Com Lam (Bamboo-tube rice)

It’s Mai Chau's signature dish that every visitor would like to try. The ingredients used to make this dish include rice, banana leaves, and bamboo tubes. There are also sliced coconut and coconut milk.

The bamboo used to make this dish called “Pa Nga” is small and straight. The rice is washed and soaked in water for 2-3 hours and then put into a bamboo tube and grilled.

Thai women must be extremely skilled to be able to make this delicious dish. When baking, you must turn evenly and thoroughly, so that the rice is not blessed or too dull.

The indispensable ingredient when eating bamboo-tube rice is “chẩm chéo” – a traditional spice of Thai people. In addition, you can eat with sesame salt.

Hill chicken

Referring to Mai Chau, no one can ignore this famous grilled chicken on charcoal. The small breed of chickens is raised by Mai Chau people in a traditional method. Chickens are allowed to run around on hills to have strong muscles. Don’t forget to order a plate of boiled chicken with lemon leaves in Mai Chau.

The chicken is baked in charcoal without smoke or steamed with lemon leaves. Tearing each piece of chicken along with the “cham cheo” will create an excellent taste. The price of baked chicken ranges from 300.00 to 350.000.

Reference dishes: Chicken mushroom soup with lotus seeds, Grilled chicken with honey, Steamed chicken, Chicken with lotus seed & mushroom soup, Chicken salad with herbs.

Grilled pork meat

Pigs are fed with food and vegetables without stimulants. The meat is marinated in spices, margins, and rinse then grilled on charcoal. The meat is cooked slowly, melted, and turned into a yellow color. This dish can be eaten with “chẩm chéo”.

Grilled pork is an attractive option to be enjoyed by many visitors. People choose the best pieces of meat and then marinate with a variety of different spices: salt, chili powder, citronella, lime leaves, ginger, turmeric, and vinegar. After 30 minutes, they will grill that meat.

Grilled freshwater fish

Grilled freshwater fish is a perennial favorite at traditional Thai festivals. After choosing the best quality fish freshly caught from the streams around Mai Chau, the chef will skillfully clean the fish and use spices such as peppery mac khen, forest herbs, lotus seeds, basil leaves, lemongrass, chili, and seasoning powder to marinate the fish. After that, the fish is skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled over charcoal until it turns golden and releases a mouthwatering aroma. 

Finally, the chef will sprinkle a little more salt and wrap the fish in banana leaves. Biting into this rustic but extremely tasty grilled freshwater fish, you’ll taste the meaty fresh infused with the flavors of bamboo and banana leaves.

Can Wine

In every Lunar New Year, the people in the village gather around the warm wine jar. According to the Thai tale, Can wine is made by the cleverness of the daughter-in-law.

The alcohol is prepared meticulously with ginger, herbal medicine, fruits, and many kinds of forest leaves with oil. The wine is made from grains such as cassava, glutinous rice, berry seeds and nuts.

The ingredients are fermented into the pot or jar. The longer time the wine is, the more delicious it is. People do not drink alcohol from cups or bowls. They use one-meter-long bamboo sticks that are flicked, straightened and pierced through the intestine and then bent into the wine bottle.

Mountain snails

Another delicacy of Mai Chau is its mountain snails. Found seasonally by streams in mountains and forests, Mai Chau mountain snails have a firm, meaty texture and are high in nutrients. 

Although there are many different ways of preparing the snails including boiling, stir-frying with herbs, steaming with lemongrass and stir-frying with lemongrass and chili, the most popular way to have these snails is steamed with lemongrass. The natural sweetness of the snail meat with the lemony flavor of the lemongrass is a winning combination.