Ninh Binh province is famous for beautiful sights such as Trang An, Bai Dinh pagoda, Tam Coc Bich Dong, Phat Diem church, etc. However, a trip to this province could not be considered as complete without tasting various Ninh Binh specialty foods including local paddy field eel salad, Kim Son rice noodle soup with pork ball, Cellophane noodle soup with eel, Mountain snail, Gia Vien fermented shrimp, goat dishes, etc. Referring to specialties of Ninh Binh, we could not miss Vietnamese burnt rice (or Vietnamese burnt steamed rice, Com chay) – one of the most popular traditional foods in this province as well as the country.
One of the first treats you should try at the Halong Bay on land is com chay or crispy rice. Crunchy and golden, this typical Ninh Binh dish is a fine example of the culinary secrets that its cooks carefully keep. The rice once dried in the sun is to be well grilled to have an adorable brilliant colour. To put more flavour into the dish, it is served with "ruoc" or pemmican before dipping in a fish sauce seasoned with fat, civet, chopped shrimp or fermented soy sauce. Ever-present in Ninh Binh, you can easily find these snacks in Trang An, Tam Coc and Bai Dinh.
Burned rice is one of the special dishes of Ninh Binh. This dish is made from cooked rice sliced into round shapes. After cooled down, the round slices are soaked into hot oil pan until they turn yellow. Beef and pig’s heart and kidney are crushed into thin slices and mixed with spices and ingredients like tomato, carrot, onion and mushroom. Then the mixture is well-fried and put into the burned rice bowl.
Delicious rice crisp recipe of Ninh Binh province rocessing procedure to the mixture procedure. Specially, dishes do very well re-goats, fresh meat and crispy, served with herbs such as ginger, chilly, lemon, seasoning powder, and citronella; all these ingredients and spices are well-mixed with goat meat. Rare goat meat is a nutritious and delicious dish since it is served with many precious fine herbs which are very good for people’s health.
Above is the way of making Com chay traditionally. The amount of Com chay made by this way is only enough for the family. In addition, when it rains the process of making burnt rice could not complete. In recent days, many burnt rice factories use dryer machines to dry Com chay instead of drying under the sun. Ninh Binh Burnt rice is produced on a large scale in Hoa Lu district, Gia Vien district, Ninh Binh city, Tam Diep city in Ninh Binh province. Outstandingly tasty Ninh Binh burnt rice will be an amazing gift for your family and friends.