Agricultural production fundamentally determines the dietary structure of each ethnic group. In general, ethnic communities living in the northern highlands rely on two principal staple crops: rice and maize. In the rocky highland districts of Tuyên Quang Province, such as Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc, the H’Mông, Pu Péo, and Cơ Lao people primarily cultivate maize and depend on it as their staple food. Maize is ground into flour and steamed to make mèn mén, which constitutes the main component of their daily meals. Meals centered on mèn mén are invariably accompanied by soup.

In contrast, the La Chí people living in Xín Mần and Hoàng Su Phì cultivate rice, making cooked rice the staple of their daily diet. Although rice is widely consumed by many ethnic groups, methods of preparation vary considerably. Among the Vietnamese (Kinh), Tày, Nùng, Dao, and many other groups, rice is cooked directly in a pot by boiling it in water until the liquid evaporates, after which it is left to simmer over charcoal or low heat until fully cooked.

The La Chí, together with several ethnic groups living along the border regions, employ a different technique, which may be described as steam-finished rice cooking. Rice is first boiled in a large pan until it is partially cooked, then transferred to a bamboo steamer (chõ) and steamed in the same manner as sticky rice. As a result, the cooked rice remains firm, fluffy, and slightly chewy rather than becoming soft or mushy, because it finishes cooking through steam rather than direct heat. From a technical perspective, this steaming process represents a distinctive cooking method and may be regarded as a unique cultural innovation of the La Chí in food preparation.

From a historical perspective, this cooking technique also reflects the community’s transition from shifting cultivation to wet-rice agriculture. Ethnic groups practicing swidden farming traditionally cultivated glutinous rice, which was commonly prepared by steaming in a bamboo steamer. As communities gradually adopted wet-rice cultivation and began growing non-glutinous rice, adapting traditional cooking practices to new staple crops likely presented certain challenges. During this transition from upland fields to irrigated rice paddies, the La Chí creatively adapted their traditional steaming technique, originally used for sticky rice, to prepare ordinary rice. By making effective use of steam, they developed a distinctive cooking method that remains widely practiced today. The use of steam in food preparation is a characteristic culinary technology found throughout Southeast Asia and reflects a high level of technical knowledge developed since ancient times. Among the La Chí, both upland and lowland glutinous rice continue to be prepared by steaming.

The principal foods consumed by the La Chí include meat, fish, and vegetables. Like many other Southeast Asian peoples, they have no tradition of dairy production or milk consumption. To supplement their diet with protein, the La Chí utilize nearly every edible type of meat. The most commonly consumed meats include pork, buffalo, chicken, and duck. Boiling and stir-frying are the principal cooking methods. Whenever a pig is slaughtered, the meal typically includes fresh blood pudding (tiết canh), a platter of liver and intestines, boiled pork, and stir-fried pork. Similar to many other ethnic groups in Vietnam, the La Chí consider fresh blood pudding a favorite dish. They also commonly prepare soups by simmering pork bones with radish or mustard greens. Both blood pudding and bone soup are particularly popular during communal drinking gatherings among men.

Grilling is another common method of food preparation. Buffalo meat and chicken are cut into pieces, seasoned with salt and black cardamom, skewered, and grilled over charcoal. Wild birds and field rats are also frequently roasted. Because men regularly hunt and set traps, meals often include birds, squirrels, and field rats. These animals are skewered from tail to head, singed until golden, cleaned, and then grilled until fully cooked. During the rice-transplanting season, from approximately March to May, women also catch large numbers of field rats while working in the paddies. The rats are cleaned, rubbed with salt, and grilled, producing a dish that is highly appreciated within the community.

The La Chí have developed various methods of preserving food for later consumption, with dried meat being the most common. Buffalo and pork are cut into long strips, salted, and left to cure in a pan for two or three days before being hung for drying. Pork is typically suspended from the rafters, whereas buffalo meat is hung above the kitchen hearth, where smoke and heat gradually dehydrate it.

Unlike many other ethnic groups, who primarily use buffalo hide for making household utensils, the La Chí regard buffalo skin as a valued food. After the hide is removed, it is cut into pieces measuring approximately 15–20 cm, singed to remove the hair, and then stored above the kitchen hearth. Continuous exposure to smoke and heat gradually dries and preserves the skin. When it is to be eaten, the dried hide is buried in warm ashes and covered with glowing charcoal so that it softens and expands without burning. It is then carefully scraped clean, cut into small pieces, thoroughly washed in salted water to remove dirt and impurities, and finally cooked either with pork fat alone or together with ginger and garlic.

The La Chí also preserve dried bird and field rat meat for later consumption. After the animals are cleaned, they are dried above the kitchen hearth and stored for future use. Before cooking, the dried meat is first boiled in water to remove soot, smoke residue, and ash accumulated during the drying process. It is then thoroughly washed, cut into small pieces, and stir-fried with pork fat, ginger, scallions, and garlic, producing a fragrant and flavorful dish. Frog meat is preserved in a similar manner. After the frogs are cleaned and boiled, the meat is placed on a bamboo tray above the kitchen hearth to dry. Several days later, it is prepared in the same way as dried bird and field rat meat.

The La Chí also prepare fermented sour meat, using pork or buffalo meat cut into strips approximately the width of three fingers. The meat is mixed with salt and roasted rice flour before being sealed in ceramic jars. Properly preserved, it can be stored for one to two years and may be eaten directly or used in a variety of cooked dishes.

In addition to rice and meat, vegetables constitute an indispensable component of every La Chí meal. Their vegetable supply comes from both cultivated vegetables, either grown at home or obtained through purchase or exchange, and a wide variety of wild plants collected from surrounding forests. Because different vegetables are available throughout the year, the composition of daily meals changes with the seasons. Mustard greens are abundant from the seventh to the twelfth lunar month, while pumpkin, bottle gourd, yardlong beans, chayote, and sponge gourd are staple vegetables during the fourth and fifth lunar months. From the first to the third lunar month, fresh vegetables become scarcer, and stored pumpkins serve as an important food source.

Wild vegetables are plentiful from late March until October or November and greatly enrich the La Chí diet. Common edible species include chà phê (wildfire weed), ưm quy (vegetable fern), nừng thung (a shrub whose young shoots are eaten), bia giá (an edible climbing vine), nừng co (a plant resembling rice with leaves similar to sweet potato leaves), bìa tó (another edible vine), nùng phung (a plant similar to water spinach), pèo ó (a small-leaved variety of water spinach), nùng vù (a herb resembling wildfire weed), and mùng pá, among many others.

Vegetables are prepared in various ways, including stir-frying, boiling, and making soup. A distinctive feature of La Chí cuisine is that certain vegetables, such as vegetable ferns, are lightly blanched before being stir-fried, while others, including duckweed and edible moss collected from rice fields, are first sautéed in fat before being cooked. During the vegetable season, the La Chí also enjoy fermented vegetables. Two preservation methods are commonly used: salting mustard greens in a manner similar to that of the Vietnamese, or fermenting chopped vegetables in rice water for two or three days. Some vegetables, such as ưm quy, are first briefly boiled, lightly salted, and then fermented before consumption.

Bamboo shoots also occupy an important place in the La Chí diet. Common varieties include vầu, bamboo, and nứa shoots, which are prepared by boiling, stir-frying, grilling, or cooking in soup. Sour bamboo shoots, fermented by soaking sliced shoots in water for several days, and dried bamboo shoots, produced by boiling, slicing, and drying them above the kitchen hearth, provide valuable food during seasons when fresh vegetables are scarce.

The La Chí have a strong preference for dipping sauces, the most common being fermented black soybeans (đậu xị). In recent years, fish sauce has also become widely used. Rice wine accompanies most meals. Two principal varieties are prepared: ku phi, a distilled clear rice wine, and ku y, a traditional fermented rice wine. The preparation of ku y resembles that of fermented glutinous rice wine. The wine is fermented in earthenware jars, and before serving, water is added and thoroughly mixed. The wine is then poured into bottles or ladled directly from the jar using a small bamboo dipper before being served in buffalo horns. Unlike distilled rice wine, which has a strong alcoholic taste, ku y is mild and naturally sweet. It is believed to represent an ancient method of rice wine production, producing a beverage with moderate alcohol content suitable for both men and women. Consequently, it remains highly valued within the La Chí community.

According to La Chí custom, guests invited to a meal customarily bring a bottle of rice wine to share with the host. This gesture expresses respect, goodwill, and communal solidarity. During important ceremonies, particularly the Long Đồng ritual, rice wine—especially ku y—is traditionally served in buffalo horns, with each guest expected to finish one hornful. The preparation of ku y, the practice of adding water to the fermentation jar before drinking, and the custom of serving wine in buffalo horns during ceremonial occasions closely resemble the traditions associated with cần (jar) wine found among many ethnic groups in northwestern Vietnam and the Central Highlands. The principal difference lies in the absence of the bamboo drinking tubes. These similarities strongly suggest that the La Chí share a common indigenous cultural foundation with other native communities in Vietnam and, more broadly, throughout Southeast Asia, one expression of which is the tradition of communal rice-wine drinking associated with buffalo horns.

Tea is the most common daily beverage among the La Chí. Nearly every household cultivates tea around the home or in upland fields. Interestingly, the La Chí word cô means not only “to eat” and “to drink,” but also “to smoke.” Tobacco smoking is widespread, particularly the use of locally grown pipe tobacco (thuốc lào), whereas cigarettes are less popular. Although many ethnic communities in the mountainous regions are unable to cultivate pipe tobacco, the La Chí are entirely self-sufficient in its production and also use it as a valuable trade commodity. They traditionally smoke tobacco through long bamboo pipes.

Meals are usually served directly on the wooden floor of the stilt house, with bowls, chopsticks, and dishes arranged on a wooden tray. During festivals and weddings, five or six people commonly share the same meal. According to La Chí custom, placing chopsticks horizontally across a bowl is strictly avoided because this arrangement symbolizes offerings made to the deceased.

Source: Nguyễn Văn Huy. Traditional Culture of the La Chí People. Hanoi: Writers’ Association Publishing House.