Trà Vinh Province

Khmer-Vietnamese fermented fish noodle soup from Trà Vinh - thick rice noodles in a rich mắm bò hóc and coconut milk broth with lemongrass and turmeric, topped with shrimp, pork, and banana blossom, the Trà Vinh version is creamier and more coconut-forward than the Sóc Trăng original

Thick tapioca noodle soup from Bến Có village - hand-rolled noodles in a rich pork and crab broth with whole shrimp and fried shallots, the Trà Vinh version has a slightly sweeter, more coconut-forward broth than other delta bánh canh styles, eaten at dawn stalls along the Trà Vinh riverside that have served the same recipe for generations

Mud crab stir-fried with tamarind from Trà Vinh's Mekong estuaries - the small but intensely flavoured chù ụ crab is wok-tossed with tamarind paste, sugar, garlic, and chilli until the shell lacquers in a sticky sour-sweet glaze, a Trà Vinh Khmer specialty eaten at canal-side restaurants with cold beer

Fermented freshwater fish paste - the cornerstone condiment of Trà Vinh's Khmer cuisine, fish packed in salt and fermented for months until deeply pungent and umami-rich, used as the base of bún nước lèo broth and as a dipping sauce for raw vegetables, a flavour so central to Khmer identity that no meal feels complete without it

Mudskipper stir-fried with lemongrass and chilli from Trà Vinh's coastal mudflats - the walking fish is cleaned and wok-tossed over high heat until the skin crisps, the flesh firm and earthy from life in the mangrove mud, a coastal Trà Vinh specialty eaten with steamed rice at seafood restaurants near Ba Động beach

Rice vermicelli soup with suông - elongated prawn paste sticks shaped like dragon bones simmered in a rich pork and tomato broth, a Trà Vinh Khmer specialty where the prawn paste is mixed with egg and pork fat then piped into boiling broth, producing a firm, bouncy texture unlike any other noodle soup topping in the delta

Rice porridge with cá khoai - a soft, boneless coastal fish unique to the south-central coast - simmered until it dissolves into the broth creating a naturally thick, silky congee without needing any starch, topped with fried shallots, fresh ginger, and spring onion, a coastal Trà Vinh breakfast eaten at dawn shacks near the fishing villages

Smoked rice porridge unique to Trà Vinh's Khmer communities - cooked rice is smoked over smouldering coconut husks before being simmered into a porridge with pork and dried shrimp, the smoking step giving the congee a subtle woody depth impossible to replicate by any other method, eaten at Khmer family gatherings and temple festivals

Cylindrical sticky rice cakes from Trà Khuôn village - made with a Khmer-influenced recipe using black-eyed peas instead of mung bean in the filling, wrapped tighter and cooked longer than regular bánh tét producing a firmer, more densely flavoured cake, a Trà Vinh Tết specialty so prized it is ordered months in advance by overseas Vietnamese