Ca Mau Specialties - The most famous natural dishes of the Mekong Delta

Ca Mau is a rich land located at the southern tip of the country, also known as "Cà Mau Cape". This place is famous for its abundant and diverse seafood along with a rich natural vegetation cover. Therefore, whenever visiting here, tourists find it hard to resist the attractive natural specialty dishes of Cà Mau. So what specialties does Cà Mau have that captivate people? Let's explore with Vietjet in the following article.

Ca Mau is a fertile land, attracting many tourists with its folk songs, music, and renowned culinary specialties.

1. Ca Mau Cape - The Southernmost Tip of the Country

Ca Mau is the southernmost province of Vietnam, with a special location in the Mekong Delta region. It borders the East Sea to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Due to this advantageous position, Ca Mau is endowed with many valuable natural resources, abundant aquatic resources, and a diverse, lush mangrove forest system. When hearing about Ca Mau, people often mention the culture of music, stories about Uncle Ba Phi, the legend of U Minh forest, and enjoy many precious natural specialties of Ca Mau.

Ca Mau is about 300 km from the center of Ho Chi Minh City and more than 1,900 km from Hanoi. Despite its relatively distant location, Ca Mau still holds an advantage in tourism with its cultural and culinary values of the river region and many beautiful landscapes, attracting tourists from all over.

2. What specialties does Ca Mau have?

2.1 Ca Mau Crab

Topping the list of Ca Mau specialties, one cannot miss mentioning Ca Mau crab, a renowned seafood. Unlike crabs from other regions, Ca Mau crabs are firm, sweet, have a very distinctive aroma, and are often loved by food enthusiasts.

Ca Mau crabs always leave a special impression on diners with their characteristic flavor and firm, sweet meat.

This natural specialty of Ca Mau is divided into two types, suitable for culinary enthusiasts. If the meat crab has delicious, sweet, and firm meat, the roe crab has a lot of rich, fatty red roe inside the shell. Therefore, when visiting this cape land, one must definitely try the original Ca Mau crab specialty. Moreover, Ca Mau crab is also a meaningful specialty gift for relatives after each trip to the cape land.

2.2 Grilled Mudskipper

Ca Mau is famous for its many mangrove forests stretching across the area. This is also the habitat of the mudskipper fish, which has high nutritional value. Among them, grilled mudskipper is a rustic specialty dish of the people of Ca Mau. After being cleaned, the mudskipper is marinated with salt and chili. When grilled, it gives off a very distinctive aroma.

People often enjoy grilled mudskipper with rice paper rolls, lettuce, star fruit, vermicelli, herbs, and simple dipping sauces such as salt, pepper, lemon, or spicy tamarind fish sauce. The refreshing taste of wild vegetables, combined with the sweet and fragrant fish meat and the light sour taste of the dipping sauce, creates a memorable taste journey for tourists.

2.3 Ca Mau Fermented Shrimp

Ca Mau fermented shrimp, also known as fermented shrimp paste, is made from small shrimp, a famous aquatic product abundant in the mangrove forests of Ca Mau.

To make a delicious batch of fermented shrimp, each maker has their own secret in processing and adding spices. For instance, some people wash the shrimp with white wine or soak them in fish sauce along with papaya. As a result, when the jar of fermented shrimp is left to sun dry and aged for a certain period, it will yield a batch of fermented shrimp that is distinctly sour, salty, and sweet.

Besides being a rustic dish that can be enjoyed at any local market in Ca Mau, fermented shrimp is also a specialty gift from Ca Mau for relatives. You can buy it in jars, either whole shrimp or mixed with papaya.

2.4 Date Palm Larvae

Unlike coconut worms in other river regions of the Mekong Delta, date palm larvae in Ca Mau are a specialty that you must try. Date palm trees are commonly found in mangrove forests. Date palm larvae grow inside these trees, absorbing a lot of nutrients, hence they have high nutritional value. This natural specialty of Ca Mau has a white body, no fur, and black innards like other larvae.

When enjoyed, you will feel a distinctly rich and aromatic taste, very different from coconut worms. The people of Ca Mau have a rustic way of eating them by soaking them in fish sauce and eating directly. Tourists can also eat grilled larvae or deep-fried larvae, which are very delicious.

2.5 U Minh Fermented Fish Hotpot

When coming to the cape land, asking a local about Ca Mau specialties, besides Ca Mau crab, they will definitely introduce you to U Minh fermented fish hotpot. Ca Mau is famous for various types of fermented fish, from which many dishes are made. Among them is the U Minh fermented fish hotpot, famous for its aromatic smell.

The fish used to make the hotpot are fresh fish from the mangrove forests, with fragrant meat. When cooking U Minh fermented fish hotpot, people add spices like lemongrass leaves and fresh coconut water. Thus, the fishy smell is reduced, making it more palatable. U Minh fermented fish hotpot is served with various vegetables, banana flowers, freshwater fish, eel, snails, etc.

2.6 Rach Goc dried shrimp and crab

In Ca Mau, there is Rach Goc area, a coastal town located in Ngoc Hien district, famous for its specialties of crab and dried shrimp. Turtles and shrimp are caught and processed, creating countless unique dishes. To keep it for a long time, people make salted pork belly and dried shrimp. This is also a Ca Mau specialty as a gift that many tourists buy.

Ca Mau specialties - The most famous natural dishes in the West

Dried shrimp from the original root has an eye-catching orange-red color, fragrant, and is used to make very sweet soup.

With Ba Khia, Ca Mau people use water with moderate salinity to soak and salt for about 1 week. When eaten, the three knots are taken out of the container and mixed with lemon, garlic, chili, sugar,... to soften their saltiness and reduce their characteristic smell. According to the experience of Ca Mau people, Rach Goc pork belly should be eaten with cold rice for a more authentic taste.

As for dried shrimp, after being caught by the people of Rach Goc Ca Mau, they will be cleaned, boiled with salt, separated from the shell and dried. The finished Rach Goc dried shrimp has a beautiful red-orange color, fragrant smell, and firm meat. From this natural Ca Mau specialty, when you buy it, you can cook it in soup, braise it or simmer it with spices.

2.7 U Minh Forest Honey

Ca Mau is also renowned for the U Minh biosphere reserve, home to many melaleuca trees. These trees provide an ideal source of nectar for bees to produce honey. Therefore, U Minh forest honey has become one of Ca Mau's famous specialties.

U Minh honey is special with its shiny golden color, thick consistency, and the fragrant aroma of melaleuca flowers. When tasted, it offers a mild sweetness that is not too overpowering, very beneficial for health. This is also a popular Ca Mau specialty gift that tourists frequently buy to give, as it is unique to this region.

3. Places to Enjoy Ca Mau Specialties

3.1 Agricultural Food Market

If you want to enjoy and buy fresh specialties from Ca Mau, tourists can visit the Agricultural Food Market (also known as the wholesale market). This place is always bustling with people and activities. You can buy various dried foods, fish sauces, and seafood here at reasonable prices. If you want to buy Ca Mau specialties as gifts, remember to ask the seller to pack them carefully.

Address: Phan Boi Chau Street, Ward 7, Ca Mau City.

3.2 Ca Mau Specialty Products Exhibition

The Ca Mau Specialty Products Exhibition was opened to display, promote, and sell typical Ca Mau specialty products. When you visit, you can directly try various Ca Mau specialty dishes and consider buying them as gifts. This is a reputable and reliable address, so the prices are very reasonable.

Address: 290 Tran Hung Dao, Ward 5, Ca Mau City.

3.3 Rach Goc Town

You can go to people's living areas to buy seafood and enjoy specialties because they are cheap and authentically local.

Rach Goc is the place where Ca Mau specialties such as fish sauce and dried shrimp are produced. Coming here, visitors can directly visit the production process of these specialty dishes. Moreover, when you buy at the source, you will buy it at a cheaper price. In addition, when visiting the local markets here, there are many food stalls of local people, selling specialty dishes such as Ca Mau crab, U Minh fish sauce hotpot,... according to people's taste. local. You will enjoy the culinary quintessence of the cape region in Rach Goc Ca Mau town.

Address: Kinh Ba, Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau

Through places to enjoy Ca Mau's natural specialties, you will love this land even more. If you want to plan a journey to explore Ca Mau cape, don't forget to hunt for cheap air tickets at Vietjet. You can travel by plane to Can Tho, then to Ca Mau by bus for more convenience. Currently, Vietjet is having a promotion program for 0 VND air tickets at 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. every day. Find out now HERE.

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