- Discover the typical cuisine of Gia Lai

 Referring to the cuisine of the Central Highlands, people always think of grilled chicken, lam rice, and can wine. But with Gia Lai cuisine, it will not only stop there, but will bring a lot of attraction because of the richness and uniqueness of dishes from luxurious restaurants to street food, creating a unique feature of the basalt land full of water. this sun and wind.
With the two ethnic minorities Bahnar and Jrai accounting for a relatively high proportion of the population of the province, there have been great influences on the culinary culture of Gia Lai. Traditional dishes (rice lam, grilled chicken, grilled pork, bitter egg noodles, can wine) are becoming specialties and are always present at cultural, tourism and commercial events of the province such as Festival: Festival gong culture in the Central Highlands (Pleiku), "Wild Anemone Flower Festival - Chu Dang Ya Volcano (Chu Pah District), Kbang District Tourism Festival (Kbang District) ... Not only events, visitors can enjoy them. To enjoy these delicious dishes, Gia Lai also has a system of restaurants with the Central Highlands style specializing in serving delicious specialties showing its own characteristics in food processing and also in service style. Visitors are very familiar with addresses such as:
To Nung restaurant, Plei Gong, Ksor Hnao... and always combine gong music program in the evening for visitors to enjoy. If those who love the gong culture of the Central Highlands and experience the traditional cuisine of ethnic minorities together, then Mo Hra village (Kong Long Khong commune) or Resistance village Stor (To Tung commune) in Kbang district will be the destination. of visitors. Coming to these villages, visitors can experience the dishes of the mountains and forests such as: cloud buds dipped in salt and pepper, fried turmeric flowers, kitchen pork, grilled stream fish, banana leaf shrimp, snail soup with ting ting tops, bread… and especially immerse yourself in the sound of gongs by the flickering fire, and dance with the villagers.
Being blessed by nature with a system of rivers and lakes, typical climatic and soil conditions have brought Gia Lai a source of food ingredients that are processed into delicious dishes with very familiar names on menus at restaurants. products that tourists cannot afford to miss. Se San River originates from the south of Ngoc Linh mountain range (Kon Tum province) and flows through Gia Lai province, this river has produced some rare catfish such as Anh Vu (also known as king fish), halibut, eel; Through the hands of the chef, it has become an attractive delicacy that is always a priority in the choice of tourists: steamed Anh Vu fish, grilled eel with turmeric, hotpot with salmon... Besides, the names have become more and more popular. become a brand for Gia Lai cuisine: Beef with one sun - Krong Pa ant salt, Gia Lai forest vegetables, Bien Ho shrimp salad, 7-course striped pork, chicken walking on a tray... Visitors can enjoy these specialties. at any restaurant in the mountain town of Pleiku.
Gia Lai's street food is also indispensable in the journey to discover the destination of tourists. Starting early in the morning, wake up, along the streets of Pleiku are restaurants selling breakfast, from the delicious dishes of 3 regions are present in this mountain town such as Quang noodles, Hue beef noodles, Ha Pho. Noi … and especially still "Gia Lai Dry Pho", tourists from afar still call it Pho 2 bowls, a dish that sticks like the hometown flavor of the people of the mountain town, wherever the Gia Lai people go. never forget this pho.
In the late afternoon, snacks were available all over the streets, such as: banh soup, filter cake, banh beo, bread, grilled meat, banh rice paper, banh xeo, banh cuon, vermicelli with grilled meat. … And interesting, attractive is the crab noodle dish, with a very special strong smell but has created curiosity for visitors to definitely try once when discovering the snacks of the mountain town. Coming to Gia Lai, it is impossible not to try the grilled sticky rice wrapped banana with coconut milk fat, mixed with the sweet aroma of ripe bananas, is an extremely rustic but also very attractive dish for tourists.
Gia Lai is also a paradise of fruits, a locality with favorable climate, soil and water conditions for the development of fruit trees such as durian, avocado, jackfruit, mango, longan, etc. custard apple, dragon fruit, rambutan, orange, green-skinned grapefruit, passion fruit, pineapple, banana… Especially, Gia Lai avocado is very flexible, fragrant and fatty, thin skin, small seeds and very large fruit, is a special feature. products as gifts for distant guests. Juices, smoothies, fruit teas made from Gia Lai fruits are also present in the snack menu and are always available in cafes and refreshments of the mountain town.
In the journey of discovering street food, visitors will never lack the address "Pleiku Night Market". Although it is a wholesale market selling mainly agricultural products, it only operates at night, but snacks are almost everywhere in this busy street.

The diversity and abundance of delicious dishes in Gia Lai bring many interesting experiences for visitors in the journey of culinary discovery. Gia Lai converges elements of regional characteristics, traditional culture and uniqueness in cuisine along with existing food brands and conditions to develop into culinary tourism.

                                                                                                       Phan Ngoc Diep

                                             Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Gia Lai