Foodies

Top 8 must-try traditional dishes in Ha Giang

Local

• 6 min read
Photo by Frankie Shutterbug / Unsplash

Ha Giang is naturally gifted with amazing views and also unique food! Check out 08 traditional dishes that are loved by locals for your next adventure.

Buckwheat cake

Buckwheat cakes are famous in Ha Giang markets. Source by Vietsense Travel.com
  • Buy it: available in any traditional wet market.
  • Price: 10.000VND/ cake

Buckwheat, a signature flower in Ha Giang, also marks its presence in traditional cuisine. Locals love to adore its beauty and use it as an ingredient for daily dishes. Buckwheat cakes are made from nutritious flour with buckwheat seeds, with a subtle fragrance and distinctive brown color.

Buckwheat cake is thick and flattened, and then people steam it on the fire. Easy to get and easy to try, the cake gets scrumptious on hot days. Despite its humble appearance, the cake tastes delicious. It is a good choice for the midday snack during the tour to this destination.

Check out our ultimate guide to Ha Giang's buckwheat flower festival in Ha Giang!

Au tau porridge

Au Tau porridge is a typical food in Ha Giang. Photo by: Du lich Dai Bang.
  • Best places to try it:
  • Huong store and Au Tau Ngan Ha store in Ha Giang City.
  • Moc Mien Au Tau porridge store (Dong Van District).
  • Hoa The store in (Meo Vac District).
  • Price: 40.000VND - 60.000 VND/ bowl

Among the best dishes in Ha Giang, many may mention Au Tau porridge. It is made from the Au Tau tree's roots, found at Tay Con Linh peak. Although the seeds are poisonous but experienced chef knows how to cook them well to make good dishes. This is a fantastic food to try if you want to enjoy a culinary tour in Ha Giang.

People say that you should enjoy the food at night. That is because Au Tau porridge is nutritious and can help you fall asleep quickly. In a bowl of porridge, you can find pork and ask for fresh vegetables and an egg to eat with.

Five-colored glutinous rice

Five-colored sticky rice is made from natural components—sourced by Vietnam Times.

  • Where to buy: markets along the street
  • Price: From 5.000 VND (but remember to ask the price during the festival)

Five-colored glutinous rice is a yummy Ha Giang local food. Glutinous rice is famous in Vietnam, but in Ha Giang, people make it more delicious with five colors (including red, green, yellow, purple, and white). That is fantastic food, and you can hardly see it in any other place, even in this country.

More than that, people do not use chemistry to make colors. The ethnic habitants use natural components to make the sticky rice. To make the red color, they use Gac, they get green color from tree leaves, yellow from turmeric, purple color can be found in Sau leaves, and white color is the color of the pure rice.

Thang den

Thang Den is a must try food in Ha Giang tours. Source by Báo Dân tộc và Phát triển.

  • Where to eat: stores in Yen Minh, Dong Van town, and the fair markets
  • Price: From 5.000VND - 10.000VND/ small bowl

If you can travel to Ha Giang in Vietnam, we highly suggest one more local food, Thang Den. It is a sweet soup with sugar, ginger, and coconut milk. People make rice flour balls for the soup, round and soft like Banh Troi in Hanoi.

To get the best experience, you should enjoy the dish with crunchy peanuts and sesame. It is fantastic to have a bow of Thang Den on cold days in winter while traveling on a Ha Giang tour.

Thang Co

Thang Co is a popular Ha Giang local food in fair markets. Source by Wikipedia.

  • Where to enjoy: in restaurants or at the markets
  • Price: From 20.000VND - 30.000VND/ bowl

Dong Van and Meo Vac are the best places to experience local food. If you like something with meat, Thang Co is a good option for the tour. The flavor of cardamom seeds can make you want to enjoy the food immediately. Thang Co can be found in many markets on Sundays.

Thang Co has a unique taste, and people can be served well on a long table. You can sit there, enjoy the hot bowl of Thang Co and make friends with local friendly people. The food is made from horse meat, but they can add pork, cow, or buffalo in some places.

Sticky rice in bamboo pipes

Bac Me is famous for its sticky rice in the bamboo pipe. Source by Vitravel.

  • Where to buy: shops along the way in Bac Me
  • Price: 15.000VND - 15.000VND/ bamboo pipe

The specialty of Com Lam Bac Me is its aroma. In Bac Me, there is a unique food many tourists like; it is sticky rice in a bamboo pipe. The bamboo pipe makes the rice more tasty and yummy when hot.

You can enjoy this Ha Giang food with dried meat, buy some to eat later, or give it to friends as a gift after the Ha Giang tour. Enjoy Com Lam; you can easily find out that there is a little salt in the bamboo pipes, which makes them taste better.

Sour pho

Sour Pho is a strange local food in Ha Giang. Source by Vietmountain travel.

  • Where to enjoy: No. 12 Bach Dang street in Ha Giang city
  • Price: 25.000 - 35.000 VND/bowl

In Ha Giang, Vietnam, there is a strange food that many ethnic people love, sour pho. Pho in Vietnam is famous for beef, chicken, pork, etc. But bad pho in fair markets sometimes does not include meat. It is made differently with a unique taste. Locals like the food so much, and they enjoy it with satisfaction.

If you can try strange food and want to know more about Vietnamese cuisine, sour pho is an option, to check. In some stores, the chef also adds meat to the bowl to make it a good dish for everyone. Remember to add more spices, such as soup powder, fish sauce, etc., to the bowl before enjoying.

Steamed egg rolls

Egg rolls in Ha Giang are one of the specialties in this destination. Source by MIA.vn.

  • Where to enjoy: Mrs. Ha's store at No.31 Pho Co street in Dong Van town
  • Price: From 20.000 VND/ dish

Steamed egg rolls are tasty food in Ha Giang in cold climates. It can be found in some districts of the province and has a fantastic flavor. The dish is made from eggs, then people steam and roll it up. It is so delicious when it is hot. You can enjoy the food with pork bone sauce with vegetables.

Dipping the steamed egg rolls into the sauce can make the food more delicious, but do not forget to add some fried onion. The flavor from the onion can complete the registration more delicious!

With the above eight local foods, you can prepare for a good culinary Ha Giang, Vietnam tour. We hope you all enjoy the food and have a great time discovering this beautiful place in the North of our country! Good luck!