Sapa is not only famous for its spectacular mountainous sights but also well known for its delicious cuisines that impress many tourists when visiting the region. Vietnam Typical Tours would like to introduce you to all the “must eat delicacies” in Sapa with numerous of recommended restaurants of this highland.
Special Foods Must Eat In Sapa
Sapa Barbecues
This is the most famous delicacy of Sapa since tourists all come here to enjoy the hot and tasty barbecue with many different local ingredients in the middle of the typical cold weather of Sapa
Indulge yourselves with local grilled specialties in the chilling weather of Sapa
There is countless number of grilled dishes here that you could not have enough room for the stomach to try them all. From the very simple food like potatoes, cassava, eggs, chicken wings… to other more complicated dishes with the typical Northwest flavors like the Rolled beef with Meo spinach, stream fish, or bamboo pipe rice… everything seems to blend in perfectly that create an unique taste of Sapa.
Grilled beef roll with spinach
Barbecue stalls in Sapa are located everywhere in the street, in front of the old stoned church, in the alleys, markets or even at the famous Silver waterfall… Set up with some of the grilling equipments and few tables & chairs for customer, these stalls are considered mini roadside BBQ restaurants.
Some of the best BBQ dishes for you to choose in Sapa
Pork rolled with Meo spinach
Beef rolled with Meo spinach
Grilled bamboo pipe rice
Grilled mountainous corn
Grilled spiced beef
Grilled spiced pork
Grilled chicken feet & wing
Grilled egg
Grilled tofu skew
Grilled stream fish
Grill egg plant
Grilled pig stomach
Different types of grilled mushroom
Grilled bun
Grilled sausage
With special local marinated spices & ingredients, Sapa BBQ has an unique taste that differ from any other BBQ
When in Sapa, you can spend as much time as you want to visit all the beautiful sightseeing attractions of the vast forests on magnificent mountains and also experience many different colorful festivals of the indigenous people until you get tired and feel hungry, this is the perfect time to rest and enjoy the mouthwatering varieties of Sapa BBQ dishes. You can choose to sit at the BBQ stalls outside the chilling pavements or inside a warm restaurant, it is all up to you. When you have already selected a place to dine then first thing is to choose your favorite grilled dishes then just sit down and relax yourselves next to the warm charcoal grill with amazing sense of smell until your foods are served. This is truly a unique experience that only Sapa can offer.
Amazing varieties of grilled stuff in Sapa
The main ingredients of the BBQ dishes are just typical pieces of beef and pork but when combined with the local spices together with highland fresh vegetables will create such unique taste of Sapa that is different from any other BBQ that you have anywhere else. These grilled dishes also go very well with the local San Lung liquor since it help to balance the taste and will keep you warm in the cold weather of Sapa.
Sapa’s Meo Spinach
In fact, Meo spinach is a rare kind of vegetable that is strong, clean, fresh, delicious and crunchy. Since it survives the harsh climate and rigorous Sapa natural selection, Meo spinach has a very strong vitality rate with healthy growth and great disease resistant. It can grow on any type of soil, especially on the lower hillside and even on the poor soil. If you are ever invited to stay at a H’mong family in Sapa for a meal, the house owner will just walk around the hill surround the house and get some of the Meo spinach growing on the rock then make a beautiful meal out of it.
Meo spinach is the most popular food source of vegetable in the northern highland of Vietnam
The Sapa’s Meo spinach is normally prepared in many different way like stir fried, poach, boil, or to dip into the hot pot. The simplest way to cook the Meo spinach is to cut them into small pieces together with some slices of ginger then boil with water to make a fresh warm soup. A more fancy way to prepare the spinach is to cook with the minced chicken and some ginger slices together with pinches of salt and teaspoon of fish sauce will create an unique taste and sense of irresistible smell. The sweetness of the chicken indulge with the fresh bittersweet taste of the spinach will keep you eating even when you are full.
The Meo spinach also goes very well with stir fired beef, especially with the smoke bacon and the local Sapa hot pot. Just remember to twist the spinach instead of cutting so it won’t loose the tasty flavor the the vegetable.
Sapa Chayote
Currently in Sapa has more than 150ha of Chayote plantation, in which more than 100ha of chayote farm is located in Ô Quý Hồ area and Violet area (Sa Pa town). The perfect highland climate in Sapa has created the best condition for chayote farming which produce the fresh and delicious chayote fruit and top.
Chayote fruit and its top are sold everywhere in Sapa
Due to the high altitude of 1.500m and rich mountain soil together with the significant different of night & day temperature that boost up the sugar accumulation capacity of the plant which help to create a unique breed of sweet and crunchy fresh Sapa chayote. The chayote here in Sapa is a strong and healthy breed that provides great productivity while using no pesticide or any other supporting chemical.
The biggest different of the Sapa chaypote is it is planted only one time at the beginning of the plantation and can be harvested many times for many years afterward. That is why some of the chayote root here can be aged for decades. The chayote harvest normally starts from April – November every year when the farmer cut off its fruits and top then put some fertilization for the root to keep the plant growing for the next coming years.
Sapa Highland Pig
As you wandering around the local market of the ethnic minority people in Lao Cai, you can see there are many pigs are being sold with the weight not more than 20 kilograms so that the indigenous people can put them in baskets, holding them with bare hand under the armpit and that why the highland pig here also known with the name of “armpit pig”. This is a typical breed of pig that the mountainous people has been raising for years in Viet Nam. The new born pig is raised without any cage, shelter, or care from the mother pig or farmers. They have to survive the tough weather of Sapa as well as finding food in the local forest and garden by themselves ever since they are little. Due to the natural selection, the highland pig has very strong immune system just like any other wild animals in the mountainous regions.
The typical highland pigs are raised more or less than one year then will be sold for meat so each of them weight not more than 20 kilogram, some even only weight at 10kilograms. Today, during the market fairs and festivals in places like: Mường Hum, Sín Chéng, Bắc Hà, Sapa… there are many highland pigs being sold that attract buyers from the city of Lao Cai or other provinces come to make a deal.
The highland pork can be prepared with varieties methods like stir-fried, grill, BBQ, deep fried, boil, steam… but to make a perfect dish of highland pork, you cannot miss local herb and seed of the mountain mixing with some salt and green pepper will create a perfect dish of Sapa. Once you have tasted the pork here, it would be an unforgettable and incomparable experience.
Sapa Fresh Water Stream Fish
Sa Pa is not only a land of beautiful scenery, fresh cool climate but also a home to many flavorful & tasty mountainous dishes that many tourists who come here could not resist. In which the fresh water stream fish of Muong Hoa and Muong Tien outstands all of them.
Sapa Fresh Water Stream Fish
Sa Pa is not only a land of beautiful scenery, fresh cool climate but also a home to many flavorful & tasty mountainous dishes that many tourists who come here could not resist. In which the fresh water stream fish of Muong Hoa and Muong Tien outstands all of them.
Deep Fried Stream Fish
The stream fish has many different breeds and they are all free of fishy taste and smell. You can just grill the fish on the charcoal or to deep fry with the tomato sauce and curry powder with some pepper that will make a magnificent dish of fish that taste so good and unique.
Sapa Salmon
Despite of mass production salmon farming in many different places in Vietnam, but so far the Sapa salmon farming is still the most successful unit. Different domestic and international tourists have come to discover and experience the procedure of salmon farming as well as seeing the salmon themselves swimming in the lake under the spectacular Silver waterfall which makes Sapa a diversified and fascinating attraction.
Sapa Salmon
Despite of mass production salmon farming in many different places in Vietnam, but so far the Sapa salmon farming is still the most successful unit. Different domestic and international tourists have come to discover and experience the procedure of salmon farming as well as seeing the salmon themselves swimming in the lake under the spectacular Silver waterfall which makes Sapa a diversified and fascinating attraction.
Salmon has a rich source of nutrients
With the altitude of 1.800 meters above the sea water, the salmons from Euro and America are well taken care of in man-made ponds. The best condition for the salmon is to live in the moving water environment with the temperature under 15*C degree so all the water in the pond is supply by the water pipe connected from the Silver Waterfall all the way to the salmon farm.
With a tasty flavor that is high in nutrient, Sapa salmon is a dedicated dish for tourists visiting the area. Together with the cold climate of Sapa, the salmon here has great muscle fiber and without fat, provide top quality of meat and can be prepared in so many different ways like to cook with porridge, grill, smoke, steam, mixing salad,… or just to eat raw.
Sour Bamboo Shoot
With a tasty flavor that is high in nutrient, Sapa salmon is a dedicated dish for tourists visiting the area. Together with the cold climate of Sapa, the salmon here has great muscle fiber and without fat, provide top quality of meat and can be prepared in so many different ways like to cook with porridge, grill, smoke, steam, mixing salad,… or just to eat raw.
Sour Bamboo Shoot
The Mouthwatering Salmon with Bamboo Shoot Soup
The young bamboo shoot with the height of only 25 cm will be cut and pealed out the outer layer then washed carefully before being cut into small pieces so they wont soak with water. Next step is to put the bamboo shoot into the jars then cover the jar tightly with nilon bag. After 20-30 days the bamboo shoot will be fermented and get sour. These sour bamboo shoot will then be cooked with different types of soup or to fry with any kind of meat. The sour taste of the bamboo shoot will keep the diner keep eating and wont get bored of the irresistible taste.
Sapa Mushroom
Sapa is not only famous for its incredible natural sceneries but also be able to preserve it authenticity and beauty of unique cuisines. The highland is blessed with different varieties of delicious forest and mountainous ingredients which include the Sapa mushroom.
The highland forest mushroom has very rich scent of smell and flavour
This kind of mushroom has the similar appearance with other typical mushroom but it leaves a crunchy bite when eating, the natural scent if the perfect combination for other Sapa delicacies like grilled dishes or hot pot since it boosts up the taste and smell of other ingredient without destroying the main flavor of the dish.
Enjoy Sapa specialty food with Vietnam Typical Tours: http://www.hanoitosapa.net/p/sapa-tours.html
