Da Lat’s rainy day street food specialties

A bowl of warm stuffed snails, tasty grilled dishes or a warm cup of soya milk at night could make you long for rainy days in Da Lat.

Da Lat is a popular tourist destination located 1,500 meters above sea level in the southern part of the central highlands region. Besides glorious flowers, Da Lat is famous for some unique and special foods.

However, when the rain and chill set in there is still plenty to be glad about when you are in the city because there are superb local eats to warm your heart.

Stuffed Snails

Located in Hai Ba Trung Street, this long-established restaurant is well-known for this specialty. After a long and cold day, the warmth inside is welcome as you enter the small dining area that frequently hosts a large number of customer. Sometimes, you need to wait for five to 10 minutes to get a seat but it is well worth it

The snail meat is finely chopped and mixed with pork before being returned to the shell with the addition of a lemongrass stalk. What really makes the dish is the sauce, which is a closely guarded family secret.


                                                                Stuffed snails

Tile Grilling

This specialty dish is cooked over hot coals, not with the usual iron grill but rather a clay tile.

Main grill items includes seasoned pork, beef, seafood and game meats usually accompanied by a mixed salad. Fresh vegetables, meat roasting over a fire and a bottle of wine are not a bad way to spend a rainy day. You can find this grill restaurant on Nguyen Luong Bang street.


                                Tile grilling is very suitable for rainy days in Da Lat

Grilled pork roll

Grilled pork roll in Da Lat is made by folding minced pork around bamboo stick. After it is grilled, it is then rolled in rice paper with pickles and herbs. The most essential thing again is the dipping sauce, a special mixture which is created using pig liver, shrimp, pork and ground bean paste.

Tasty, greasy and crispy grilled pork roll is a wonderful thing when the weather turns cold in Da Lat. You can find several grilled pork shops on Phan Dinh Phung street.


                                         Grilled pork roll with pickles and herbs.

Fern-shaped rice cake

This local delicacy is made from glutinous rice and topped with a sauce made from ground shrimp, chopped pork and crispy fried pork skin followed by sweet and sour fish sauce. You can enjoy this cake with small pork and beef pies while you chat with friends on interminably rainy days. This special cake can be found in Phan Dinh Phung street.


                                                      Fern-shaped rice cake

Xiu mai Bread

This is a popular and famous food on Da Lat's streets. Baguettes are placed over a hot charcoal oven to keep warmth and crisp. These are then filled with spicy siu mai meatballs.

You can easily see small siu mai baguette stores located on the slope near Da Lat market. Siu mai bread is one of the specialties of the region.


                                                           Xiu mai baguettes

Soya-and-cow’s milk and choux cream cake

Soya-and-cow’s milk is, well, pretty much what it says. At the corner of Tang Bat Ho street, near Da Lat market, there are many night stalls selling various cakes and drinks like soya milk, green bean milk and peanut milk, but the most popular combination here is soya-and-cow milk and choux cream cake.

On rainy nights, there are few people on the streets so you can enjoy the peace, warm your belly and watch the rain drops.


                                             Soya-and-cow milk and choux cream cake

By Dam Tuan, Yen Ha / VnExpress