Traveling to Ha Long (Quang Ninh), tourists are not only fascinated by the majestic limestone mountains, but also by an extremely diverse and rich cuisine. Below are famous delicacies that any foodie cannot miss.
1. Hand-pound squid patties
Squid patties seem to be a simple dish that can be made anywhere, but in Ha Long, this dish has risen to become a symbol. The reason is that squid living in the sea area of Quang Ninh has a richer sweetness than other regions, and the patties are made by artisans using a meticulous hand-pounding method.
Fresh squid is completely pound manually until mixed with traditional spices. Bite a piece of crispy golden fried squid patties, visitors will clearly feel the chewy texture in each piece of fresh squid meat.
In particular, squid patties combined with banh cuon or fragrant sticky rice create extremely popular breakfast dishes.
Currently, squid sausage has 3 segments from low to high, including: machine-ground squid sausage, hand-pound squid sausage and VIP squid sausage made entirely from squid body. The cost of squid sausage ranges from 400,000 - 500,000 VND/kg.
2. Snakes
Sea worms are one of the most expensive dishes in Ha Long cuisine due to their rare properties. Fresh sea worms are often processed into salted dishes with juicy and fatty garlic, very delicious and very rice-consuming, or cooked into nutritious porridge.
In addition, local people also dry sandworms and then roast them until golden brown, creating an ideal snack, fragrant to enjoy with beer. With outstanding nutritional value, each kilogram of dried sandworms costs up to several million VND.
3. Bun cu ky
Cu ky (also known as rock crab, thunder crab) is a seafood with two colors, black and red. Cu ky vermicelli is a breakfast dish that is very popular with tourists. The body of the cù kỳ is meticulously peeled by the craftsman to simmer for broth, creating a harmonious sweetness, natural purity and fragrant aroma.
When enjoying, a full bowl of vermicelli will be filled with bricks, meat and thick, firm "cu ky" claws. A "bun cu ky" is priced from 50,000 - 70,000 VND.
4. Sea Sam
Sea cucumber is a rare seafood with delicious, chewy and richly sweet meat. With only sea cucumber, Ha Long chefs can transform it into a very diverse dining table: from steamed, sea cucumber salad, sweet and sour stir-fried sea cucumber legs, sea cucumber stir-fried with lemongrass and chili, stir-fried vermicelli, crispy fried sea cucumber eggs,...
The price of each sam ranges from 50,000 - 70,000 VND depending on size, ready to conquer even the most demanding diners.
5. Tired of the sea
Although the name sounds boring, sea snails are a specialty that does not cause boredom at all. Sea snails have a shape similar to clams but are much larger in size.
This type of seafood can be processed flexibly such as grilling with scallion oil, steaming with lemongrass and chili, cooking soup or making rich stir-fried noodles.
6. Pork floss
Pork leg shrimp (also known as long-legged shrimp) belongs to the family of octopuses but is smaller in size. Each one weighs only about 100g and some legs are up to 20cm long. Thanks to this small size, pork leg shrimp after processing is very crispy, sweet in meat and not tough.
The dried pork floss harvest season is from July to October of the lunar calendar every year. At this time, the output of dried pork floss is high, so the cost will cool down slightly, ranging from 400,000 - 600,000 VND/kg.
7. Nodding Cake
Coming to Ha Long, tourists cannot miss the cake with a unique name: "kinh gu" cake. Made from finely ground rice flour, the cake has a long round shape, when picked up, the cake just knocks up and down, so it is called that name.
This dish when eaten is dipped with fermented fish sauce or eaten with braised pork with a rich flavor. Although "bánh gật gù" in Tien Yen district is the most famous, tourists can still easily enjoy a part of the cake in Ha Long for only 20,000 - 30,000 VND.
8. Ha Long Pearl Yogurt
Ending the culinary journey with a glass of genuine Ha Long pearl yogurt is an absolutely wonderful choice. The combination of smooth, chewy pearl yogurt filled with fatty coconut milk with dried coconut, aloe vera, and jelly toppings will immediately dispel the summer heat. Each glass of yogurt costs only from 25,000 to 40,000 VND.
