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Take a look at some of Vietnam’s unique flower-based dishes
1. Buckwheat buckwheat cake
Buckwheat cake is one of the famous flower dishes of Ha Giang province. On the flower plateau, you will see and enjoy this special cake. Although it is not a luxurious cake, it is a cake associated with the life of Ha Giang people.
You know, buckwheat flower is a famous “brand” flower of Ha Giang. People in the Northwest highlands not only grow flowers for beauty or tourism, but also harvest seeds to create this delicious and characteristic cake. For Ha Giang people, buckwheat is not only a flower but also a source of food.
The word pulse in the “buckwheat triangle” indicates that this is a type of food that can be eaten. And to make buckwheat cakes, people will harvest seeds from this flower, then dry and grind flour to make cakes. During the baking process, people can add a little sugar, a little salt to increase the flavor.
Buckwheat cake is a Vietnamese dish made from flowers that is quite simple. After being prepared, the powder will be steamed until cooked and baked again to enjoy or sell. The finished cake usually has a very characteristic sweet and fleshy taste, once you eat it, you will remember it. Traveling to Ha Giang, you can buy this cake at markets or enjoy it in the families of ethnic minorities.
2. Ban flower salad
Another dish made from very delicious flowers of the Northwest mountains that you should try is hoa ban mannequin. That pristine, pure and fresh flower not only paints a beautiful picture for the mountains but also contributes to creating an irresistible delicious dish, diversifying Vietnamese cuisine.
It is known that Hoa ban mannequin is a specialty of the Thai ethnic group in Son La province. Every year, in February and March, when the ban flower blooms all over the mountains, the Thai people show off their talent in making this special flower ban mannequin. Hoa ban when picked is preliminarily processed, washed and prepared to make mannequins along with other spices.
According to the experience of the Thai people, when the flowers are preliminarily processed, they will be boiled with boiling water. The flowers are then picked out and mixed with ginger, cilantro, coriander, young garlic, mac Khen, chili, etc. to create an extremely attractive mannequin. The finished mannequin has many flavors such as sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, etc., which stimulates the taste buds.
This dish made from flowers wants to be delicious and “right” when mixed, do not throw away all the boiling water. Thai people share that it is necessary to leave a little water to make the salad more delicious and rich.
3. Crazy flower sour soup
Not only the highlanders have attractive dishes made from flowers. But in the lowlands like the West, there are also a variety of delicious dishes made from flowers. One of them is dandelion flower sour soup – a typical flower of the Mekong Delta provinces every flood season.
Sour soup cooked with crazy cotton is one of the dishes made from flowers only found in Vietnam, showing a rustic and idyllic beauty of the people of the river region. Every flood season returns, the fields are full of flowers. People just need to pick them up, wash them and cook them into an attractive sour soup.
With dandelion flower, Westerners can cook with many different types of fish. But the most “right” delicious is still crazy cotton sour soup with Linh fish – a typical fish in the flood season. The taste of sweet, fragrant, and fatty fish mixed with a little ring of the wild bougainvillea creates a delicious and attractive dish, once you eat it, you will love it.
There is no need to be fussy, except for the two main ingredients, which are Linh fish and crazy cotton, Westerners just need to add a little tamarind, seasoning vegetables, chili, etc. to be able to cook an attractive pot of soup. The process of cooking sour soup is also simple by cooking sour tamarind juice, adding fish, seasoning and adding cotton and herbs.
Simple and rustic is that, but this dish has become a great specialty of the Mekong Delta. Every year the flood comes, this delicious dish is “on the air” in families. Later, tourists from far away to the West also know more and nod their heads when enjoying.
4. Phoenix flower chicken salad
Ready to go to the West to eat sour soup, then go to Dong Thap to try phoenix chicken salad. This is also a unique flower dish that you should try once when you have the opportunity. This dish has been around for a long time, but it is most popular in the country of “pink lotus” and neighboring provinces. Of course, to enjoy this dish, everyone has to wait for summer.
The main ingredients of phoenix flower chicken salad are boiled chicken and phoenix flowers. If normally, people combine chicken with banana flowers, cabbage or other vegetables and flowers, this time combined with phoenix flowers. The phoenix flower, when mixed with chicken, has a cool and sour taste, mixed with the typical sweet and salty taste of Western salad.
The recipe for this flower dish is quite simple. After boiling, the chicken is shredded into bite-sized pieces, mixed with the phoenix flowers, which are preliminarily cleaned. Then add the salad dressing and other ingredients such as herbs, fried onions, tofu, lemon, chili, sugar, salt, etc.
Compared with other chicken salad, phoenix flower chicken salad is not only delicious but also very eye-catching. The pure white chicken with the bright red phoenix flower, dotted with the green of herbs, the yellow of peanuts,… creates an attractive and irresistible dish.
There are many dishes made from flowers in Vietnamese cuisine such as buckwheat buckwheat cake, hoa ban mannequin, phoenix chicken salad or crazy cotton sour soup. Each delicious dish has a unique flavor, showing the culinary beauty of each region in Vietnam, contributing to diversify the cultures of the ethnic groups on the S-shaped strip of land.
Tra Van (General) – luhanhVietNam.com.vn
Photo: Internet
