Kon Tum Province

Spicy red noodle soup unique to Kon Tum - the broth gets its deep red colour from annatto oil and dried chilli, simmered with pork bones and lemongrass, topped with pork slices and fried tofu, a highland adaptation that locals eat for breakfast at market stalls in Kon Tum city

Fermented sour fish packed in bamboo tubes with cooked rice and wild leaves - a Bahnar and Sedang preservation technique producing a tangy, funky fish paste eaten with sticky rice or used as a flavouring in soups, the sourness developing over weeks of fermentation

Sturgeon and sour bamboo shoot soup from Kon Tum's highland fish farms - the sturgeon is farmed in cold spring-fed ponds in the highlands, its firm white flesh simmered with fermented bamboo shoots and wild herbs into a sour, warming broth eaten at highland restaurants

Deep-fried field crickets seasoned with salt, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves - harvested from Kon Tum's highland fields after the rains, fried until golden and crunchy with a nutty, slightly smoky flavour, eaten as a beer snack or protein-rich side dish by Bahnar families

Bitter highland eggplant stir-fried with é leaves - a small wild eggplant with an intense bitterness that Bahnar and Gia Rai communities prize as both food and medicine, stir-fried with pork fat and aromatic é basil to balance the bitterness, eaten with sticky rice

Weaver ant salad harvested from highland forest trees - the ants and their eggs are mixed with herbs, roasted peanuts, shredded pork, and a lime dressing, the formic acid giving a sharp citrusy tang unlike any other salad ingredient, a Bahnar delicacy eaten in dry season

Sticky rice cooked inside fresh nứa bamboo tubes sealed with banana leaf and roasted over open fire - the bamboo perfumes the rice with a woody sweetness as it steams, a Bahnar and Sedang staple eaten at every communal gathering and now served at highland restaurants throughout Kon Tum

Wild porcupine grilled over charcoal - the meat is dark, lean, and finely grained with a gamey richness unlike any farmed animal, marinated in mắc khén and wild ginger then grilled slowly over wood fire, a prized highland protein eaten at special occasions in Bahnar and Sedang villages

Grilled rice field rat from Kon Tum's highland paddies - cleaned and marinated in lemongrass, chilli, and wild herbs then grilled whole over charcoal, the meat is lean and sweet from a diet of rice and wild grass, a seasonal highland delicacy eaten after the rice harvest