Ha Giang is not only well-known for its majestic and majestic landscape, golden terraced fields during the ripe rice season, romantic buckwheat flower fields, and unique national cultural identity, but it is also a place that converges the quintessence of diverse and rich cuisine, with specialties that attract diners when they visit the Stone Plateau.

Corn pho (phở ngô) is one of the top 121 dishes in typical Vietnamese cuisine. Source: Collected

Ha Giang currently has four specialties in the top 100 outstanding gift specialties, including Mint Honey, Hoang Su Phi Shan Tuyet Tea, Buckwheat Cake, and Quan Ba seedless persimmons, as well as four dishes. Outstanding gifts include: Men men, Au Tau porridge, thang co, and meat hanging on the kitchen counter; three dishes are in the top 121 typical Vietnamese culinary dishes, including Bong fish, corn pho, and Au Tau porridge. These dishes with mountain and forest flavors, along with five-color sticky rice, buckwheat cakes, leaf-fermented corn wine, grilled stone moss, banh chung, sausages, thang co… are the culinary quintessence originating from the past. The living and working processes of a community of 19 ethnic groups have their own nuances.

When it comes to Ha Giang, tourists frequently recall the specialty Au Tau porridge.

Au Tau porridge (cháo Ấu tẩu) is an amazing dish. Source: Collected

This dish is rather strange to eat. The bowl of porridge has a fatty flavor with a hint of bitterness from Au Tau, as well as a delicious aroma from the chicken eggs and herbs. Au tau is a typical Ha Giang tuber that contains toxins. Mong people detoxify their Au roots by soaking them in rice water and simmering them for 4-5 hours. Then puree and cook with bone broth and yellow flower sticky rice, along with a little plain rice. When the porridge is ready, it will be scooped into a bowl and served with minced lean meat, salt, pepper, and scallions. Au Tau is a nourishing dish that can alleviate colds and aches. On cold winter days, visitors will have an unforgettable experience eating a bowl of hot, nutritious Au Tau porridge.

Thang co (thắng cố) is a must-try for diners visiting Ha Giang. Source: Collected

Thang Co, in addition to Au Tau porridge, is a must-try for diners visiting the Stone Plateau. Thang co means meat soup, a traditional Mong dish made from horse meat with a distinct flavor. Nowadays, to appeal to tourists, the restaurant owner has replaced the ingredients with buffalo, cow, and pork meat. People here also cook with beef organs because horse meat is extremely hard to come by. Thang Co’s essence is particularly evident in the broth, which is simmered from bones and green organs covered with five internal organs and mixed with 12 traditional spices such as star anise, cardamom, lemon leaves, etc. to create a pot of fragrant broth. The meat will be lightly fried before being placed in broth and simmered until soft. This dish has a strong odor when first tried, but the more you eat it, the more you like it. It will be more appealing when served with men, grilled corn cakes, and corn wine.

The buckwheat flower paradise (Source: Collected)

Visitors to Ha Giang to experience the buckwheat flower paradise should not pass up the opportunity to sample specialties made from delicious and unique buckwheat seeds, such as all types of cakes, pho, beer, noodles, dry noodles, and wine. Buckwheat is an herb that has long been recognized as a symbol of Ha Giang’s Northeast region.

Visitors can also enjoy other great dishes while exploring the Stone Plateau, such as Dong Van ancient town rolls, banh chung, Dong Van egg rolls, Bac Me lam rice, buffalo meat, kitchen hanger, sour pho, and amaranth. If you get a chance to try it, diners will remember the dish’s aftertaste forever.

In recent years, Ha Giang has emerged as a top attractive destination, with tourism serving as a driving force in local economic growth. Among tourism products, the community tourism model that incorporates the essence of local culinary culture yields the most visible results. Homestays, with the help and assistance of authorities at all levels, have cleverly incorporated traditional culinary cultural values into the service process to provide visitors with the most enjoyable experience possible. Visitors can not only enjoy the specialties but also see how they are prepared and learn about the completely natural origins of forest ingredients such as banana balls, mac Khen, bamboo shoots, and colorful leaves to make five-color sticky rice.

Ha Giang festival – Source: Ha Giang TV

Ha Giang province recently held the 2023 North, Central, and South Ha Giang Culinary Culture Festival in the city to honor, preserve, and promote the value of local culinary heritage. Ha Giang attracts a large number of domestic and international tourists due to its many exciting and attractive activities. To build on the success of this event, Ha Giang is expected to host the 2024 International Culinary and Tourism Culture Festival in Ha Giang over three days, from March 29 to 31, 2024, at 26.3 Square and Green Park in the Ha Giang city.

With the theme Ha Giang—the culinary quintessence of Asia’s leading destination—Ha Giang is determined to elevate local culinary cultural values, introduce and widely promote to domestic and international tourists; Build and effectively exploit the culinary tourism brand by collecting, restoring, and developing quintessential, unique, and quality culinary and tourism culture; Promoting cooperation in tourism development promises to bring many interesting experiences to

According to the plan, the 2024 International Culinary and Tourism Culture Festival in Ha Giang will include a series of special and unique events, the most notable of which is the program to set a Vietnamese record of “50 dishes and drinks made from buckwheat” with the participation of chef experts from the Japan-Vietnam Cuisine Association directly creating dishes and drinks, creating a menu of 50 dishes made from whole ingredients. The main material is the Buckwheat Triangle, which has five sets of combinations: tree, child, flower, tuber, and fruit. There are also a number of activities, including: organizing competitions and awarding typical dishes of provinces and cities; experiential activities, cultural exchanges, cuisine, and tourism; a public art performance program; Asia’s leading typical destination survey program, Ha Giang 2023; and a Ha Giang tourism branding workshop.