What are the top specialties in Cao Bang?

Cao Bang specialties are all simple, common dishes but they have the bold flavours of the highland mountains and forests.

Cao Bang is currently one of the tourist destinations attracting domestic and foreign tourists. Along with majestic and poetic natural scenery, this place also possesses a rich culinary background with unique and attractive dishes.

If you have the opportunity to come here, you should enjoy Cao Bang specialties with unforgettable flavours.

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Roasted duck with 7 flavours

This is a dish that every tourist must try when coming to Cao Bang. The reason for the name of the dish is because the duck meat is marinated by Cao Bang people with 7 different spices and then roasted.

The spices that make this dish attractive are the secret of the Tay people living in Cao Bang, making visitors who eat it once will remember it forever. Roasted duck with 7 flavours stimulates both the eyes and taste buds of diners, with its attractive honey skin colour and greasy, sweet flavour from the meat.

Coong Phu Cake

Coong Phu - Cao Bang's specialty

Coong Phucake is a unique type of Troi cake (similar to tangyuan) of the Cao Bang region. This dish is also made from sticky rice, sugar, peanuts, sesame, and fresh ginger, with the same method as making normal dumplings but without filling and with many colours. A bowl of warm Coong Phu cake will be the ideal choice for tourists when travelling to Cao Bang.

Cao Bang steamed rice roll

Steamed rice roll - Cao Bang's specialty

Banh Cuon - steamed rice roll is no longer a strange dish to Northern people. However, in Cao Bang, this dish is prepared according to a different recipe. Banh cuon of Cao Bang people is made from Doan Ket rice and is made on the spot on cast iron pots with large moulds, and the mouth of the pot is made of old bamboo shoots. The filling can include chicken eggs, minced meat, Vietnamese steamed pork sausage, or wood ear mushrooms...

The special thing here is that Cao Bang people eat Banh Cuon with a bowl of sweet, warm bone broth, not with fish sauce like in other provinces. When enjoying, they don't dip each piece but put all the rolls in that bowl of bone broth. Maybe that's why this dish is also called Cao Bang soup of steamed rice roll.

Trung Khanh chestnuts

A Cao Bang specialty that is very popular with tourists is Trung Khanh chestnuts. This type of chestnut is abundant around September to October of the lunar calendar every year, and only in Cao Bang are there suitable weather conditions for Trung Khanh chestnut trees to grow. If you have the opportunity to come to Cao Bang in the fall, you will easily enjoy this Trung Khanh chestnut dish.

Beef hung up in kitchen of Cao Bang

Beef hung up in kitchen - Cao Bang's specialty

This is one of Cao Bang's specialties that you can buy as gifts for relatives. People here marinate beef with salt, ginger, and white wine, then leave it in the kitchen for many days until it dries. This dish has a delicious flavour typical of the highlands, suitable for drinking meals with family or friends.

Ant egg cake

Delicious Ant Egg Cake of Cao Bang

One of the famous Cao Bang specialties that you cannot miss is ant egg cake. This is a special dish of the Tay people in Cao Bang. This cake is made from ant eggs, rice flour, and a fig leaf crust. Ant egg cakes only appear in abundance from March to May of the lunar calendar, because this is the time of changing seasons so many ant eggs appear.

After being harvested, ant eggs will be washed, stir-fried, then sprinkled on the dough layer rolled thinly on fig leaves, and steamed. The cake has a rich, delicious flavour of the mountains and forests, and will be an interesting culinary experience for visitors.

Sour Pho

Cao Bang's specialty - Pho Chua or Sour Noodle

Cao Bang’s Pho Chua (sour Pho) impresses many diners with its unique preparation and attractive flavour. This dish is made from plain rice noodles mixed with pork, roasted duck, crispy fried potatoes, peanuts, and Mac mat leaves..., served with a special sauce. Sour Pho has the sour taste of vinegar, the greasy taste of duck fat, and the sweetness of potatoes, mixed with the attractive flavour of Mac Mat leaves, making it unforgettable for visitors.

Above are Cao Bang's specialty dishes that you should try when visiting this place. Ama Journey hopes you will share your wonderful experiences with us if you choose to travel to Cao Bang in particular and Vietnam in general. Wishing you a happy trip!

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