Northwest Vietnam Travel - Take a bite of this peculiar Son La raw fish salad

If you have the opportunity to travel to Northwest Vietnam, try this unique dish - Son La jumping fish salad. The dish is a bit scary but has an unexpectedly attractive taste.

Son La specialties: Son La is a well-known tourist province in northern Vietnam, known for its gorgeous landscapes and delectable cuisine. If you're wondering what to eat in Son La and what wonderful specialties Son La offers, please view the information about excellent Son La meals with this dining address right now.

1. Son La Jumping Fish Salad

Son La jumping fish salad is a one-of-a-kind dish that every tourist in Northwest Vietnam Travel should try at least once. Despite its look, many diners may "give up" on this meal. However, if you have the confidence to face your fears and eat it, you will understand why this meal captivates so many people. Although the cooking process is easy, it is not popular in many areas since it is particular about what it eats. The peculiar eating style of this meal distinguishes it. Fish must be served uncooked, prepared, and consumed at the table.

2. How to make Son La Jumping Fish Salad? 

The best fish to make Son La jumping fish salad are baby carp. So when the rice planting season is the season for carp to lay eggs, they will take the eggs from the water hyacinth flowers to release into the field. When the rice grows, the flowers fall into the water and become food for the fish. When the harvest seasons arrive and the ripe rice fields are visible, people catch fish in the fields and bring them home to cook jumping fish. Because these fish eat rice flowers, they are very clean. The fish caught must be alive; put it in a pot of clean water to see if it is still swimming well to meet the requirements. Some people, who are more sophisticated, thoroughly wash the fish and then soak it in a basin of salt water so that the fish can excrete all the dirty things inside. Then they brought it out and washed it with salt water again.

3. The best way to enjoy Son La jumping fish salad

Son La jumping fish salad must be eaten with fresh banana trunk, herbs (coriander, basil, dill, marjoram ...), spices with fish sauce, salt, monosodium glutamate, garlic, chili and especially indispensable Mac khen seeds - Thai people special seasoning. All must be chopped to form a mixture of sour, spicy, sweet and characteristic aroma. To eat fish salad, people catch fish from the pot, use a small knife to quickly cut the fish's belly, squeeze the intestines out and then quickly drop it into the accompanying mixture. Each eater uses a small spoon to scoop fish from a banana trunk and a type of sour water into their mouths. 

Many people grimaced in horror just listening to it; seeing it with their own eyes is even scarier. This is a strange dish for those who have never tasted jumping fish salad; it is difficult to imagine the taste. Many tourists in the Northwest Vietnam Tour are terrified of this dish. Gourmets, on the other hand, will immediately recognize the distinct taste on the tip of the tongue, which is the crisp and sweet flavor of fish meat and the spicy flavor of garlic and chili, the taste of pangolin on the tip of the tongue, and the strong aroma of Mac Khen seeds. smart. The spices will overpower the fish's fishy flavor, leaving only the meat and accompanying vegetables crunchy, aromatic, and fleshy. This will be a dish that you should try once when you have the opportunity to travel to the Northwest. 

4. Another extraordinary must-try dishes in Son La 

4.1. Fermented buffalo skin

Buffalo skin is thick and strong. To become a tasty delight, it must be well prepared through several techniques. Mac Khen, a type of pepper used by ethnic people in the Northwest, must be included in the spices required to make delicious fermented buffalo skin. Additional tastes include garlic, spicy chili, sugar, salt, canarium album, sour water from fermented bamboo shoots, peanuts, and sesame.

Fermented buffalo skin is served with fresh veggies and banana trunk. Its flavor helps to mask the greasy taste of meat and glutinous rice cakes. It is a must-have dish for Thai festivals and celebrations in the northwest area.

The dish has appeared on the menus of Son La province restaurants. Tourists buy it for about $4 per kg to eat at home or to give as a gift to friends.

4.2. Roasted cicada

Summer is when baby cicadas emerge from the ground and climb trees, molting them to become adult cicadas. And now is the time to indulge in Son La Land's delectable roasted cicada delicacies. The fleshy flavor of the cicada's intestine under the crust is crisp and aromatic, bolder as it reaches the bowl of the core, and the spicy taste of Son La wine always excites the taste of discerning drinkers. 

4.3. Buffalo meat hangs in the kitchen

Buffalo meat is not just a popular dish in Son La but also among the ethnic groups who live in the Northwest Vietnam region. This meal is created using nutritious buffalo meat, specifically the finest thigh or tough flesh. The buffalo meat in the Son La people's cooking does not smell terrible because of their special seasoning recipe.

After marinating the spices to infuse them, the ethnic people here frequently hang them on the kitchen floor so that the buffalo meat cooks gradually and smells like smoke so that when you eat it, you will get a little smoky taste of buffalo meat. Nothing beats this specialty meal accompanied by a glass of wine. Buffalo meat is widely available in tourist communities and restaurants in Son La, so you should have no trouble enjoying this delicacy in your tour to Northwest Vietnam.

Threeland Travel has brought you a brief about the highly distinctive and appealing Son La jumping fish salad. If you have a chance, don't miss those unique dishes above. Feel free to contact us asap via our hotline or email for detailed information on Threeland Travel Vietnam Travel packages to discover the northwest Vietnam and must-try specialties!