The (6+) Phu Tho specialties always make you crave

Not only is the ancestral land of the Hung kings, but the land of Phu Tho - the origin of the nation is also home to many attractive and unique specialties that are hard to find anywhere in the country, anyone who has had the opportunity to try it once will remember it forever.

Today, let Easygo introduce you to the most famous Phu Tho specialties so you don't miss out when you visit this place!

Thanh Son sour meat

When talking about Phu Tho specialties, the first thing to mention is sour meat. This is a specialty dish of the Muong ethnic group in the Thanh Son area, Phu Tho province. The main ingredient to make this dish is pork that is naturally grazed and roasted.

The meat to make this sour meat dish must be bacon and lean shoulder meat, which is fermented according to a special recipe of the Muong people. Sour meat is a unique dish, strange, but very easy to eat can be easily combined with many different dishes.

Sour meat is often served with some raw vegetables such as guava leaves, clove leaves, fig leaves, etc. This is a great dish on the drinking table with a few bottles of cold beer.

Ear cake

Ear cake is a specialty dish that almost every village in Phu Tho province has. This type of cake is also known as Hon cake, shaped like an ear, made from plain rice, pork filling, and some other ingredients. Plain rice after soaking will be pounded or ground to make flour.

The pork inside, after being marinated to absorb enough spices, will be steamed. When eating ear cake, people often dip it with sweet and sour fish sauce, have to enjoy it slowly to feel the harmony of all flavors.

Palm leaf rice ball

For Phu Tho people, the rice ball with palm leaves contains all the culture, customs, and habits of this green land and the soul of this countryside.

Although it is a simple and rustic dish, the rice ball of palm leaves shows the ingenuity of the hands of the Phu Tho people. To make this dish, the rice after being cooked will be rolled and clenched.

After that, the rice is rolled through the palm leaf, but especially the young palm trees, which are about as tall as people, are taken from the young leaves, as small as the mouth of a cone. Rice balls with palm leaves are often eaten with sesame salt or dried roasted pork. This is a dish that is not fussy and beautiful but contains all the soul of the country and the essence of heaven and earth.

Stew fish with canarium

Stew fish with canarium is one of Phu Tho's very own flavor dishes that visitors should not miss when having the opportunity to come here. There are two types of fillings: black canarium and sour canarium.

Black canarium as big as a thumb, when ripe it has a shiny black color, long diamond shape, greasy taste when eaten, it is often dipped with sesame salt or peanut salt. And sour canarium that are braised with fish create an extremely attractive dish.

When stewing, the sour taste of the canarium is absorbed into the fish, making the fish have a sour taste, while the sweetness of the soy sauce and fish protein infiltrate the canarium, losing the acrid taste, reducing the sour taste of the canarium, bringing a slightly sour, fleshy taste. 

Co Om

Co om – a rustic gift has become a specialty of Phu Tho that attracts tourists when visiting this place.

There are two types of sticky palm and plain palm, although the taste is similar but different in the softness and greasy, only those with sharp eyes can distinguish it.

The selected palm is mixed with shock absorbers to remove the outer skin, then washed and boiled. It sounds simple, but the process of boiling the palm also needs a lot of meticulousness and ingenuity so that the palm is not fried and too hard, difficult to eat.

When the palm is cooked, take it out, let it cool and eat it right away. The palm is soft, the outer shell is black, but the inside is golden, the pulp is thick and fragrant. When eating this dish, visitors will feel extremely excited with its unique, greasy, sweet, and attractive taste. 

Rock moss

Rock moss is a traditional dish of the Muong and Dao ethnic groups in Xuan Son, Phu Tho province.

According to the people here, moss is only found in Than stream, where the clear water flows from the majestic Mother Lieu mountain range surrounding the village.

When taking moss, you must choose the direction of the water flow so that the moss will not be crushed. When picking, you can only pick the young silk, not the whole moss. 

After picking and cleaning the moss, people add a little fish sauce, salt, garlic, Doi seeds, mac Khen seeds, chili peppers, ginger, lemon leaves, a little chopped papaya leaves, and then pack it in a bag. Fresh banana leaves, then stir-fried or grilled over hot coals.

Rock moss is not only a delicious dish but also a cure for diseases, helping to circulate blood, detoxify and cool down.

Doan Hung pomelo

Doan Hung pomelo is a famous pomelo variety not only in Phu Tho but also known in many other places.

This is a perennial plant, the fruit is spherical, flattened, with an average weight of about 1kg, bright yellow when ripe, thin pulp, dry, succulent, sweet taste, and characteristic aroma when eaten.

Doan Hung pomelo has the two most delicious pomelo varieties, which are Bang Luan pomelo and Suu Chi Dam pomelo. Bang Luan pomelo has large, yellow-green skin, while Suu Chi Dam pomelo has medium round fruit, yellow skin, and slightly wrinkled skin.

Grapefruit variety in Phu Tho is special in that it can be stored for a long time, can be preserved from a few months to half a year, and still has a sweet aroma, when eaten, it still has a sweet taste, melting in the tongue.

Through this article, Easygo would like to introduce you to Phu Tho specialties that are most popular with tourists. If you have time to visit this ancestral land of the Hung Kings, do not forget to taste these attractive and unique dishes only in Phu Tho!