Xishuangbanna Local Delicacies

A signature dish of the Dai people, grilled fish with lemongrass is widely enjoyed in Xishuangbanna and Vietnam. It features two distinct flavors. First, the fish is clamped between strips of green bamboo and roasted over an open fire, infusing it with a delicate bamboo aroma. Second, abundant lemongrass and coriander from the local tropical rainforest lend the dish a unique fragrant note.

Its greatest highlight lies in the special Dai-style dipping sauce tomato nam prik stuffed inside the fish belly. This sauce is made by roasting cherry tomatoes and fiery bird's eye chilies over charcoal, then chopping and mixing them with wild coriander, a unique local nut spice, garlic and green peppers.

Nam prik is a traditional savory paste prepared with leafy greens, tomatoes, bamboo shoots, chili peppers, fish, eels and peanuts.

The Dai people of Xishuangbanna turn cowhide into a delicious snack perfect with alcohol. The fried cowhide is as white as jade, light and crispy. It is typically dipped in various Dai-style nam prik sauces, such as tomato, beef and crab flavors, delivering an unforgettable taste. It can also be boiled in three-ingredient soup.

Leaf-wrapped roasting is a unique Dai cooking technique. No cookware is needed here. Fresh natural leaves — mainly banana leaves or phrynium leaves — serve as the wrapper. Ingredients are tightly wrapped in the leaves and cooked over charcoal from the household fire pit. This method works for vegetables, freshwater ingredients and all kinds of meat.

As the saying goes, even a skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice. Yet the Blang people have created a clever way to cook outdoors with no pots or stoves. Living deep in the jungles for generations, they developed a cooking style dominated by simple boiling. To save tableware, they once used banana leaves as plates and ate with their bare hands, making the most of local resources.

The Blang specialty fresh fish soup cooked with hot pebbles is a fine example. The soup tastes fresh and sweet, with a distinctive smoky aroma from the heated stones.

Ant eggs are a prized traditional delicacy among the Dai people. About the size of peas and shaped like pig kidneys, they look pale and tender with a thin film on the surface, boasting an exquisite flavor. These eggs come from large tree-dwelling yellow ants. Collecting them requires climbing trees and enduring ant stings, hence a local saying: Only the brave get to taste ant eggs.

With a long history, chicken stewed with sour bamboo shoots is a classic Yunnan snack. Made mainly with chicken, it features a tangy and spicy taste that delights lovers of bold flavors.

Sweet, sour and fragrant without being greasy, purple sticky rice in pineapple is a distinctive Xishuangbanna treat that serves as both staple food and dish. Served in a whole pineapple, it looks appealing. The soft rice is blended thoroughly with pineapple flesh, carrying a refreshing fruity taste. It is also believed to nourish the blood and moisten the lungs.

Known as Khao Lan in the Dai language, fragrant bamboo rice can only be cooked in a special aromatic bamboo variety called Mai Khao Lan. This type of bamboo has slender stalks like wine cups, with a fragrant white film lining the inner wall.

To serve, tap the bamboo tube gently to soften it, so the inner film sticks to the rice. Split the tube in half, and the tender, smooth and intensely fragrant rice slides out easily.