From the ingredients of Ca Mau crab, local people have created a series of attractive dishes such as steamed crab, crab with garlic, salted crab... At the 2nd Ca Mau Crab Festival in 2025, there are very unique dishes from crab that even Ca Mau people have never tried.
This unique crab tea is a dish prepared by young chef Nguyen Ai Linh (Dat Mui commune, Ca Mau). She was inspired to create the famous Hue flour-grilled pork sweet soup, replacing the pork filling with Ca Mau specialty crab meat, combined with green beans and suitable ingredients.
According to chef Ai Linh, the green bean crab filling inside has a salty taste, but the skin and sweet soup on the outside have the sweet taste of rock sugar and pineapple leaves. This contrast is similar to the land of Ca Mau, where the U Minh Ha freshwater area and the saltwater area of Nam Can - Dat Mui intersect.
Mr. Tran Chi Hung (Phu Tan commune, Ca Mau) said: "I am over 60 years old this year and have never seen anyone take crabs to cook sweet soup. But eating crab sweet soup is strange and delicious.
Ca Mau crab is prepared by more than 100 chefs in different styles at the Festival. Artisans and chefs performed the preparation of many special dishes from Ca Mau crab combined with specialties of provinces and cities. With skillful hands and meticulous care, they have created delicious and attractive dishes such as: crab sticky rice, Ca Mau crab hotpot with Ngoc Linh ginseng, colorful crab salad, crab cooked with squid...
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham (Tan Xuyen ward, Ca Mau province) happily said: "I used to eat boiled crab, roasted, stir-fried, cooked soup... and never knew how to cook crab with ginseng, crab to cook squid, crab to cook Quang noodles...".
Mr. Ly Vi Trieu Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of Ca Mau province, said that Ca Mau affirmed its position as the "crab capital" of Vietnam with more than 365,000 hectares of crab farming area, accounting for about 78% of the country's area, with an output of more than 36,000 tons, accounting for about 53% of the national output.
Delicious dishes from Ca Mau crab combine specialties of 34 provinces and cities. This is not only a unique culinary activity, but also an intersection of culinary culture, flavors, and people from all over the country, demonstrating the spirit of connection, creativity, and promoting Vietnamese cuisine to the world.
