On July 22, in an exchange with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Vo Thi Thu Van - Vice Chairwoman of An Phu Commune People's Committee said that the preparation for the "Don An Phu" Festival held for the first time in Quang Ngai has been about 80% completed.
The festival takes place from July 24 - 27 in the area south of Co Luy bridge, Phu Tho village, An Phu commune. The opening ceremony will take place at 7 pm on July 24.
The festival aims to promote Don An Phu specialties; promote the local image; honor the unique culinary value of "Don An Phu" associated with preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, especially the art of Bai Choi singing. At the same time, the event also introduces and connects the consumption of OCOP products and local specialties.
This is also an opportunity to create conditions for exchange and meeting between producers and consumers; exchange information, expand the consumption market of local products, contributing to promoting production and business, increasing income and improving people's lives.
Processing, trading, and catering activities at the festival must comply with food safety regulations. Products served at the festival must ensure quality, reasonable prices, and clear origins. The expected festival scale is 31 booths.
The dishes participating in the festival include dishes made from don, mussels and many folk and traditional dishes such as fish patties, corn patties, stir-fried corn, snails, balut eggs, banh can, banh beo, banh xeo, banh cuon, fried fish balls, sweet soup, xu xoa, tofu and many other snacks.
For the "Don An Phu" culinary booth area combining local folk and traditional dishes, each village will take on 2-4 dishes, prioritizing dishes made from don and clams.
The Commune People's Committee will invite people with experience in processing don dishes to participate in the festival. Here, visitors will enjoy don specialties... Through the festival, we want to spread don specialties to a large number of people, contributing to promoting local cuisine," Ms. Van shared.
Don is a mollusk species exploited by people on the Tra Khuc River and is a famous specialty of Quang Ngai.
To get a delicious don pot, the cook must go through many meticulous steps. The don after being raked is scrubbed clean of its skin, washed thoroughly and then soaked to release all the sand. Then, the don is boiled until it is opened, releasing a sweet, clear and completely natural broth. This broth is considered the "soul" of the dish.
Don meat after being separated from the skin is kept, combined with shredded onions, crispy grilled rice paper and a sufficient amount of seasoning. All blend together to create a rustic bowl of don but with a very unique flavor of Quang region. When enjoying, the eater breaks the rice paper into small pieces and puts them in the bowl so that the cake gradually absorbs the don water, feeling the crispness mixed with the sweetness of the broth, mixed with the slight spiciness of green chili, creating a rich and unforgettable flavor.
