Rich taste of Pu Luong lam rice
Dubbed the "Second Sa Pa" of Vietnam, Pu Luong Nature Reserve is truly a beautiful "paradise in the midst of thousands"! Coming to Pu Luong, you are not only attracted by the scenery, but also certainly impressed by the dishes rich in mountain flavor, in which, it is indispensable for rice lam - a traditional dish of the Thai and Muong people in this mountainous area of Vietnam!
 
Origin of lam rice
Lam rice is a special dish of the people in the mountains, not only Pu Luong. However, Pu Luong lam rice has a different taste because people here choose large, firm, white and fragrant glutinous rice grains cooked in bamboo tubes. The blend of the taste of the mountains with the labor of human hands creates a dish of Pu Luong lam rice that is both flexible and fragrant. Moreover, the Pu Luong people have a special way of cooking to make Lam rice sweeter and more fragrant. This is indeed a dish with a wonderful and delicate combination.
In Thai, the word lam means grilled. Lam rice is rice that is grilled over an open flame.  The origin of rice lam stems from the long forest trip of the Thai people. People do not prepare too much food, but only bring some rice, with knives and flintstones, and bamboo pipes available in the forest. The origin of Lam rice is simply that to create exceptionally delicious food. Over time, it is not only a street food but also the pride of an entire area, even rice lam is also introduced by mountainous people as a cultural quintessence, indispensable in the Tet holiday of the community here.

 
The process of making lam rice
According to the experience of the Thai Pu Luong ethnic group, it takes many stages to make delicious lam rice tubes. Choosing fresh bamboo and bamboo tubes, not too young or too old, burning long, straight, not deep, the rice will be fragrant, sweet and fragrant with the smell of bamboo.
   
The next step is to choose sticky rice, this is a very important step because it determines the plasticity and deliciousness of Lam rice. If you want good rice, you must choose freshly harvested upland rice and must have the right type of upland rice with large, fine grains and aroma, which can be white or brown sticky rice. In the Thai and Muong villages in Pu Luong, the ripe rice after being harvested is bundled into baskets to dry and placed in the attic. When needed, it is put in a wooden trough to scrub the seeds and pound them.
Then, wash the rice thoroughly and soak it in water for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, take it out to drain, then pour the rice into a bamboo tube lined with fresh banana leaves, pour water into the tube to cover the rice.

The rice should not be compacted, but a few centimeters from the mouth of the tube, when the rice is cooked, it will automatically fill the tube. Then cover the mouth of the tube with banana leaves or dong leaves so that the rice does not smell of smoke and still retains the flavor of the new sticky rice mixed with the aroma of the bamboo tube.
Lam rice tube is grilled with charcoal, bamboo charcoal or straw for about an hour, but grilled with charcoal is the best. When the rice is bubbling, sometimes lift it out and force the tube into the ground so that the rice is pushed down to the rice grain to be firm.  When the water dries up, place the tube horizontally and rotate the grill. The continuous rotation of the bamboo tube is so that the bamboo tube is not too burnt and the rice grains are cooked evenly. When there is steam coming out from the mouth of the tube and there is the aroma of rice, if you press the lamellar tube to feel soft, it means that the lam rice is cooked.


When the rice is cooked, split the outer shell, leaving the banana leaf layer when eating.  The tuber is stripped of the burnt outer shell, leaving only a thin layer of banana leaves to hug the rice tube, when eating, just peel it off with your hands, roll up each piece to your mouth. The outside of the bamboo shell is solid, dark with black smoke, and the white and white Northwest rice layer inside makes people feel excited. Lam rice can be dipped with sesame salt or sautéed, these two sauces will contribute to the deliciousness of Lam rice - a "specialty that makes you remember Pu Luong forever!