The rustic variation in processing snakehead fish with coconut milk

Over the centuries, the Vietnamese family meal has never had a lack of braised dishes. Each region has its own dishes with different flavors. My hometown is no exception.  Being known as "Coconut land", many dishes which are combined with coconut milk always make customers feel not only charming but also fragrance and be hard for us to resist. On rainy days, there are a lot of fish in the paddy rice fields, and I remember my grandfather often used to make braised dishes from perch, catfish, snakehead fish. My most impressed memory has been snakehead fish cooked in coconut milk.

I call this dish is a version of the countryside because my grandfather said that to cook this dish to become delicious, it must be made from natural snakehead fish. In this way the meat will have a natural sweetness and firmness. Furthermore, the coconut milk from old ripening coconut is true version with many attractive steps. Cooking is an art because of choosing ingredients to cooking techniques and we still have to put our mind, sincerity into each dish, the customers will feel the taste and never forget.

Braised snakehead fish with coconut milk (photo: Tuong Vi)

It is quick and easy for us to make this braised snakehead fish. First, clean snakehead fish, cut the fish into slices and then marinate the fish about 30 minutes with spices such as salt, sugar, pepper, fish sauce, red onions and a little coconut water to create an eye-catching color when we finished. When the pot heats up, we add cooking oil and minced garlic and minced lemongrass for being fragrant, and cook the marinated fish mixture. Next, we use a bamboo chopstick to up side down the slices of fish and wait until the meat is solid again to add coconut milk. At this time, the snakehead fish pot must be boiled over a low fire and until the mixture in the pot is almost dry, we turn off the stove, sprinkle with pepper and scallions on top. We really like to eat hot rice with it when we hear how to cook it.

Snakehead fish with coconut milk is extremely delicious attractive because of the color, good mixture and it aroma. This dish when served with rice must be used with raw vegetables such as lettuce, basil, perilla, cucumber. On the rainy days, when the whole family sits around a hot tray of rice, served with snakehead fish with coconut milk dotted with the above raw vegetables, this is not only a simple rural version but also a childhood memory of many people of coconut land.

Snakehead fish is known as a sweet, warm, non-toxic and has goad effect to blood, tendons, bones. Braised snakehead fish with coconut milk is made from very simple ingredients, easy to seek and not too picky to cook method but to process a good meal, true taste of coconut land, it requires people to cook carefully and meticulously.

Nowadays, when traveling to Ben Tre, domestic and foreign tourists can easily enjoy braised snakehead fish with coconut milk served with white rice at restaurants, hotels, and homestays. The sweet, grease, irresistible aroma of this dish will surely make visitors remember forever, it is the rustic countryside version, an idyllic beauty in culinary culture of Coconut land.

Author: Tuong Vi

Translator: Phuong Thy

Source: https://dulich.bentre.gov.vn

Coconut Tree - Soul in Ben Tre Tourism

Ben Tre has long been known as the "green coconut capital" because it has the largest area and production of coconut in Viet Nam. Ben Tre province has 72,000 ha (occupy nearly 50 % whole country's coconut area); with 200,000 households planting coconut, the output reaches nearly 800 million fruits per year, the value of coconut products occupies 20% industrial production and 25% Ben Tre province's export. Therefore, this tree has important position in production and life. In addition, Ben Tre province also defines coconut tree in tourism as homeland's particular.

According to the statistich from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of  Ben Tre province, in 2019, Ben Tre welcomed 1,882,025 visitors, up 20% to the same period  in which  international visitors reached 796,186 bouts and domestic visitors reached 1,085,839 bouts. Especially, when they come to Ben Tre, all their activities relate to coconut trees.

The cool shade of coconut charms soul of visitors

"Eco Tourism in Coconut Land" is Ben Tre province's particular.  Green tourism from coconut trees not only helps visitors close to nature but also saves energy and protects the environment.

In Ben Tre, tourism in isles retain its pristine character. When visiting coconut land, visitors are always interested in participating in many activities such as: boat rowing on palm canals; drinking coconut juice; learning how to grow, take care of and harvest coconuts; sitting on horse carriage,…Moreover, visitors can visit the "Cho Noi Dua" on Thom River where has many enterprises producing products from coconuts.

Visiting the craft villages in coconut land, visitors will have the opportunity to try many famous products and many dishes from coconut such as: My Long rice paper cake, Son Doc glutinous rice cake, coconut candy, coconut cake, coconut salad with shrimp and meat, rice in coconut, roasted shrimp,…

Tourist  are trying peeling coconut

Since 2000, Ben Tre has organized 9 times of the provincial Coconut Festival and 5 times of the national Coconut One. These festivals have not been only an opportunities to honor the value and importance of coconut trees but also promote the tourism brand "Sinh Thai Song Nuoc Xu Dua" (Waterways ecotourism in coconut land).

Opening the 5th Coconut Festival in Ben Tre province

Traveling to coconut land in Ben Tre has two models: farm tourism with many outdoor activities for students and ecotourism for domestic and foreign tourists. In addition, this place also has cultural, sports, cuisine tourisms,…and have been associated with coconut trees which have brought visitors a lot of experiences and helped tourism in Ben Tre province more and more developing.

In order to promote the potential of coconut trees in tourism, practical solutions are needed to combine coconut ecotourism with craft village tourism and historical relics such as: Special national relic Dong Khoi Ben Tre (Mo Cay Nam district); Nguyen Dinh Chieu Monument and Memorial Area (Ba Tri district), ... From there, Ben Tre Tourism links with the eastern provinces of  Mekong Delta (Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, ...) to create more diverse and attractive tours.

Author: Bao Tram

Translator: Tuong Vi

Source: http://dulich.bentre.gov.vn

Ben Tre Tourism - New linked products

Travel people said that: "If you go alone, you can go fast, but when you want to go far, you should associate and cooperate with each other - group (G). Therefore, the link to build a specific tourism product in the tourist of the eastern provinces of the Mekong River Delta (Mekong Delta) including: Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh and Dong Thap, have been namely one of the main tasks that leaders of the six Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism has set out in the coordinating goal of linked group.

In the eastern tourist group of the Mekong Delta, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh are two provinces that have linked in the route of the coastal provinces of the East and West. Tra Vinh and Ben Tre have the same Co Chien peaceful river and many tourism potentials that will create unique products, nowhere else. If they are combined together a province, with a lot of tourists exploring and experiencing Coconut Land over the past decade, now cooperates, connects and extends to Tra Vinh province with a rich and unique Khmer culture that creates conditions for both provinces attract and keep tourists staying longer, and be the dominant platform in the group to develop tourism economy in the future.

Floating Coconut Market on Thom river (Photo: Ben Tre Que Toi)

"Waterway - Ecotourism of Coconut Land" wants to mention that Ben Tre province owns 04 large branches of the Mekong River, the green islets and vast coconut and fruit gardens green ornamental plants, traditional craft villages to identity the region. National Special Vestige The tomb and memorial relics of Vietnamese poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu and over 50 national and provincial are introduced to visitors together with kind and hospitable people, have created unique tourism products that few localities have.

Special national relic - Dong Khoi relic

The tourist destinations of Coconut Land have been formed and put into using to serve tourists such as Lan Vuong and Phu An Khang tourist areas in Ben Tre city; Lang Be tourist site and Bao Thach fruit gardens in Chau Thanh district; Culture and Tourism Village is famous for ornamental flowers - seedlings in Cho Lach district; salt - mash and eco-tourism area in Bung islet - Thanh Phu ... have been attracting many tourists. Tour programs of waterway - ecotourism in Coconut Land fascinate visitors on the coconut-lined rivers and village roads, coconut gardens to be interspersed with green grapefruit, fruit trees, craft villages and stayed at comfortable and peaceful homestays. Coming to Ben Tre, visitors also enjoy the coconut culinary culture with the coconut salad with shrimp, coconut rice and coconut fried shrimp which are recognized in 100 Vietnamese specialties. This is a favorable condition for Ben Tre to link and develop with other provinces in the tourist group, especially adjacent provinces of Tien Giang, Vinh Long or Tra Vinh to create new products to attract domestic and foreign tourists to longer in the province.

Tra Vinh is connected to Ben Tre via Co Chien Bridge and considered as one of the provinces with rich potentials for cultural and sea tourism, gardens and waterways and "sap" coconuts specialties especially exploring Khmer ethnic festivals and owning over 140 Khmer temples with unique architecture.

Tra Vinh tourism meets the needs of tourists when visitors experience the routes such as Ao - Om Cultural and Tourism Zone, Khmer Cultural Museum, Ang Pagoda, Hang Pagoda; have sightseeing at the orchards of Tan Quy islet, specialty "sap" coconut Cau Ke district and homestays of rustic and hospitable Khmer ethnic group or Ba Dong Sea, Truc Lam Pagoda, Duyen Hai Thermal Power Plant, Long Khanh Mangrove Forest, etc. In addition, Chim islet community tourism zone at in Chau Thanh district is gradually attracted visitors by local people to protect environment and farm under the model of "shrimp hugging rice plants"

Experience of making flat rice at Tra Vinh

From the rich nature of tourism resources of the two provinces, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh Tourism Promotion Information Centers link existing products, tourist destinations with the same guidance and make bridges for the tourist companies of two provinces to build, design tours, specific inter-provincial route 2 days / 1 night, 3 days / 2 nights to attract tourists. This is one of the sightseeing programs that can be adjusted according to the quality of each group of travelers or each tour operator who cooperates to take guests:

Day 1: Picking the visitors up at Ben Tre city, departing for Mo Cay Nam, visiting Dong Khoi traditional House, learning about female military group and Dong Khoi movement in 1960. Enjoying coconut jam, fresh coconut juice, fruits. Rowing on water palm canals. Visiting Tuyet Phung coconut candy mill, experiencing coconut floating market - the place to exchange coconut production and process, coconut fiber on the banks of the Thom river. Overnight at Coco homestay in the coconut garden. For this tourist route, visitors can choose and expand to visit Cho Lach Cultural and Tourist Village (seedlings, ornamental flowers and many tropical fruits); or return to Thanh Phu mangrove forest (Con Bung beach, Ho Chi Minh sen rout relics, ancient house of Huynh Phu, Dai Dien commune ...).

Day 2: Departuring for Tra Vinh along Highway 60, passing Co Chien Bridge. Riding a bicycle or tuktuk around Ba Om Lake, Khmer Culture and Tourism Village Khmer Cultural Museum, Ang Pagoda, seeing traditional dances and music of Khmer people, craft villages (making hats, crowns or swat of glutinous rice). Integrating daily life and enjoying coconut. In addition, visitors can continue to visit the eco-tourism route of Tan Quy islet, coconut gardens in Cau Ke district and homestays with rustic and Khmer hospitable ethnic; or choose to experience ecotourism destination of Chim islet in Hoa Minh commune, Chau Thanh district.

In the similarity of Land and People between the two provinces of Ben Tre and Tra Vinh, the culture, tourist resources have many unique features that many provinces do not have. The link of tourism products of the two provinces has created new products which have been well received and signed by many travel companies. The solidarity and consensus among the four houses: The Government, the Travel Company, the tourist and the people doing tourism will increasingly promote the development of inter-provincial tourist cooperation and help an eastern tourist cluster in the Mekong Delta become an attractive destination for tourists today and tomorrow.

Author: Thanh Son

Translator: Phuong Thy

Source: http://dulich.bentre.gov.vn