Thái Nguyên Province

Fresh river prawn spring rolls from Thùa Long village - plump prawns from Thái Nguyên's clear mountain streams wrapped in rice paper with fresh herbs, green banana, and star fruit, dipped in a fermented shrimp paste sauce, a riverside specialty eaten at stilthouse restaurants along the Công River

Rice vermicelli with freshwater snails from Thái Nguyên's tea-hill streams - the snails are stir-fried with lemongrass and chilli then added to a light sour broth with tomato and turmeric, a Thái Nguyên adaptation of the Hà Nội classic with a cleaner, more mineral flavour from the highland stream snails

Fermented young bamboo shoot salad unique to Thái Nguyên's Tày communities - shredded bamboo shoots fermented with chilli and garlic then tossed with pork, roasted peanuts, and fresh herbs, sour and crunchy with a distinctive highland bamboo flavour, eaten as a condiment alongside sticky rice and grilled meat

Sticky rice cakes filled with weaver ant eggs harvested from Thái Nguyên's highland forest trees in spring - the eggs add a creamy, faintly sour pop to the sweet mung bean filling, wrapped in dong leaves and steamed, a Tày seasonal delicacy available only for a few weeks when the ant colonies are full

Glutinous rice cakes pounded with fresh mugwort leaves - the ngải gives the dough a deep green colour and a mild herbal bitterness that balances the sweetened mung bean filling, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, a Tày and Dao highland specialty eaten at festivals and Tết celebrations throughout the province