Published:  13:22 Monday - September 16, 2024

Ta Xua is not only famous for its majestic scenery and dreamy sea of clouds but also attracts visitors with its unique culinary specialties. Each dish here embodies the essence of the highlands, from the preparation to the natural ingredients. Let’s explore the amazing specialties this land has to offer!

Smoked Buffalo Meat

Smoked buffalo meat is a specialty of Ta Xua, made from the meat of buffaloes and cows that are free-grazed in the mountains of the Northwest region.

To prepare this dish, the meat is sliced into long pieces, marinated with unique spices from the highlands, especially *mac khen* (a type of spice), and then smoked over charcoal for about two months.

The smoke from the forest wood gives the meat a smoky aroma, creating its distinct flavor. When eating, the meat is torn into small pieces or used in various dishes. Savoring a piece of this meat with a cup of corn wine during the chilly winter days in the windy Northwest allows one to fully appreciate its fragrant, spicy, and rich flavor, making Ta Xua unforgettable.

Wild Apples

The wild apple tree often grows in the northern mountains of Vietnam. This fruit helps with digestion, boosts the immune system, and is even believed to have cancer-fighting properties.

The wild apple tree grows naturally at an altitude of 1,500 to 2,000 meters, blooms in spring, and is harvested in autumn, from August to October each year. Known as Son Tra in Vietnamese, this fruit is considered a valuable medicinal herb and is often used to make wine, a favorite among many people.

Its can also be used as a refreshing drink during summer or processed into jams, syrups, or candied fruits. They can be stored for a few days. When choosing wild apples, it's best to pick the small, unattractive ones as they are usually tastier.

When ripe, the flesh turns a translucent yellow or pinkish-white, offering a sweet and enticing taste.

Bamboo Rice

Bamboo rice is a traditional dish of the people in the Northwest. Made from a type of glutinous rice, the rice is soaked and then placed in bamboo tubes, with a bit of water added. The tubes are sealed with banana leaves and grilled over a fire until the bamboo forms a thin layer of ash around it.

Once cooked, the burnt outer layer is peeled away to reveal the white rice inside. The fragrance of the sticky rice blends with the aroma of bamboo and smoke, creating a dish that captures the essence of the mountains.

Ta Xua Tea

Ta Xua tea is an organic tea, grown, harvested, and processed entirely by hand in small quantities in Ta Xua Commune, Bac Yen District, Son La Province. The tea is made from ancient trees that grow on high mountains, and it is picked and processed by the H'mong ethnic people.

Every time they harvest, the locals must climb the tall trees to pick the tender tea buds, which are then placed in baskets. At first taste, Ta Xua tea may seem unfamiliar with its subtle sweetness, but once accustomed to it, it's hard to stop.

Pa Pinh Top

Pa pinh top is a delicately prepared traditional dish. It is, essentially, grilled fish, often made from carp, grass carp, or crucian carp. The fish is left whole, its scales are scraped off, and its insides are cleaned without rinsing it again in water.

The fish is slit along the back from head to tail, then rubbed with salt to reduce the fishy smell. The marinade includes garlic, lemongrass, onions, wild herbs, and especially *mac khen*—the key spice that defines the dish’s flavor.

The fish is folded in half, secured with bamboo sticks, and grilled over hot charcoal. As the fish cooks, it releases a wonderfully aromatic fragrance. For the local people, nothing beats enjoying grilled fish with sticky rice and sipping corn wine.

Buffalo Skin Salad

Buffalo skin salad is one of the specialties of the Thai ethnic group. Although the dish isn’t overly complex, it requires meticulous preparation. The main ingredient is buffalo skin, along with spices unique to the Northwest that give the dish its distinctive flavor.

Preparing buffalo skin takes time—it must be charred over a fire to remove the tough, bristly hair. The outer blackened layer is then scraped off, leaving behind the yellow skin, which is boiled until clean and tender. The next step involves slicing the boiled buffalo skin, a crucial part of the process that determines the dish’s success.

The skin must be sliced thinly, and the Thai people use sour bamboo shoot broth to give the salad its characteristic tartness. Essential spices for this salad include peanuts, chili, coriander, ginger,...

Enjoying these specialties is a wonderful way to fully experience the culinary essence and the life of the people in Ta Xua. If you have the chance to visit, don’t miss out on these unique dishes to truly savor the flavors of this highland region!