1Things you may not know about Sapa lam rice – a simple dish that makes people remember forever
Many people often joke with each other that lam rice is an ‘easy’ dish of Sapa cuisine because the cooking method, presentation method, and eating method are all very easy. Easy to find ingredients, easy to cook, and easy to eat. It’s simply sticky rice grains cooked in wild bamboo tubes with gurgling spring water and seasoned with a little salt, yet it’s delicious and makes people flutter every time they think about it.
No one knows when Lam rice appeared, but only know that for a long time, this rustic dish has always appeared in every meal of the H’Mong, Thai, and Red Dao ethnic groups.
In the past, on long trips to the forest or hunting trips and even nights of shifting cultivation, local people often only brought a little sticky rice, a knife, a stone, and a fire starter. Every time they are hungry, they will chop a bunch of bamboo, add rice and forest spring water, then grill it on an open fire and immediately have a tube of fragrant bamboo rice with a sweet, fatty taste from the rice and forest spring water. . Perhaps since then, lam rice has been associated with trips to the fields, family gatherings or holidays together.
And until today, we can see bamboo rice appearing in almost every restaurant in the foggy town of Sapa, from small roadside shops to high-end restaurants, seemingly out of nowhere. but Lam rice is absent. That alone is enough to prove that lam rice is one of the famous specialties in Sapa.
2The way to cook Lam rice is simple but strangely delicious
The type of bamboo used to cook Lam rice must be young, and one end must be cut off, then the washed rice must be added. Add forest spring water in a ratio of 2:3 with a little salt, then use a banana leaf to seal the end of the tube and place it on the stove.
When the rice is cooked, people often firmly press the bamboo tube to the ground so that the rice is firmly placed at the end of the tube, then wait for it to cool down and then peel half of it away, revealing the sweet, white rice inside. Lam rice can be left out for a few days or even a week without spoiling.
Lam rice – a specialty of Northwest cuisine
Ethnic people in villages in Sapa or in restaurants or small roadside shops often serve bamboo-tube rice with skewers of pork, beef, chicken or fragrant grilled fish in the whole corner. On the street, the pieces of buffalo meat are rich in the kitchen, or simply dipped in a little sesame salt, yet they bring a strangely delicious flavor, making anyone who tries it once will want to eat it again and again.
3Places to eat authentic lam rice in Sapa
Lam rice has long become a famous local specialty with the sweet, fatty taste of sticky rice and the smell of grilled bamboo with a characteristic light smoky smell. If you have the opportunity to return to the foggy town of Sapa all year round and want to enjoy this rustic dish, don’t miss the places that Vietnamtravelio suggests to you below.
Address: Cau May street, Sapa town, Lao Cai province
Price: from 30,000 VND to 110,000 VND
For a long time, the night market with its fragrant grilled food stalls filling the entire street corner has always had an irresistible charm, making people always fall in love with its simplicity, rusticity but unique, unforgettable taste. It’s so attractive, I just want to eat forever, eat forever. At this barbecue area, they also sell lam rice, so you can enjoy lam rice with fragrant grilled meat skewers, that’s great, right?
Usually when there are customers buying, the shop owner begins to bring the tubes of grilled bamboo rice back to heat on the flickering charcoal stove. Then, they will skillfully separate the rice from the hot bamboo tube, bringing you fragrant sticky rice rolls, dipped in a little sesame salt or served with skewers of pork, chicken, beef or even kitchen buffalo meat. more.
A plus point of the Sapa barbecue area is that it sells dishes at relatively cheap prices and you can easily choose the most satisfactory meat skewers.
Address: Cat Cat village, Sapa town, Lao Cai province
Price: from 40,000 VND to 50,000 VND
Famous as one of the attractions possessing the most charming natural beauty in Sapa town with wooden houses located close together, Cat Cat village also has Sapa bamboo tubes and many dishes. Other local specialties.
Who can resist the appeal of these flickering charcoal stoves?
Coming to Cat Cat village, you will be able to find bamboo tubes of bamboo rice very easily, because ethnic people often sell them right at the stalls located along the roads in the village. You can use lam rice on the spot or buy it to take home as a gift, however, the preservation time will not be too long.
Address: 15 Thach Son, Sapa town, Lao Cai province
Service hours: from 7:00 to 22:30 every day of the week
Price: from 100,000 VND to 300,000 VND
Famous as one of the most delicious Thang Co restaurants in the locality, the restaurant’s Lam rice is also popular with many diners with sticky rice grains that are grilled on a charcoal stove before being served. everybody.
It is the light aroma of rice and the characteristic smell of charcoal smoke, combined with the sweet, fatty, fatty taste of sesame salt that makes people eat forever without wanting to stop chopsticks. At A Quynh restaurant, you can have lam rice with thang co as well. Enjoying both specialties at the same time is great, right?
Address: 37 Fansipan, Sapa town, Lao Cai province
Service hours: from 7:00 to 23:00 every day of the week
Price: from 150,000 VND to 300,000 VND
Eat rustic bamboo rice in a high-class space, why not? The Hill Station Signature Restaurant is one of the restaurants possessing a luxurious design with classic beauty and cozy space in Sapa town, specializing in serving diverse dishes spanning Asian and European cuisine. And of course, the restaurant also has bamboo rice.
Lam rice with grilled chicken
At The Hill Station, you will have the opportunity to enjoy crispy, crispy rice tubes with grilled pork or grilled Ban chicken, one of the classic combos.
Address: 92 Ngu Chi Son, Sapa town, Lao Cai province
Service hours: from 10:00 to 22:00 every day of the week
Price: from 100,000 VND to 300,000 VND
The restaurant specializes in serving specialty dishes of the Northwest region, and of course, bamboo-tube rice is also available in Cau May Sapa. At the restaurant, you will enjoy pre-separated tubes of bamboo-tube rice displayed on a banana leaf with a characteristic fragrant, nutty taste.
Address: 4B Thac Bac, Sapa town, Lao Cai province
Service hours: from 8:00 to 22:30 every day of the week
Price: from 80,000 VND to 220,000 VND
Famous for its talented chef who was honored to win the Golden Spoon Second Prize in 2014, Red Dao is a place that specializes in bringing authentic Northwest dishes in a luxurious space. Lam rice at the restaurant is cooked with many different ingredients such as meat and dried onions, creating a seductive scent and an irresistible taste.
In addition, you can also enjoy bamboo-tube rice at Hoa Phuong restaurant, Hai Lam restaurant, Sapa new market food court, etc.
Lam rice, a rustic dish of Sapa cuisine, is like a picture that fully depicts the image of the people here – simple, plain, simple and naive. If you have the opportunity to return to Sapa town all year round with mist and a characteristic chilly atmosphere, don’t miss the bamboo rice.
