Soc Trang Market is located in the center of Soc Trang City, right on Ly Thuong Kiet Street, near Quay Bridge, about 60km from Can Tho City in the direction of National Highway 1A. This is a large and bustling market in Soc Trang Province, with the typical trading features of Kinh, Hoa, and Khmer people. On the days before Tet, Soc Trang Market is a suitable place to clearly feel the atmosphere of Tet in the West, with the warmth and joy of both sellers and buyers.
Along the way to the market, visitors will see many baskets filled with purple onions, creating an impressive array of vibrant colors. This is a specialty onion of Vinh Chau town, Soc Trang province.
After harvesting, Khmer farmers tie onions into beautiful bunches and sell them for 25,000 - 30,000 VND/kg. Vinh Chau purple onions are plump and round, purple on the outside, white flesh, spicy aroma, and are used as a spice for many delicious dishes. In addition, onions are also peeled, pickled in sweet and sour sauce, and eaten with braised pork, sausage, etc. in the Western Tet meal.
In addition to onions, pickled shallots are also abundant in this market, with prices ranging from 50,000 - 80,000 VND/kg depending on the type, with the roots and leaves cut off... most of the pickles sold in Soc Trang market are cinnamon pickles with medium stems, making them crispy and fragrant.
In the spice stalls, visitors can buy wormwood, an indispensable ingredient in Khmer noodle dishes such as vermicelli with fish sauce, vermicelli with fish, and the famous Soc Trang noodle soup, which is difficult to find in other markets in the West. Khmer people often use wormwood to remove fishy odors and create a distinctive aroma for dishes.
Soc Trang market opens from early morning to late afternoon, but if you come here in the morning, you can try the famous noodle soup. There are many noodle shops in the market that are familiar to locals, and the price is also very reasonable at 25,000 - 30,000 VND/bowl. Soc Trang noodle soup has a faint aroma of wormwood, rich broth, full toppings of snakehead fish, shrimp and roast pork, some places also order extra duck eggs or fried breadsticks, crispy fried shrimp cakes to eat with.
In addition, many typical Chinese cakes are also available at this market such as bamboo shoot cakes, cassava cakes, radish cakes, rice rolls... served with grilled spring rolls, sausages, sour spring rolls, herbs and sweet and sour fish sauce, priced from only 15,000 VND/portion.
After going around the market, you can visit Khmer and Chinese pagodas in the city center to check-in, such as: Bat Pagoda, Chen Kieu Pagoda, Wat Khleang Pagoda, Som Rong Pagoda, La Han Pagoda... These are all pagodas with unique architecture and a long history in the locality.
