A delicious cuisine of grilled chicken with wild pepper leaves, served with bamboo-tube rice, is a must-try dish when you come to Mang Den Town, Konplong District, Kon Tum Province.

Grilled chicken and bamboo-tube rice, a favourite dish in Mang Den, is now available in Da Nang. Photo: H.L

Now in Da Nang, the famous dish is available at a restaurant at 426 Ngo Quyen, Man Thai Ward, Son Tra District.

Mrs. Hoang Thi Loc, the owner of the restaurant, said that in order to keep the taste of the Mang Den specialties, her restaurant imports chickens which are raised freely in mountainous areas in Mang Den Town. Chickens weigh about 1.2-1.3kg, and have delicious and tough meat and thin skin.

According to Mrs. Loc, the special feature of this dish is that wild pepper leaves are stuffed into the chicken's belly before being grilled, helping the aroma of pepper leaves blend in each fiber of the meat. Wild pepper leaves are abundant in the mountainous areas of Kon Tum, with a fragrant, slightly spicy taste like lemongrass.

In addition, before be grilled, chickens are marinated with spices such as shallot, lemongrass, garlic, honey, pepper, fish sauce, roots of plants and wild leaves.

During the grilling process, chefs will brush fried onions and soy sauce on the outside of chickens, turning them evenly to help the skin become crispy, fragrant and dark in colour to increase its attractiveness.

Finished chickens will be shredded or cut into pieces depending on customers’ request. They are served with wild salt or pepper, crushed with green chili or basil leaves - a typical forest leaf in Mang Den mountains.

Customers are recommended enjoying grilled chicken with bamboo-tube rice. Rice after being washed, soaked and mixed with a little cooking oil will be put in fresh bamboo tubes and placed on coal fire stove. As a result, rice is very soft and full of aroma from charcoal and bamboo.

With ‘com lam’ (rice cooked in bamboo tubes), the shop offers a plate of crushed roasted peanuts.

Aside from grilled chicken with wild pepper leaves and bamboo-tube rice, diners can also order more steamed pork with bamboo tubes, charcoal-grilled copper eels or Nghe An-style stir-fried field eel with chili sauce.

Reporting by HUYNH LE - Translating by M.DUNG