Food in Dalat for the year-end flower festival season

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Snails stuffed with meat, shumai bread, and chicken hotpot with é leaves are dishes that if you come to Da Lat without enjoying them, will be a mistake.

Da Lat begins in the peak tourist season when the weather is beautiful, it is sunny, dry, no rain. It is also the flower season with wild sunflowers, cherry apricots, and pink grass… blooming everywhere. The Dalat Flower Festival is taking place at the central flower garden and around the Xuan Huong Lake area. Coming to Dalat on this occasion, visitors should also enjoy the cuisine, with many dishes suitable for cold weather.

Snails stuffed with meat

Snails stuffed with meat and spicy ginger fish sauce.  Photo: Khanh Thien
Snails stuffed with meat dipped in ginger juice. Photo: Khanh Thien

This is one of the favorite snacks for both locals and tourists. Snails clean, deodorize fishy, ​​stuffed with spiced minced pork, add a few lemongrass stalks and then steamed. The dish impresses thanks to the fragrant and chewy snail meat, mixed with the smell of lemongrass, dipped with ginger fish sauce and eaten while still hot.

Suggested address: 157 Hai Ba Trung, 4D-41 Hai Ba Trung, C5 Tran Le, 83 Nguyen Van Troi.

Bread shumai

The shumai bread can be served with a variety of toppings and salads with vinegar and salad dressings.  Photo: Khanh Thien
Shumai bread can be served with a variety of “toppings” and a plate of salad vegetables mixed with vinegar. Photo: Khanh Thien

Banh mi shumai is a popular breakfast dish in Da Lat. This dish is made from pureed lean meat, has just enough toughness, broth from simmered pork bones, sweet taste. A little finely chopped scallions, served with satay chili will make the dish more attractive. Sausage meat firm, seasoning to taste, sweet dipping sauce served with hot bread. At some restaurants, diners can order additional side dishes such as pate, Hue rolls…

Suggested address: 26 Hoang Dieu, 79 Bui Thi Xuan, 14 Light, 72 Yersin.

Noodle soup

Vegetables served with vermicelli are chopped by Da Lat people.  Photo: Khanh Thien
Vegetables served with vermicelli are chopped by Da Lat people. Photo: Khanh Thien

Not a special dish, but vermicelli noodles are suitable for the chilly weather in Da Lat. The vermicelli here is famous for its rich flavor made with eggs, wood ear and minced meat in large pieces. When eating, you will feel the aroma of eggs and minced meat blended together, tomatoes, scallions, shrimp paste, bean sprouts and chopped vegetables.

Suggested address: 29 Nguyen Van Troi, 9N Huynh Thuc Khang, 38A Tran Nhat Duat, 29 Yersin.

Wet cake with chicken hearts

Wet cakes with chicken hearts add fried onions to add aroma to the dish.  Photo: Khanh Thien
Wet cake with chicken heart added fried onions to smell. Photo: Khanh Thien

Wet cake with chicken hearts is one of the oldest dishes in Da Lat. Some shops tear the chicken into thin fibers, or if you like, you can ask the seller to leave the chicken thighs whole, add young eggs and gizzards. Crispy chicken, soft wet cake and sweet and sour fish sauce are enough to stimulate the taste of diners.

Suggested address: 15F Tang Bat Ho, 68 Phan Dinh Phung, 9 Dong Tam, 44 Tang Bat Ho.

Beef hotpot

Dalat beef hotpot served with a variety of green vegetables.  Photo: Khanh Thien
Dalat beef hotpot served with a variety of green vegetables. Photo: Khanh Thien

Beef hot pot includes many types of lean meat, tendons, tails or shackles, accompanied by tofu cut into square pieces, indispensable green vegetables including broccoli, cabbage, spinach, centella asiatica, and fresh greens. Soft cooked meat is picked up in a bowl, adding broth, vegetables, tofu. When eating, you will feel the sweetness of each fiber of meat, dipping it with a dipping sauce made from chao and satay.

Suggested address: 427/3 Phan Dinh Phung, 1/29 Hoang Dieu, 14 Nguyen Thi Dinh, 15B Quang Trung.

Chicken hot pot with leaves

Full pot with chicken, bamboo shoots, mushrooms.  Photo: Tam Anh
Full pot with chicken, bamboo shoots, mushrooms. Photo: Tam Anh

This is a must-try dish in Da Lat, suitable for use in cold weather. Ga le hot pot has a light sweet broth, tender chicken, mushrooms and sweet bamboo shoots. In particular, the part of é leaves has a pungent taste, you can dip it wherever you go because the leaves ripen quickly. Accompanying the hot pot is a cup of pungent chili salt.

Suggested address: 2 Chu Van An, 1 Yersin, 27 Le Dai Hanh, 6 Yersin, 28 Huynh Thuc Khang.

Baked rolls

Grilled spring rolls served with many toppings and fatty sauces from liver, meat, ground beans... Photo: Huynh Nhi
Grilled spring rolls served with many “toppings” and fatty sauces from liver, meat, ground beans… Photo: Huynh Nhi

Dalat cuisine also has grilled spring rolls that are mentioned by many diners. A serving includes grilled spring rolls, deep-fried rice paper, raw vegetables and sour foods to balance the taste and not cause boredom. The cup of dipping sauce is always warm, made from liver, shrimp, meat and beans pureed into a paste.

Suggested address: 328 Phan Dinh Phung, 45 Bui Thi Xuan, 150 Bui Thi Xuan.

Can cake

Da Lat people eat banh can with hot bowl of shumai.  Photo: Joel Whalton/Shutterstock
Can cake served with shumai in Da Lat. Photo: Joel Whalton

The cake is heated, thin crust, filled with chicken eggs, quail eggs, minced beef or squid. The cake is served with pork shumai balls, a little bit of fat, and a lot of green onions. The sausage is kept hot on the stove, so it always gives off a nice aroma. Each batch of hot, crispy cakes mixed with dipping sauce stimulates the taste.

Suggested address: 27/44 Yersin Street, 15A Nguyen Bieu Street, 30 Tang Bat Ho, 5 Ba Thang Tu Street.

Baked rice paper

Crispy and fragrant grilled rice paper, with added cotton balls, cheese, sausages... Photo: Huynh Nhi
Crispy baked rice paper. Photo: Huynh Nhi

The dish has a variety of fillings such as cotton balls, cheese, sausages. In Da Lat, bakeries always have low chairs for guests to sit around. You can see with your own eyes how the seller performs steps such as fanning coals, beating eggs, and coating cakes. In the cold weather of Da Lat, enjoying hot crispy rice paper is an experience that should not be missed every evening.

Suggested address: 26 Hoang Dieu, 61 Nguyen Van Troi, 180 Bui Thi Xuan, 89 Hoang Hoa Tham.

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