Lạng Sơn Province

Whole roast pig with crackling skin lacquered in a spiced marinade - a Tày and Nùng festive dish so famous it's exported across the north, the skin shatters while the meat stays tender and fragrant from slow-roasting over wood fire

Cold sour pho unique to Lạng Sơn - rice noodles topped with roast pork, fried tofu, papaya, and herbs in a tangy vinegar-based sauce, eaten cold year-round, a dish with no equivalent anywhere else in Vietnam

Whole duck roasted with mắc mật leaves stuffed inside the cavity - the aromatic citrusy-anise leaf perfumes the meat from within as it roasts, producing a uniquely fragrant duck with lacquered skin, a Lạng Sơn specialty so beloved it's carried back to Hà Nội by the boxful

Steamed rice rolls with a whole egg cracked inside before rolling - the egg sets inside the translucent rice sheet creating a soft, custardy centre, topped with dried shrimp and fried shallot oil, a Lạng Sơn breakfast specialty found at dawn market stalls throughout the province

Melt-in-the-mouth braised pork belly from the Tày-Chinese border tradition - the pork is deep-fried, marinated in fermented tofu and five-spice, then steamed for four hours until the fat becomes translucent and the meat collapses at the touch, served inverted over mustard greens at festivals and weddings

Grilled fermented pork rolls from Hữu Lũng district - pork minced with toasted rice powder and garlic, wrapped in wild fig leaves and grilled over charcoal until caramelised outside and tangy within, eaten with bánh tráng, green banana, and a thick peanut dipping sauce at roadside stalls along QL1A