it over burning coal. The taste of those BBQ dishes is decided by how they are prepared and cooked.
To create an attractive aroma for their dishes, northwestern natives use their particular spices which are made from galingale, magnolia seeds, teppal or tirphal (zanthoxylum rhetsa), and forest tree leaves.
Traveling to the northwestern upland, visitors can easily find a place to try BBQ dishes made by ethic people. It can be a small bistro, a food market, and an outdoor or indoor area in a village where villagers offer their grilled specialties.
Tourists can pick a destination among places such as Muong Lo area in Nghia Lo Town and Mu Cang Chai District in Yen Bai Province, Sa Pa Town and Bac Ha District in Lao Cai Province, and Mai Chau District in Hoa Binh Province for enjoying hot and delicious BBQ dishes in the cold.