Ninh Bình Cuisine

Golden, crispy rice crust made from fragrant sticky rice, topped hot with goat sauce or a thick stir-fry of heart and kidney — the iconic dish of the cuisine of Hoa Lư Ancient Capital.

Goats raised on the limestone mountains of Hoa Lư — Trường Yên, with firm, sweet, mild-tasting meat, prepared in dozens of dishes and dipped in fermented bean-ginger sauce.

Snails living in the limestone forest of Cúc Phương — Tam Điệp, coming out to feed only in the rainy season; the meat is crunchy and chewy with a faint hint of medicinal herbs.

Shredded fermented pork rolls from Yên Mạc village (Yên Mô) — lean meat finely sliced and tossed with roasted rice powder, wrapped in guava leaves then banana leaves, with a clean, deep tang.

Field eels from the low-lying paddy region made into tossed or soup glass noodles; the eel is fried crisp, with a sweet bone broth fragrant with Vietnamese coriander.

Climbing perch, a specialty of the flooded caves of Tổng Trường (Hoa Lư) — large, with rich golden flesh, recorded in the chronicles as a tribute offered to kings.

The renowned short-finned eel salad of the Kim Sơn coast — chewy, sweet fish meat tossed with roasted rice powder, wrapped in fig leaves and dipped in a thick "chẻo" sauce.

Deep-red tiny shrimp paste from the low-lying paddy region of Gia Viễn — stewed with pork or used as a dip for boiled vegetables, rich and rice-friendly.

River crab with hairy claws, stir-fried with tamarind · rich with roe

A traditional clear liquor distilled from glutinous rice and herbal-medicine yeast in the Kim Sơn area — crystal clear and richly aromatic, forming a 'trio' with mountain goat and crispy rice on the Ancient Capital specialty platter.

Sticky rice mixed with rich, nutty ant eggs (seasonal)

Crunchy, sweet field snails, dipped in ginger fish sauce

Sticky rice grilled in bamboo tubes, dipped in sesame salt

Free-range hill chicken grilled/steamed, firm and sweet meat

Sandworm fried with egg and meat, fragrant with tangerine peel

Tidal-flat seafood, steamed/grilled

Wild greens cooked into a sweet, clear soup

Wild yam (hoài sơn) dug from the Nho Quan – Cúc Phương forest, cooked in soup, simmered with bones or made into sweet soup — mealy, nutty and nourishing.

Noodle soup with bone broth, rich and savory pork meatballs

Field fish braised in a clay pot with galangal and ginger

Lagoon fish grilled over fragrant charcoal, dipped in chili salt

Lotus-scented tea, fragrant and refreshing, served hot

Forest tuber cooked into soup or sweet pudding, rich and nourishing